Worcester University Psychology Dept.

Research conducted by Daniel Young, supervised by Steve Ward, featuring specially composed music by Vo Fletcher, 2003

Executive summary.

Rationale:

The purpose of this executive summary is to encapsulate the relevant primary findings of the above titled research study. There is not the intention to present all findings or include all relevant theoretical positions taken in the original study, since this summary is provided as a cover document to the original study itself, with the intention of summarizing the aspects of the study most relevant to the intended recipient, Mr. Vo Fletcher, who provided specially composed music to be used in the testing phase. It is hoped that the document will be more accessible with this summary (that can also be used by the recipient to communicate research findings concerning his music), but reference to the original independent study write-up (enclosed) will certainly be of interest to those seeking a more full account.

Background:

Considerable interest into how sound affects individual performance on cognitive tasks has led to the undertaking of research by a number of psychologists (Furnham and Strbac, 2002 and Uhrbrock, 1961). Technological advances allowing the use of background music in every day settings has led to consideration as to whether behaviour can be modified through such exposure (Oldham, Cummings, Mischel, Schmidtke and Zou, 1995 cited in Furnham and Strbac, 2002). A recent study measured the performance, motivation and satisfaction of a group of employees before instructing them to listen personal stereos for 4 weeks. Results showed a marked increase in motivation, performance, satisfaction and mood (Oldham et al., 1995). The choices of background music made by supermarkets, fast-food outlets, and restaurants has in the last decade been more informed by research findings supporting such use for mood influence, and more recent research has investigated the properties of music in relation to the learning environment (encompassing schools, universities, and home studying).

Causal relationships between listening to Mozart and enhanced spatial performance have been found by numerous psychologists (Rideout, Dougherty and Wernert, 1998; Rideout and Laubach, 1996; and Rideout and Taylor, 1997). The ability to recall information in exams and tests may also be ameliorated by listening to Mozart (and other classical compositions). The College Entrance Examination Board (1996, cited in Campbell, 1997) reported that students partaking in music related college activities scored 51 points higher on SAT tests and 39 points higher on the mathematical paper. Evidence is therefore available to suggest music can improve performance on a number of cognitive tasks. Whether this is purely based on the effects that music has on mood (which has extensively been found to influence learning and memory), or upon its influence through some other mechanism, is at present uncertain. Music has been used in classroom settings to contribute to a more effective learning environment, and studies into the musical principles involved have just started emerging, as well as music specifically composed with such learning settings in mind (Fletcher, 2002).

Methodology:

Twenty-three participants from a local school were exposed to lists of ten words whilst listening to one of four musical pieces (plus a control condition in which no music was played). There was a short break followed by a recall test during which participants were exposed to either the same music or a different piece. This was to measure the effects and interactions between various variables. Firstly, to see if there was a simple effect of musical style upon learning and recall; secondly, to see if people recalled better when exposed to the same music they had experienced during learning (known as congruency); and thirdly, to determine if there was an interaction between the two aforementioned conditions. Another variable that was considered was whether the pieces of music were accompanied with words or not, since some previous similar research has been criticised on one of two grounds - either the words in the music acted as distractors as they have the same modality as the stimuli to be recalled (i.e. they are words), or that participants have been able to use the words of the song as mnemonics to aid recall. It was therefore decided to have two of the four music pieces worded and two purely instrumental. All participants took part in all conditions to allow for better comparability.

Findings:

The table below shows the mean recall scores for the four different musical styles. Whilst the scores may not appear to differ by a large degree, it must be kept in mind that there were only ten words in each condition, so the range of possible scores wasn't large. Both the classical music and Vo's specially composed music resulted in higher scores than the rock and pop pieces, and best overall was Vo's music.

Table 1: Mean recall scores and standard deviation for the four musical styles.

The data were analysed statistically using an ANOVA procedure, and the results confirmed that the difference in recall across different music conditions was statistically significant, F (3,63) = 2.922, p = < 0.05. Of specific statistical significance in subsequent post-hoc analyses were the mean recall scores between the conditions pop and Vo where t (22) = 0.410, p <0.01 which showed recall made under music style Vo was considerably better than recall under pop music. Other results approached significance and the general trend revealed was that both classical music and, to a larger extent, Vo's music compared favourably to pop and rock music in terms of their influence on recall scores. In terms of the effect of whether music had words or not, there was a significant difference in recall scores between the worded conditions and the non-worded music conditions, t (22) = 2.603, P = < 0.05. In terms of the congruency effect (i.e. where music was the same during recall as it was during learning as opposed to conflicting pieces of music), the results showed a trend toward significance but didn't actually reach statistical significance. Explanations for all of these findings in terms of theoretical and methodological accounts are covered extensively in the main document.

Steve Ward

Curriculum Leader (Psychology)

University College Worcester

2003

For more information, please follow the links or email info@calmerclassrooms.com 

—> Buy now

—> FAQ

—> Special Needs

—> Press Articles

—> Email Us

—> Links