Cognitive Affects of Music

Presented by: Laura Fink, Ashlae Shepler, Sophia Turczynewycz, Eric

McGary and John Drain

Abstract For this project we are looked at the effects that

different types of music had on a individual’s memory recall. We used different types of music ranging from Mozart, a very soft piece of music, to Squarepusher, a hard, dramatic piece of music. When looking at past studies done on this or related areas of science, we have found sufficient data to back our hypothesis that “memory recall is directly affected by different rhythmic patterns. The shorter the stimuli and beats within the song, and the slower the tempo, the greater the memory recall will be.”

Introduction Our ability to recall external stimuli is an

essential component for functioning in society. We depend on the vividness of our memories for everything that we experience.

What we observe through our senses becomes filtered through the brain through electrochemical connections between brain cells that are quick to disappear. To spare these observations from oblivion we employ certain mnemonic devices, be it conscious or unconscious, to resuscitate the fleeting memory.

More Intro….. Given that associations of different impulses

increase the rate of remembrance, we propose that coordinating music with information increases the probability that memories become triggered.

Kristian David Olson, author of "The Effects of Music on the Mind," says that music "needs to be implemented correctly... for if it isn't, it can be very distracting to the mind." This lab explored the possibility that particular varieties of music are more conductive to aiding the acuity of ones memory than others.

And Even More Intro…. The music of Mozart for example, with it's

sonorous and slow paced rhythmic structure, has been reputed to be exceptionally beneficial to enhancing cognitive abilities.

Gordon Logan and Geoffrey L. Collier observed the effects of rhythmic stimuli on memory through a series of experiments in "Modality Differences in Short-term Memory for Rhythms." A "good rhythm" is one that was found to be conducive to aiding the memory. They found that "multimode patterns do not form good rhythms because they are not heard as single streams."

Relevance Everyone listens to music. People listen to it as

they drive on the highway, when they take a shower, when they wake up in the morning or when they go to bed at night.

Music is an integral part of our lives affecting anything from our moods to stress levels to motivations. For our project, being students ourselves, we wanted to look more closely at the effects of music on our study habits.

Questions With this information, two questions

arise: what are the other effects of music in our lives and what else can enhance our study habits? These questions then lead to a much broader investigation into the function of the brain and how it receives and process information.

Materials Dr. Seuss’ Oh! The Places You’ll Go! A CD player A compilation of various songs A stopwatch 25 participants

Methods: How did we test our

subjects? First, we asked our participants for

some general information, such as their age, major and memorization level, based on a scale of 1-7.

Then, everyday before testing we asked them what their mood was and if they had eaten or not.

Methods Cont’d: How did we test our subjects?

After answering the questions, participants then memorized a page of Oh! The Places You’ll Go! while listening to a piece of music.

Participants were able to take as long as they wanted, in order to memorize both the words and the images on a page. We timed the duration it took them.

More Methods…. This continued on for 6

consecutive days. Before a participant memorized a new page while listening to new music, they told us what they remembered from the day before and we recorded it on our data sheets.

Our Data: Example of General Info

Name Sex Age Grade Major Memory

Laura F 18 Frosh Western 5

Tina F 21 Senior Educa. 4

Vikas M 21 Senior MIS 4

Kelby M 18 Frosh Undec. 5

Ellissa F 18 Frosh Arch. 4

More Data:Example of Daily Records, Day 1

Name Date Time Mood Eat? Time # of words

Image

Laura 11-11 12:41 pm

Mellow No 5 sec 14 Boy in yellow

walking

Tina 11-11 5:46pm Tired yet

excited

Yes 53 sec 14 Little boy in yellow

walking

Vikas 11-11 6:35pm Stressed

Yes 25 sec 14Boy in yellow

walking

Day 1 No Music

Day 2 Squarepusher

Day 3 R.E.M.

Day 4 Heart

Day 5 Miles Davis

Day 6 Mozart

What did we discover? During our study we observed that most

people would sing, tap their foot, or have some noticeable reaction to the songs they were familiar with. Some would even memorize the page by reciting aloud the words. The songs that our participants were least familiar with, would have a negative reaction or no reaction on the participants.

The architect students memorized the detail of the image and numbers in the image better than Western students.

More Discoveries! While reviewing our statistical data, we

discovered that there was a significant difference in female and male memorization. Females memorized words and images faster and retained more information than males.

The more stressed the participant was that day, the more they focused on memorizing the page as a whole. When the participant was happy or tired, their minds wandered more and were less focused in general.

Let’s see that data! The percent of words memorized vs. the

music and participant’s sex.

More fun data! Mood of the participant vs. percentage

of words memorized.

We love data! Music and participant’s sex vs. the

duration of the song.

Do you like data too?! Percentage of words memorized v.s. the

image recalled.

The End “Human beings are inherently and just about

universally musical.” Ellen Goldensohn From our project, we have learned that our

hypothesis of: the shorter the stimuli, beats within the song, and the slower the tempo, the greater the memory recall will be was proven to be correct.

We had a splendid, groovy, swell, rad, good time working on the project!

ROCK ON!

BIBLIOGRAPHY Collier, Geoffrey L. and Gordon Logan, “Modality

differences in short-term memory for rhythms.” Memory and Cognitions. Psychonomic Society, Inc., 2000.

David, Kristian Olson. The Effects of Music on the Mind. 22 February 1996. http://www.bobjanuary.com/musicmnd.htm. (October 3, 2001).

Goldensohn, Ellen. “Why Music?” Natural History. Vol. 110. 2001. P.8.

Milius, Susan. “Face the Music.” Natural History. Vol. 110. 2001. Pgs. 48-57.