The Effect of Musical Complexity and Familiarity on Serial Recall

1201 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: negative effects of music on working memory

Students study and do work in different ways. For example, some may prefer to practice flashcards, while another might prefer to create pneumonic devices. One common study aid is to listen to music. One would assume that music would act as a great distractor to the learning process, yet it continues to be a popular way to study. In fact, a common belief is that the music increases focus and eliminates distracting background sounds. However, music’s impact on memory, as opposed to attention and focus, is usually not considered. How does the background presence of auditory stimuli, specifically music, influence memory? One aspect of music that makes it unique is its immediate familiarity and ease to which it can be remembered and engaged with. How does one’s familiarity with the music impact their ability to study? Also how does the complexity of the music impact memory?

The negative effects of irrelevant auditory stimuli on short term memory have been well documented and observed (D. Jones, 1999). Even at very low levels, irrelevant background speech can result in a 30% performance loss during serial recall, where participants must recite a past list in the same order as presented initially (Tremblay & D. M. Jones, 1998) (Beaman & D. M. Jones, 1997). These effects occur even when study participants are specifically instructed to ignore the background audio as these sounds are not part of the experiment (W. J. Macken, Tremblay, Houghton, Nicholls, & D. M. Jones, 2003b) (Tremblay, Nicholls, Alford, & D. M. Jones, 2000c). Participants are often unaware of any affect the background sounds have on their recall ability (Beaman & D. M. Jones, 1997). This overall occurrence is called the “irrelevant sound effect.” ISE appears to occur s...

... middle of paper ...

...doi:10.1037/0096-1523.29.1.43

Perham, N., & Vizard, J. (2010). Can preference for background music mediate the irrelevant sound effect? Applied Cognitive Psychology, n/a.

Schlittmeier, S. J., Hellbrück, J., & Klatte, M. (2008). Does irrelevant music cause an irrelevant sound effect for auditory items? Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 20(2), 252.

Tremblay, S., & Jones, D. M. (1998). Role of habituation in the irrelevant sound effect: Evidence from the effects of token set size and rate of transition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 24(3), 659-671. doi:doi:10.1037/0278-7393.24.3.659

Tremblay, S., Nicholls, A. P., Alford, D., & Jones, D. M. (2000c). The irrelevant sound effect: Does speech play a special role? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26(6), 1750-1754. doi:doi:10.1037/0278-7393.26.6.1750

Show More
Related

  • The Effect of Motivation on False Word Recall in the DRM Paradigm

    1519 Words  | 4 Pages

    Roediger III, H. L., & McDermott, K. B. (1995). Creating False Memories: Remembering Words Not Presented in Lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cogntion, 21, 803-814.

    Read More

  • Source Monitoring: A look at Errors

    1604 Words  | 4 Pages

    Marsh, R. L., Cook, G. I., & Hicks, J. L. (2006). The effect of context variability on source memory. Memory & Cognition (Pre-2011), 34(8), 1578-86.

    Read More

  • Music and the Brain

    2088 Words  | 5 Pages

    Music and the Brain: Processing and Responding (A General Overview). For any individual who either avidly listens to or performs music, it is understood that many melodies have amazing effects on both our emotions and our perception. To address the effects of music on the brain, it seems most logical to initially map the auditory and neural pathways of sound. In the case of humans, the mechanism responsible for receiving and transmitting sound to the brain is the ears.

    Read More

  • The Memory Profiles in Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mcleod (2007) defines memory as the structures and procedures included in the storage and later retrieval of information. Evidence hints that the predominant coding technique in short term memory (STM) is acoustic coding. The principle encoding system in long term memory (LTM) seems to be semantic coding (by meaning). However, information in LTM can also be coded both visually and sound-related (Mcleod, 2007).

    Read More

  • The Ebbinghaus Experiment: What Did Ebbinghaus and I Learn and Remember?

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ebbinghaus’ work on memory performance contributed astonishing knowledge to the field of scientific psychology and enthralled several succeeding researchers and psychologists (Fuchs, 1997; Slamecka, 1985; Young, 1985). Ebbinghaus was precisely known for conducting memory experiments by using nonsense syllables, and from the results of those experiments, he postulated a unitary view of learning and memory. However, Endel Tulving, provided evidence from Ebbinghaus’ original research that there existed discernible kinds of learning and memory. Prior to his experiment, Tulving received some scathing criticism on his stance regarding Ebbinghaus’ research, but he averred that there was no intention to derogate its concept (Slamecka, 1985; Tulving, 1985). Rather, Tulving’s experiment emanated from Ebbinghaus’ original research to address implications that would supplement knowledge about the psychological science of memory.

    Read More

  • Music's Relationship to Emotional Cognition

    2107 Words  | 5 Pages

    Music has frequently been used by directors to strengthen the impact of scenes that are dramatically weak and on the contrary, when music is not needed to strengthen a scene, it can be used for neutral effect and can refrain from drawing attention to itself e.g. easy listening or subtle complementary background music.

    Read More

  • The Serial Position Effect on Word Recall

    1521 Words  | 4 Pages

    The serial position effect has been studied extensively for many years. Researchers have designed a variety of different studies in order to analyze and explain both, the primacy and the recency effect. The primacy effect is the tendency for the first items presented in a series of words to be recalled more easily, or to be more influential than those presented at the end of the list. On the other end, there is also the recency effect. The recency effect is the tendency to recall the items located at the end of the list. Many studies have been designed to analyze how the primacy effect works and its accuracy. For instance, research compared the primacy and the recency effect (Jahnke, 1965). Forty-eight college students read lists of 6, 10, and 15 English words in a counterbalanced order. Twenty-four of the students were given instructions for the immediate serial recall of the list; while the other half of students were not aware that they would need to recall words from a list. Both groups received a total of 12 different lists. The words were read at a rate of one word per sec without any emphasis on specific word. In addition to that, the participants’ responses were recorded in an interval of 30 seconds. Results showed that the recency effect is stronger for free serial recall and for a longer interval than primacy effect (Jahnke, 1965). When instructions were given for a serial recall, primacy effects were stronger and recency effect weaker than when instructions were given for free recall. As the length of lists increased, the recency effect became stronger and more accurate.

    Read More

  • Auditory Localization

    1552 Words  | 4 Pages

    McDonald, J., Teder-Salejarvi, W, & Hillyard, S. (2000). Involuntary orienting to sound improves visual perception. Nature, 407, 906-907.

    Read More

  • False Memory

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    Roediger, H. L. III, & McDermott, K. B. (1995). Creating false memories: Remembering words not presented in lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 21, 803-814

    Read More

  • Categorical Perception Essay

    1347 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyone has experienced hearing a language they do not understand. In that context, the words seem to consist of a meaningless series of sounds; this is often ascribed to the listener not knowing the definitions of the vocabulary used. However, in addition to not being familiar with the words said, a person who does not understand the language will hear and process the sounds differently than a native speaker. This fact is partially explained by categorial perception, a perceptual-learning phenomenon in which the categories of different stimuli possessed by an individual affect his or her perception.

    Read More

  • The Reliability of Memory

    1483 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wheeler, M. A., Stuss, D, t., & Tulving, D. (1997). Toward a theory of episodic memory: The frontal lobes and autonoetic consciousness: Psychological Bulletin, 121, 331-354

    Read More

  • The Mozart Effect

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dowd, Will. "The Myth of the Mozart Effect." Skeptic 13.4 (2007): 21-23. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 15 Mar. 2011.)

    Read More

  • Listening to Music while Studying

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some people believe that songs with lyrics and melody can distract a student while studying, and hence, the speed of doing work will decrease. However, it must be recognized that there are other types of music, such as classical or instrumental music. These types of music promote in gaining higher concentration than compared to music with lyrics. As Cho suggests, with this state, when the brain is relaxed and calm,work is d...

    Read More

  • What´s the Human Memory?

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    When an individual acquires information it is processed into the memory system and must be manipulated into a form the system is capable of understanding in order for storage to take place. This information is then stored in the long term or episodic memory and is known as encoding (Baddeley, 1975). There are three ways in which information may be encoded; visual (imagery), acoustic (sound) and semantic (meaning) (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974). Acoustic coding is suggested to be the main or principle coding system concerning short-term memory (STM). If someone were to be presented with a list stating various letters or numbers, the information will be held in the STM, which would occur through rehearsal. This is a verbal process irrespective of whether the items are represented acoustically (being read out), or visually (on a piece of paper). The dominant encoding system involved in the long-term memory (LTM) however, is suggested to be semantic coding (Baddeley, 1975). Information in the LTM may be encoded visually as well as acoustically.

    Read More

  • The Benefits of Music

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Listening to music releases dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is known not only for improving mood but also increasing motivation and emotional stamina. But the benefits that come from listening to music affect more than just the way we feel. Studies have shown that when listening to the right style of music at the right decibel level, students have been able to concentrate better. For studying purposes, this mainly applies to classical music. Many school teachers and professors argue that music is simply distracting, or so stimulating that it inhibits a student’s ability to focus. However, when classical music has few words, or as is often found, few English words, the mind isn’t as easily distracted by the meaning or idea of the song. In fact, what is sometimes interpreted as chaotic in classical music can provide a high enough level of exertion for your brain to comprehend, that it stimulates high l...

    Read More

More about The Effect of Musical Complexity and Familiarity on Serial Recall

Open Document