Distraction Effects of Background Soap Operas on Homework Performance: An experimental study enriched with observational data

An experiment was conducted to examine the impact of background soap operas on homework performance and time. Students in grade eight (aged 14) ( n =192) did paper-and-pencil and memorisation assignments with two types of soap opera episodes in the background, or the soundtrack of soap operas, or no medium. In each condition, half of the students were observed. Results indicated that students in the television conditions performed worse and used more time than students in the control condition. No significant differences were found between the audio-only and control conditions. Observational data showed that the extension of time in the television conditions was completely due to the fact that students used time to look at the screen. Although the television did not reduce time spent looking at the task, performance did decrease, probably because the alternation of resources between homework and television led to less thorough processing of the assignments.