The Effect of Familiar Melodies on Initial Learning and Long-term Memory for Unconnected Text

Abstract

In two experiments we tested the hypothesis that music, in the form of a familiar melody, can serve as an effective mnemonic device. Prior research has provided very little support for this commonly held belief. In both studies, participants learned a list of names that they heard either spoken or sung to a familiar tune. In Experiment 1, the melody was "Pop Goes the Weasel"; in Experiment 2, the melody was "Yankee Doodle." We measured the number of trials to learn the list initially and the number of trials to relearn the list a week later. In both studies, there was no advantage in initial learning for those who learned the names to the musical accompaniment. However,in both studies, participants who heard the sung version required fewer trials to relearn the list of names a week later than did participants who heard the spoken version.

Together in Song: Building Literacy Relationships with Song-based Picture Books

“…Parents/guardians reported greater confidence by their children when they sang a new book rather than when they read one, which spoke strongly to the power of the melodic phrase as an excellent mediator through which to gain fluency with oral language. Many of the song-based picture books contained texts that repeated each time a melodic phrase repeated, thus reinforcing previous findings about children's ability to use familiar melody as a cue in recalling text (Rainey & Larsen, 2002;Wallace, 1994). Children's habits of revisiting these melodies/texts away from the printed copy of the song-based picture books (e.g., singing the song while riding in the car) also provided greater opportunity for textual rehearsing than might occur with regular picture books.…”

“…These connections then are access points or cues to memory. (p. 1472) Interestingly, research in this parallel topic of melodic memory research had revealed that individuals as young as kindergarten were able to use a familiar melody as a cue in recalling text (Peynįrcįoğlu, Rabinovitz & Thompson, 2008;Rainey & Larsen, 2002;Wolfe & Hom, 1993).…”

Look for good and never give up: A novel attention training treatment for childhood anxiety disorders

“…The production of such melodies (e.g., jingles) is associated with numerous cognitive benefits (Rainey & Larsen, 2002;Silverman, 2010;Wolfe & Noguchi, 2009) and is a widely-used strategy in classroom settings with children to facilitate learning (e.g., the melodic production of the alphabet) (Brewer, 1995). Thus, verbalizing distinctive catch-phrases expressed as rhythmical jingles that reinforce the search strategies required during attention training (i.e., to look for positive stimuli) and other situations (i.e., to never give up doing this), might enhance children's learning and memory of these search strategies and in turn, improve outcomes after treatment and over time.…”

The Impact of Musical Texts on the Text Recall of Young Learners of English in Isfahan Junior High Schools

“…2007). Indeed, based on this model, a song, while providing a dual task, makes memorization difficult and slows at initial steps but when achieved, the trace is robust, and retrieval from long-term memory is facilitated (Calvert & Tart, 1993;Rainey & Larsen, 2002;Wilson, Parsons, & Reutens, 2006). According to the theory of dual representation of a song's lyrics and melody, it has been argued that music interferes with verbal learning at initial steps and facilitates performance in long-term retention.…”