Research Symposium Program - Individual Details
5th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, April 17, 2025
Caleb Fanning
BIO
My name is Caleb Fanning, and I am a researcher at North Bay Haven Charter Academy. I am in 11th grade and am currently studying to achieve my AP Capstone Diploma. I am interested in neuroscience and plan to study cognitive/computational neuroscience when I am in college.
The Effects of Music Tempo on Mathematical Performance
Authors: Caleb Fanning, Robin VaughnStudent Major: Neuroscience
Mentor: Robin Vaughn
Mentor's Department: English Mentor's College: North Bay Haven Charter Academy Co-Presenters:
Abstract
When considering my research, I thought about certain topics that interest me. Neuroscience, math, and music are three key topics that have been my interests since I was in early elementary school. My research will study how different music tempos affect mathematical performance in high school students. My experiment will survey students, ranging from Algebra 1 to DE Precalculus classes. I will first have students and parents fill out the parent/student consent forms, stating that the experiment is confidential and participants can withdraw at any time. Then, I will go a few days after and have students do a 5-minute multiplication test. The test will be two digits by two digits to make sure it isn't too easy. While they are taking the test, they will be listening to different background songs. These include classical music, pop, country, etc. I will also consider differing moods and tempos within a music genre. For instance, not all classical music is slow and peaceful; some is fast and intense. The songs are also not popular to make sure that students don't have a particular bias towards them. My research experiment will overall find which songs are most suitable to study and explore the nuances between different tempos.
Keywords: neuroscience, mathematics, music