Transcript Document
Effect of Music on Memory
Evolution of Ideas
• Initial Brainstorming:
• each member of the group researched an area of study that was
considered most interesting
• several areas of study were suggested
Navigation
Extended Blind-walking Task
Sex differences on tasks
Multitasking
Music
Music as a distracter on a task(s),
comparing males and females
Evolution of Ideas
• Preliminary Design:
Music vs. No music
Task i.e. crossword, word search
Males vs. Females • who would perform better?
• too simple?
• contribution to literature?
• discovery of Postma et al. (1998) - Sex Differences in
Object Location Memory
• more research!
Evolution of Ideas
• Rauscher, Shaw and Ky (1993)
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Mozart vs. Relaxation Instructions vs. Silence
exposure to a Mozart song showed a temporary
improvement in spatiotemporal reasoning skills
• Problem: NOT replicated
• Steele, Bass & Crook 1999; Steele, Brown &
Stoecker, 1999; Steele, Dalla Bella, Peretz,
Dunlop, Dawe, Humphrey, Shannon, Kirby &
Olmstead 1999
Background Research Outline
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Memory
Spatial
Spatial vs. Verbal
Verbal
Baddeley, 2000
Working Memory
• Baddeley & Hitch, 1974
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Multi-component model
Visuospatial sketchpad
Phonological loop
Controlled by central executive
Episodic buffer added (Baddeley 2000)
• Verbal and spatial tasks should not compete
for resources
• Concurrent speech/verbal tasks should
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(Repovs & Baddeley, 2006)
Working Memory
Farley et. al (2007)
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Looked at ability to remember a sequence of letters
Participants heard prose in Experiment 1
In experiments 2,3 &4 the participants heard digits
In repeated patterns or one digit was repeated
Result
• Both digits & prose interfered with letter recall
• But, most letters are seen in combinations that
compose words
Working Memory
Polich et al. (1982)
• Examined interference between orthographical and phonological
speech
o Participants were shown words that
o sounded alike (cake bake) or just looked alike (beard heard)
o Sometimes the orthographic & phonological features matched,
sometimes they did not
o Yes/no response – matching sound, similar features
Results
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If orthographic & phonological features did not match
Increased reaction time
Increased error
Longer P300 latencies – decision making
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But, only looked at speech – no object/speech
comparison
Working Memory
• Postma Izendoorn & De Haan (1998)
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Separate verbal & spatial components
Object-to-position assignment task
With or without verbal suppression (“blah”)
Saw ten objects on screen
Object-to-position-assignment - positions pre-marked
Positions-only condition – all objects the same
Combined condition – ten different objects, no pre-marking
• Results
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Positions-only condition & Combined condition
Males did better than females
Object-to-position-assignment articulatory suppression effect
• Shortcoming – did not use words commonly heard in
speech
Spatial vs.Verbal Memory
Ito and Iwanaga (2002)
• Pupose: the disturbance effect of music on the processing of
verbal and spatial memories
• Method: subjects perform verbal and spatial tasks while
listening to different types of music: music with lyrics,
instrumental music, natural music or no music.
• shown word patterns and had to decide if pattern had been
shown earlier or if it was novel
• Result: found it more difficult to complete any tasks during the
vocal music condition compared with the instrumental music
condition
• participants answered the spatial task correctly more often than
the verbal task
• Shortcoming: did not consider the effect that the lyrics in the
songs being listened to might have on the verbal task being
completed
Verbal Memory
• Purnell-Webb et al. (2008): music aids verbal recall
Familiarity of melody and rhythm act as retrieval
cues for verbal recall
• Peretz et al. (2004): relationship between lyrics and music
in memory
Recognition of lyrics when primed by a melody
occurred
Recognition of melody when primed by lyrics occurred
priming: a representation in memory is created and this facilitates
activation of related items
-activation allows one to process a target that is related to the
representation more efficiently
Rationale & Expectations
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Separate spatial and auditory components
Activate either visuospatial or phonological loop
Assess interference
Expect :
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No interference between lyrics and spatial recall
task
Different resource allocation – visuospatial sketchpad and
phonological loop
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Interference between lyrics and word recall task
Split of resource – phonological loop required for both
tasks
Hypotheses
• Relevant lyrics will facilitate word recall
• Non- relevant lyrics will interfere with word
recall
• Type of lyrics will have no effect on spatial
tasks
• Music will have a facilitatory effect on
spatial recall
Experiment Design
Participants
• Nine, female undergraduate students between 17-29
years of age
• Interested in knowing if listening to music while studying
is helpful or detrimental
• General instructions about the study were given prior to
participation (handout)
Apparatus and Music
• Microsoft Powerpoint presentation software to display a
series of slides and instructions
• Wannabe by the Spice Girls (1996)
• Computer volume was set at 50% of its maximum
volume
• Standard earbud headphones, quiet room, no visual
distractors
Experimental Design
Experimental Tasks
• Verbal and word-to-position tasks, completed in 3 different
conditions
- RW = Relevant words • listening to music with
lyrics
that corresponded to the words used in the task
- NRW = Non-relevant words • listening to music with words
that
did not correspond to words in the task
o Control = listening to natural music (rain)
• nine trial blocks, each block containing a verbal and a word-toposition assignment task, for a total of eighteen trials per
participant
Experiment Design
Data Processing
• Scores
Verbal: percentage of words correctly recalled
Word-to-Position: percentage of words correctly
located
Data Sheet
Results
• Hypothesis 1: Relevant lyrics will facilitate word recall
• Non- relevant lyrics will interfere with word recall
Results
• Hypothesis 2: Type of lyrics will have no effect on wordto-position tasks
Repeated Measures ANOVA
There was no significant difference between
RW, NRW and control:
• F(2,14) = 0.85 , p>0.05
There was no significant difference between
Word-to position and Verbal:
• F(1,7) = 0.083, p>0.05
There was no significant interaction:
• F(2,14) = 0.50, p>0.05
Discussion
Expectation:
• recall facilitation when listening to the song in the wordto-position task
Working Memory:
• Baddeley’s model: visuospatial sketchpad, phonological
loop
Performance will ↓ if 2 tasks are using the same
subcomponent
• Postma et al. (1998): object-to-position task may have
used the visuospatial sketchpad
Word-to-position task: use of the phonological
loop, rather than the visuospatial sketchpad?
Discussion
Expectation:
• recall facilitation when words were relevant to the verbal task
(RW)
Song Choice – “Wannabe”
• Purnell-Webb et al. (2008): familiar melody and rhythm
facilitated verbal recall
• Peretz et al. (2004): bidirectional relationship between lyrics
and melody
• Oron-Gilad et al. (2008): listening to preferred music
increased arousal and did not hinder performance
Future Research & Improvements
• Song choice
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Personal preference (Oron-Gilad et al., 2008)
• Improved spatial task
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foam shapes
Remove semantic processing
• Increase number of participants
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power
• Compare males to females
Our results may be due to the use of only female
participants
o Males have been shown to be better at spatial tasks
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What We Have Learned
• The extensive process of researching
• Critiquing current literature - shortcomings, what
has not been examined?
• Trial and error - the process of creating a design,
running an experiment
• Working as a team - active involvement
• Time management