Premium Essay

Examining the Effects of Music on Memory

In:

Submitted By egirlbox
Words 2303
Pages 10
Examining the Effects of
Music on Memory
<Name Removed>
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Abstract

This experiment was designed to test the effects that classical music has on memory. Previous experiments have shown that the effects of music can be beneficial in work and school environments. Our hypothesis was that a group that is required to listen to classical music during a study would outperform a group who studied in silence. The participants were college students and were randomly assigned to two groups. The control group performed the experiment in complete silence, while the experimental group listened to classical music the entire time. Both groups were asked to examine a picture and memorize as much as they could for two minutes. Immediately after two minutes a short distraction film was played and a multiple choice test was given. The results were not statistically significant and our hypothesis was rejected. Methodological limitations and ideas for follow-up research are discussed.
Keywords: music, memory, memorize, distraction, test

Examining the Effects of Music on Memory

Memory is an area that sparks the interest of many scientists. Memory can be affected by multiple genetic and environmental factors having positive and negative influences on working memory function (Alley & Greene, 2008). Research has shown that if music is played to babies while in the womb, they possess recognition and memory recall of the music a year after being born (Johansen-Berg, 2001).
Separately memory and music have been investigated exclusively, resulting in a great deal of information known about the two subjects. When researched together, it is a combination that sparks interest and allows for more questions and investigation. A few areas that motivate researchers to continue investigating possible positive relationships between music and

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Psychological Nvestigations

...G541: Psychological Investigations The aim of this booklet is to provide you with practical activities to enhance your understanding of psychological investigations. Once completed it will provide a valuable revision tool…so take care of it!! The information covered in this booklet will also be of valuable when it comes to evaluating and understanding the methods used in the core studies. Research Methods and Techniques used in Psychological Investigations ------------------------------------------------- Methods and Techniques ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Experimental Methods: ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- The term experimental method refers to the method used to carry out the experiment. There are three main types of experiment – lab, field and natural/quasi. Research Method | Definition: | Advantage(s) | Disadvantage(s) | Laboratory experiment | A test under controlledconditions that is madeto demonstrate a knowntruth, examine the validityof a hypothesis, or determine the efficiency of something previously untried.  | The research can better establish causality through reducing the number of confounds via a controlled environment like a lab setting. | The results may be artificial and not apply to the real world, there may be researcher bias or a social desirability affects, and the results may only apply to...

Words: 2728 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Alzheimer's Musical Therapy

...suffering from the physical side effects of their illness, but now they are suffering psychologically with the acceptance of what their future may entail. Alzheimer’s—a form of dementia that worsens over time to eventually eliminate the intellectual abilities of the human brain. Also like cancer, there is no cure; however, there is still hope in creating a better quality of life for these victims through the use of musical therapy....

Words: 1916 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

The Glass Menagerie Symbolism Essay

...symbols, Williams conveys the incessant confinement of the Wingfield’s by circumstance, while also demonstrating the damaging effect of the characters’ illusionary worlds. Williams’s description of the Wingfield’s apartment as a vast “hive-like conglomeration” of cellular living-units establishes a prison-like feel, compelling audiences to consider whether American lower-middle-class populations only function as one inter-fused mass of automatism. Moreover, the Wingfield’s confinement, highlighted through stage directions, is emphasised through the symbolic fire-escape which demonstrates the elusive prospect of the characters escape and is symbolic of “an entrance and exit” out of the characters illusionary worlds. William’s...

Words: 1484 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Who Is Nelso Nelson Mandela Affect The Human Brain?

... if you have, you're not the only one filled with supposed “false memories”. A number of people around the globe, have endured this experience. Being often left in confusion, thinking, that perhaps it was them that got it wrong in the first place. However, a recent conspiracy theory, labelled as “The Mandela Effect” caused the internet to go wild. Making many convinced, that there was nothing wrong with them, rather, their mind was being toyed with. Although there is not calculated answer behind these complicated events, there are multiple examples of this effect, which show, that the human brain is not the root of these problems, but something else....

Words: 848 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Music and Its Relationship to Overall Intellect

...Running head: MUSIC AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO OVERALL INTELLECT !1 ! ! ! ! ! Music And its Relationship To Overall Intellect Kymberlie Joy Hurd College of Southern Nevada ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Author Note This research paper was done for Psychology 240, Section 4001, taught by Professor Mason MUSIC AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO OVERALL INTELLECT Abstract A review of previous studies was conducted to test and measure the correlation of music and its influence on various levels of intellect. Subjects range in age from 9 to 67 and education from elementary school to undergraduate and beyond. Analysis included studies of subjects who listened to music and subjects that have varying levels of musical training. While some studies found significant results in some areas of cognition, intelligence and memory, they were inconsistent and concluded that further testing was needed. This review examines further the question of causation with music as a variable with a direct effect to a subject’s intellect as addressed by Schellenberg (2011). To understand if there is a direct relationship between music and intellect, further research of a subject’s background and mentality is required. !2 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! MUSIC AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO OVERALL INTELLECT Title of Paper Here Many studies have sought to provide a significant and reliable relationship between music as a factor of a subject’s intelligence or memory retention. The results are often conflicting within each experiment...

Words: 1905 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Consumer Psychology and Marketing Communications Article Analysis

...Consumer Psychology and Marketing Communications Article Analysis PSY/322 November 19, 2012 Consumer Psychology and Marketing Communications Article Analysis This paper will define what is consumer psychology is and show its relationship with marketing communications. An overview will be discussed about the psychological concepts of consumer psychology and its importance of developing an effective marketing communication message. It is crucial for effective marketers to know how to use their knowledge of consumer psychology for the development of effective marketing promotions of its products and services. Perner (2010), consumer psychology is “the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society” (para. 2). Recognizing the importance of consumer behavior is vital for the development of any successful marketing message for the public. For example, marketers understand that is best to show a television advertisement of snack products during the period in which the viewer is more prone to be hungry such as late afternoon (Perner, 2010), There are various ways in which data and information about consumers are attained. Marketers and businesses often utilizes mail questionnaires, phone surveys, online surveys, focus groups, scanner data, and personal interviews to learn more about consumers...

Words: 758 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Effects of Music on Reading Comprehension

...Running Head: THE EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON READING COMPREHENSION The Effects of Classical and Contemporary Music on Reading Comprehension of College Students Louis Sandro Y. Aboga Bakhita Mae Alexie N. Llames Aquinas University of Legazpi The Effects of Classical and Contemporary Music on Reading Comprehension of College Students Music is more pervasive now than at any other point in history, functioning not only as a pleasurable art form, but also serving many important psychological functions (MacDonald, Hargreaves and Miell, 2002) and influencing cognitive functioning (Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky 1993) Music and Reading Comprehension Etaugh and Ptasnik (1982) found that individuals who rarely studied with background music showed better comprehension when they learned in silence, while those who frequently studied with music performed better in the presence of music. Hall (1952), exploring the possible uses of music in schools, found that performance on reading comprehension tests was significantly improved when background music was playing; 58% of the 245 8th and 9th graders taking part in the study, showed an increase in scores a reading test. Physiological Aspect on Music and Memory Numerous previous studies have tested to determine if the above conditions do in fact play an integral role in being a catalyst or antagonist to understanding complex literature. First the topic will be addressed from a biological perspective: processing in...

Words: 4520 - Pages: 19

Free Essay

Sights and Sound of Lepage

...child. A jazz club where the beautiful Marie is singing April in Paris. Thomas, Ada’s partner and Marie’s neurologist, drowns his sorrows, devastated by a hand tremor that could signify the end of his career. A BBC Radio interview, during which Sarah, a respectable housekeeper, is revealed as a former prostitute. She makes a discovery of her own – that one of the radio station’s top announcers is her long-lost brother. In America, Jeremy, Ada’s now adult adopted son, is making films. He creates a fictional account of his biological mother’s life and invites his warring cast to a restaurant where no one – because of language differences - understands anyone else. Marie, the jazz singer, finds that her brain surgery has resulted in memory loss - she cannot recall the sound of her father’s voice. She hires actors to try and replicate it. While investigating the death of a voiceover artist, Jackson, a Scotland Yard detective whose wife has just left him, is preoccupied with looking for a partner for the dance lessons he has already paid for. Sebastian, the sound engineer on Jeremy’s film, returns to the Canary Islands for his father’s funeral. Yearning for a last message from his father, he is appalled when the corpse noisily releases jets of gas. In a bookstore in a snowy Quebec winter, Michelle, Marie’s mentally ill sister, rebuilds her life. Refusing her sister’s offers of help, she turns to poetry to stave off her ghostly visions. And finally, Lupe, a Nicaraguan...

Words: 763 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Ba301 Paper

...BA 301 – Homework Assignment #2 October 23, 2014 Symptom: Best Buy’s overall Revenue decreased %19 over a period of four years and is projected to continue to decrease over the next 5 years. Gross profit margin has been also gradually decreasing and Best Buy’s Operation Margin is extremely unstable. Possible Causes: 1. Customers are exhibiting “Showrooming” behavior at Best Buy. The act of showrooming occurs when a potential buyer comes to a store to try out a product, but instead of purchasing it from the place they visited, they will search for a better price online. Best Buy started to release their concerns to shareholders about this in 2012 and enacted strategies to attempt to overcome this type of consumer behavior, but unfortunately still struggles with this phenomenon. Best Buy has used to combat this is launching a Customer Loyalty Rewards program called My Best Buy Rewards.™ The most common objective that drives companies to use this sort of program is to maintain sales levels and increase repeat-customer purchases. Although Best Buy’s program appears to have the best buy customer in mind, My Best Buy Rewards™ might dangerously increase company spending and has a cumbersome enrollment process. Best Buy believes that loyal customers will be less price-sensitive, will spend more at their retail locations, and will recommend the loyalty program to their peers. Unfortunately, as Grahame R. Dowling and Mark Uncles of the MIT Sloan Review pointed out, there...

Words: 710 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Interpersonal Conlict in Film

...Everyone likes to laugh, and this film is no stranger to the call. O Brother, Where Art Thou is indeed a comical action/adventure and musical romp Directed by Joel Coen and Produced by Ethan Coen. The Cast consist of many favorites in film such as George Clooney, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson. The film O Brother, according to well-known film critic Roger Ebert (2000), “is based on Homer’s The Odyssey” (p.1), this is an epic Greek poem around 700 B.C. Although the setting is much different, the Homeric journey of three would be prisoners of the late 1930s are similar to The Odyssey and its theme of perseverance. The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou however has a comical twist accompanied by great Gospel/Bluegrass music, and scenes that play into an allegorical concept including references to repentance and salvation during the depression of that era. The storyline in this movie the collaborating efforts of the Coen brothers and cinematographer Roger Deakins bring together a musical and adventurous comedy filled with action. This story depicts an era in time where ignorance, poverty, and racism are prevalent among the effected in the rural South in the late 1930s. However, the comical twist and the characters acting skills make this story of a complicated journey filled with obstacles into one of the funniest reenactments ever produced. George Clooney, who plays...

Words: 2397 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Effects on Childhood Development

...Numerous environmental factors have distinct and definitive and effects on childhood development. These factors vary widely, and encompass social, economic and ecological areas, as well as the physical environment in which a child is raised, influenced by neighborhood location, home life and educational facilities. Lorraine Maxwell, associate professor of design and environmental analysis at Cornell University defines these environments as "settings where a person spends a great deal of time and establishes important relationships." (Ulrich 12) When combined, these factors directly and indirectly influence the physical and emotional development of children. Negative impacts of environment on early upbringing have been shown to affect many areas, including behavior and academic performance, social and emotional issues, as well as actual physical development of the brain. Urie Brofenbrenner defined this relationship between development and the environment in his "Proposition 1" which went on to say, "especially in its early phases, and to a great extent throughout the life course, human development takes place through processes of progressively more complex reciprocal interaction between an active, evolving biopsychological human organism and persons, objects, and symbols in its immediate environment." (Brofenbrenner 38). In this early work Brofenbrenner explains the ecological model of human development, and his Proposition 1 explains the importance of the environment in the...

Words: 1461 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Cross Cultural Consumer Behaviour

...Contents 1. Introduction2 2. Culture2 2.1 L’Oréal in China: Product line 2.1.1 Product line: Facial Skin Care………………………………………………………….2 2.1.2 Product line: Skin Whitening……………………………………………....................3 2.2 L’Oréal in the USA: Product line 2.2.1 Product line: Eyes Makeup……………………………………………………………..4 2.2.2 Product line: Skin Tanned……………………………………………………………....5 2.3 Comparison and analysis………………………………………………………………………..6 2.4 Improvements and recommendations…………………………………………………….8 3. Perception…………………………………………………………………………………………………..9 3.1 TV advertisement in China: New L’Oréal Paris shampoo……………………….10 3.2 Perceptions of customers 3.2.1 Vision Perception…………………………………………………………………………13 3.2.2 Sound Perception…………………………………………………………………………14 3.3 Improvements and recommendations…………………………………………………..14 4. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………...15 References………………………………………………………………………………………………...16 1. Introduction | L’Oréal, which started as a hair coloring business by a French chemist, Eugène Schueller, was established in 1909. By following the guideline, “innovation in the field of beauty ”, L’Oréal has now perceived by worldwide as a multidimensional brand in terms of beauty products. Aside from hair coloring products, the company stretches its product range to make up, skin care, hair care and fragrances. Nowadays, L’Oréal sells its products in approximate 130 countries across five continents (Braizaz, 2014). Cultural learning...

Words: 3247 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Mechanical Ventilation Case Study Nursing

...Some interventions that have been used include pharmacological therapy and non-pharmacological therapy, such as music therapy. Although no one specific intervention is currently in place, music therapy may be a therapeutic modality that may help to decrease anxiety in the ventilated patient in a multitude of ways. First, music may decrease anxiety by serving as a distraction to the stimuli responsible for causing a stress response. Music may also exert its effects of relaxation through entrainment of body rhythm. Entrainment occurs when two objects vibrate at a similar frequency, and therefore, become in sync with one another (Lee,Yuet, Moon, Wai Ming). When a slow, relaxing rhythm of 60-80 beats per minute is played, entrainment synchronizes breathing, heartbeat, and blood flow to match the music. It has also been found that relaxing music may act on the limbic system of brain, which is responsible for feelings, sensations, and emotions. The limbic system reacts to music by lowering the ability of neurotransmitters to relay uncomfortable feelings. This results in a release of endorphins. The release of endorphins is able to simulate a pleasurable experience and a feeling of analgesia in the patient ( Moon, Yuet, SWai Anne...

Words: 3010 - Pages: 13

Free Essay

Hostel Living and Home Living

...The power of music: its impact on the intellectual, social and personal development of children and young people Susan Hallam, Institute of Education, University of London Executive Summary Recent advances in the study of the brain have enhanced our understanding of the way that active engagement with music may influence other activities. The cerebral cortex selforganises as we engage with different musical activities, skills in these areas may then transfer to other activities if the processes involved are similar. Some skills transfer automatically without our conscious awareness, others require reflection on how they might be utilised in a new situation. Perceptual, language and literacy skills Speech and music have a number of shared processing systems. Musical experiences which enhance processing can therefore impact on the perception of language which in turn impacts on learning to read. Active engagement with music sharpens the brain’s early encoding of linguistic sound. Eight year old children with just 8 weeks of musical training showed improvement in perceptual cognition compared with controls. Speech makes extensive use of structural auditory patterns based on timbre differences between phonemes. Musical training develops skills which enhance perception of these patterns. This is critical in developing phonological awareness which in turn contributes to learning to read successfully. Speech processing requires similar processing to melodic contour. Eight year old...

Words: 12199 - Pages: 49

Free Essay

Neuropsychologia

...com/locate/neuropsychologia The neural basis of implicit learning and memory: A review of neuropsychological and neuroimaging research Paul J. Reber n Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, United States art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t Article history: Received 6 November 2012 Received in revised form 14 June 2013 Accepted 15 June 2013 Available online 24 June 2013 Memory systems research has typically described the different types of long-term memory in the brain as either declarative versus non-declarative or implicit versus explicit. These descriptions reflect the difference between declarative, conscious, and explicit memory that is dependent on the medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory system, and all other expressions of learning and memory. The other type of memory is generally defined by an absence: either the lack of dependence on the MTL memory system (nondeclarative) or the lack of conscious awareness of the information acquired (implicit). However, definition by absence is inherently underspecified and leaves open questions of how this type of memory operates, its neural basis, and how it differs from explicit, declarative memory. Drawing on a variety of studies of implicit learning that have attempted to identify the neural correlates of implicit learning using functional neuroimaging and neuropsychology, a theory of implicit memory is presented that describes it as a form of general plasticity...

Words: 20427 - Pages: 82