Effect of Music on Memory

Evolution of Ideas

• Initial Brainstorming:

NavigationExtended Blind-walking TaskSex differences on tasksMultitasking Music Music as a distracter on a task(s),

comparing males and females

• each member of the group researched an area of study that was considered most interesting

• several areas of study were suggested

Evolution of Ideas

• Preliminary Design:

Music vs. No musicTask i.e. crossword, word searchMales vs. Females • who would perform better?

• discovery of Postma et al. (1998) - Sex Differences in Object Location Memory

• more research!

• too simple?• contribution to literature?

• Rauscher, Shaw and Ky (1993)o Mozart vs. Relaxation Instructions vs. Silenceo 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

Evolution of Ideas

Background Research Outline

• Memory• Spatial• Spatial vs. Verbal• Verbal

Baddeley, 2000

Working Memory

• Baddeley & Hitch, 1974o Multi-component modelo Visuospatial sketchpado Phonological loopo Controlled by central executiveo Episodic buffer added (Baddeley 2000)

• Verbal and spatial tasks should not compete for resources

• Concurrent speech/verbal tasks shouldo (Repovs & Baddeley, 2006)

Working MemoryFarley et. al (2007) • 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 MemoryPolich 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 noto Yes/no response – matching sound, similar features Resultso If orthographic & phonological features did not match

Increased reaction time Increased error Longer P300 latencies – decision making

o But, only looked at speech – no object/speech comparison

Working Memory• Postma Izendoorn & De Haan (1998)

o Separate verbal & spatial componentso Object-to-position assignment tasko With or without verbal suppression (“blah”)o Saw ten objects on screeno Object-to-position-assignment - positions pre-markedo Positions-only condition – all objects the sameo Combined condition – ten different objects, no pre-marking

• Resultso Positions-only condition & Combined condition

Males did better than femaleso Object-to-position-assignment articulatory suppression effect

• Shortcoming – did not use words commonly heard in speech

Spatial vs.Verbal MemoryIto 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

• 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

Verbal Memory

Rationale & Expectations • Separate spatial and auditory components • Activate either visuospatial or phonological loop• Assess interference • Expect :

o No interference between lyrics and spatial recall task Different resource allocation – visuospatial sketchpad and

phonological loopo 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 DesignParticipants• 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 DesignExperimental 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-to-position 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 word-to-position tasks 

Repeated Measures ANOVA

There was no significant difference between RW, NRW and control:• F(2,14) = 0.85 , p>0.05There was no significant difference between Word-to position and Verbal:• F(1,7) =  0.083, p>0.05There was no significant interaction:• F(2,14) = 0.50, p>0.05

Discussion

• recall facilitation when listening to the song in the word-to-position task

Expectation:

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

Song Choice – “Wannabe”

• recall facilitation when words were relevant to the verbal task (RW)

Expectation:

• 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

o Personal preference (Oron-Gilad et al., 2008)• Improved spatial task

o foam shapeso Remove semantic processing

• Increase number of participantso power

• Compare males to femaleso Our results may be due to the use of only female

participantso Males have been shown to be better at spatial tasks

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