Associative Memory

Music, one of the many factors that enhance our lives, has been a widely ranged field. From Classical music to Hip Hop, there are listeners of all ages, each having their own preference of music. Through research, it has been discovered that memory can be affected by many different factors, including music. Music has been found to stimulate parts of the brain, alleviating stress and depression. Additional research also shows that music, especially Classical, enhances the storage and recall of memory. Therefore we decided to test the effect of music on memory to evaluate the changes and differences.

Often music is consisted not only by sounds made from musical instruments, but also by voice and verbal messages. The structure of the voice, or as Roland Barthes describes it ‘the grain of voice’ is the element in a certain piece of music which is responsible for creating the emotions when listening. The grain and the lyrics make the signified and carry out the message. The vocal part of music is formed of words, text, which communicate and make the representation and expression of what it is sung - talked about. According to Barthes the emotive modes of the voice and the changes of the tones from low to high is what delivers the final message and makes us feel the music. (Barthes, R. 1977 [1972]).

This method calls for the music analyst using music fundamentals like rhythm or tune as accompaniments to aid patients to memorize oral contents. First, Simmons-Stern NR et al. compared the recognition effectiveness of sung lyrics and spoken lyrics in AD patients in 2010. It was founded that melody could improve the brain programming capacity of verbal material related with spoken (18). Moreover, Palisson J and his colleagues conducted an attention-grabbing study. They linked the verbal text mnemonic effects with three dissimilar accompaniments including spoken by Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin (movie sequence), sung by the Ode to Joy by Beethoven, or spoken alone. The data presented that sung texts were easily memorized than other two groups.

Songs are psychologically proved to be easier to remember because alliteration, repetition, and rhyme are mnemonics, or memory aids that people have developed over time, according to Psychology Today. For centuries, humans from every part of the world have orally passed down stories through songs. Stories, information, and history are easier passed down through song from generation to generation, or from person to person. This method of sharing stories has been an extremely integral part of our history. For example, Harriet Tubman created many verbal codes to act as maps to help slaves escape through the underground railroad. It was vital that slaves remembered the instructions, so Harriet Tubman cleverly set the escape codes to songs. Because

Music helps us remember events and feel emotions - whether we want to or not. This phenomenon has changed the way we experience and remember songs. Humans have associated certain music with events and emotions for as long as we had the capability to (Baumgartner 316), so listening to these familiar sounds brings forth the memories that come with

It can be proven, through literary research and personal experiences, that music has a positive effect on learning and memory. It can be concluded that these positive effects have an impact on patients with Alzheimer’s, on the motor skills and auditory memory of mentally disabled children, on students attempting to remember subject manner that they are learning, and on the affectivity of advertisements. On a personal note, music has facilitated my ability to remember things, both positive and negative, a number of times. For example, in high school I memorized the days of the week in French by singing them along with a tune that was already familiar to me. I have also had multiple experiences in which I remember things that I do not want

Earworms, or involuntary musical imagery (INMI, as cited in Liikkanen, 2008) is a phenomenon where a song plays in one’s own mind repeatedly in an involuntary manner. It has been researched that popular songs are the most dominant earworms , but this experiment has intentions to analyse earworm data from songs having varying levels of popularity and experience for a variety of resulting data. The aim for this experiment is how likely a song would become an earworm via two conditions. Firstly, on how much the participant likes the song after listening to it 6 times, or the estimated amount of times the song has been listened to. This was measured by the amount of earworm episodes and their length of time. Previous research has outlined potential parallels of INMI and other memory types, or perhaps an association on tempo recollection of an earworm and the sensorimotor system .

Our brains are hardwired to automatically link music to important times or parts of our lives

Some people remember things based on the date or who they were with, others tie their memories to specific emotion-filled moments, I remember everything based on what song was playing. I listened Supertramp’s “Breakfast in America”, off my brother’s first generation iPod, the first time my mom allowed me to bike alone through the neighborhood. Carpools home from rec soccer practice were filled with the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” and geeky dance moves, windows rolled down so everyone could see. Coming home from fencing practice and studying late at night was an accompaniment of Bruce Springsteen songs being quietly played on the piano by my dad. Whatever the memory, music permeates each and every one.

Associative activation is ideas that can spread other ideas in your brain. When you hear a word your brain starts recalling memories of this word which in return will produce reactions, both of physical and mental awareness of this word. This is called associatively coherence, which means that an idea will make you have a sense of something because it fits with the associations that we already made around a certain product. It is here that we are learning that not only do we think with our brain but when our bodies react to an idea, it is also thinking as well. Ideas form links in the brain that are called associative memory, each idea is linked to many others, such as: Virus will be linked to a cold (which is called an effects link); Lime will be linked to green (which is demonstrated as a properties link); Banana will be linked to fruit (which is also known as a categories link). An idea that has been activated does not merely evoke one idea or reaction; it activates many which in turn activate others.

Thesis: Music is a unique form of sound powerful enough to manipulate mood, feelings, and cognition.

The article “The effects of music on achievement, attitude and retention in primary school English lessons” by Koksal, Yagisan, and Cekic show the impact music has in the classroom. The Article claims “best learning environment is one that includes music” (Köksal, et al. 1897). Meaning music activates different parts of the brain that coincide with memory. Through an experimental study mentioned in the article shows music has a “increased achievement in English vocabulary learning” (Köksal, et al. 1899). Memory channels are activated and students are able to retain what is being taught through the use of music. Therefore the article suggests music is a method that can be used in primary schools to exercise the mind helping students hold onto what they learn for longer periods of time. The authors argue music brings out a different level of intelligence in the classroom. However the article fails to briefly describe traditional methods, other possible methods, and possible defaults of a music learning environment jeopardizing a overall well conducted study of music used as a source of education.

“Evidence suggests that music remains just as essential to the human race now as it did 70,000-80,000 years ago.” (Harvey, 2011) Music, song, and dance as art forms have completely integrated with the art works to tell a whole story of the human culture, its history, and its beliefs. The art of music implements cohesion among a society and acts as a framework to our social architecture. “For many, the evolution of art in Homo sapiens is a unique event that is linked to the evolution of the cognitively modern mind.” (Harvey, 2011) As the human mind has evolved, so has art. Sounds, especially music has had a direct effect on the evolution of mankind. Recent studies have shown how the mnemonic structure of music aids and promotes memory, learning, and the organization of knowledge. It is also proven to add structure to time. Cultures and the human species have continued to do and create art over several time periods because it allows humans to not only

I believe music is a gateway to a lot of things. Certain lyrics, beats, and even performances can trigger numerous events. This could include memories, moods, emotions, and even different senses. For instance, at this mini concert, you could tell the audience was affected in some sense, more or less by the music presented to them. It’s evident in body language, facial expressions, and even the atmosphere. Music had a mood as well.

Music elicits an emotional and cognitive response in all who listen to it. It is powerful at the individual level because “it can induce multiple responses – physiological, movement, mood, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral” (Francis, 2008,