Additional Data
A recent study with a sample size of one found that board game performance also decreases significantly with each pint of beer consumed.
Chaps, listen. Are you sick of losing at Monopoly every Christmas? Do you dread the sight of backgammon or the sound of rattling Scrabble tiles? The trick to winning board games could be to avoid listening to rock music, apparently. Scientists at Imperial College London have teamed up with musicians from the Royal College of …
A recent study with a sample size of one found that board game performance also decreases significantly with each pint of beer consumed.
Not necessarily. I vaguely recall a New Year's Eve many years ago, when the guests brought a bottle of cognac. We sat down to play Monopoly and the other players were happy to let me drink the cognac, thinking it would decrease my performance. I boldly wiped them out -- and had almost the whole bottle to myself as well. Had a helluva hangover, though.
You wrote
"Scientists at Imperial College London have teamed up with musicians from the Royal College of Music"
I believe that the more accurate story is
"Tenure-seeking schemers at Imperial College London have teamed up with the the current- and future unemployed from the Royal College of Music leverage a biased experiment into headline-worthy pseudo 'discoveries'."
"Attention seeking commentator blasts any science that his tiny mind can conjure any explanation for."
Film at 11 in your bathroom mirror!
I always find that mostly backwards, hillbilly-type assholes are the ones so concerned with science not providing them with instant answers, or a robot girlfriend. Which are you, boy?
A family member just got a new, high-tech heart valve installed with a procedure so noninvasive they were up the next day and released in two. They said "thank god" and I reminded them that no god had anything to do with it, then I thanked science for them. They know.
So, Science Bless Us, Everyone. But not Everytime... :P
Finding that the fine motor skills and concentration required for a game like 'Operation' is affected by choice of music is one thing. I can't see a necessary connection to games requiring different skill sets.
Is it not possible that rock music might make someone take a more aggressive - and potentially beneficial - approach to Monopoly?
@dan 1980 - thumbs up from me, I was thinking the same thing. I've found that in multiplayer games around a table, some men seem to perform less well at whatever the game is, due to distraction caused by my, erm, natural assets. Presumbaly mine also suffers somewhat when other women are involved, given I bat for the girls team. Methinks more in-depth research is indicated.. Any idea where I can get a grant for a Monopoly set, CD player, selection of random music, half a dozen crates of beer and a similar number of crates of wine, plus the recruitment of a suitably assorted set of test subjects?
..showed that my kill to death ratio in Quake 2 was greatly improved by the ministrations of Kim Wilde, specifically:
- "Chequered Love" = moderate but consistent boost. It will get me to the top end of the leaderboard
- "Kids in America ('94 Extension Remix)" = massive boost except for a slowdown in the middle where I get absolutely slaughtered if I haven't found a place to hide in time. If do right, no can defend!!
For those that will judge me or my music tastes, I guess I have to just cop that
Alas I can't find any relative willing to play a 'quick' game of 1825 or Civilisation. And neither can I get anyone to get hammered at Monopoly (the game where 99% of the players think that they know the rules but don't).
So it's the drink for me as the wife and daughter will be playing 50s 'cheerful' Christmas music. Another reason to sit in the kitchen with a good book whilst 'looking after' the turkey.
I guess it depends to some extent on whether the test subjects are the sort of people who enjoy rock music or classical music. I would expect people to find it harder to concentrate when subjected to music they don't like. I do my best work when listening to iron maiden. Listening to mozart would drive me nuts.
On a semi-related note, I've found Kraftwerk to be the best background music for coding - "Home Computer", which includes the lines: "I program my home computer, Beam me into the future" is particularly effective. I'm not sure if this is can be classified as motivational music
YMMV though, I still do quite a bit of VB6 work (clearly I have been beamed into a distopian future).
Perhaps a Reg survey - best coding music?
Anonymous because...VB6
This isn't fair, I thought women had an advantage with small delicate tasks like those required for the game Operation, they're far better with smaller actions on small parts, something my wife tells me she excels at, not sure what she means.
Soon put a stop to that by putting on some proper music like Lamb of God, Decapitation or Slayer.
"The goal was to carefully remove plastic body parts from Cavity Sam, a worried-looking cartoon man, who has a red light bulb nose that lights up every time players touched the edge of a cavity opening with a pair of tweezers. And the players received a mild electric shock."
I doubt they even know what "Cavity Sam" is, in the UK it's called "Operation"