The effect of background music with lecture tapes, filmstrips, and films in teaching freshman psychology concepts was investigated. Comparisons were made of media effect on visual or non-visual (haptic) and male or female learners, using experiments of 60 students each, with 20 subjects used for all treatment conditions. Three classes viewed filmstrip on human life-stages, accompanied by audiotapes paced with music; a lecture tape on personality, with no music; and a film on mental illness, which included music as part of its sound track. Classes had music either at presentation time, at both presentation and testing time, or only that music present on the commercial products. Background music added to a film or filmstrip did not lower males' or visuals' scores. Haptics and visuals differed in their response to background music with lecture tape, though both improved more when music continued throughout the presentation and the test. Though all media were instructionally efficient, film was superior for women, and film and lecture tape were superior to filmstrip for all subjects. (LMM)