Abstract

Music has been used in many different ways. Such as aiding one’s memory, patient’s
diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, regulating mood and emotion, for fun and now for studying.
The objective of this study is to determine if their preferred music genre will have a greater
effect than the proven classical music on memory recall. The researchers’ respondents were all
college students ranging from 17-20 years old. The respondents were selected randomly. A
survey was given for the screening test to filter the participants and to know what their preferred
genres are. During the actual experiment, they were given a short history of a certain country to
read and comprehend with the accompaniment of music and after that will give a paper with the
same contents but with missing information. The analysis revealed that with the use of the
participant’s preferred music genre a better memory recall is significant. The study confirmed
that music is more helpful when studying if their preferred music genre is used than the proven
classical music genre.

Introduction

Memory Recall is one of the major problems of adolescents especially those who are
attending school. Music has been shown to fulfil a wide range of different functions in people’s
everyday life (Sloboda et.al., 2001 as cited in Greasley & Lamont , 2006).For example exp. It
has been suggested that music have a beneficial effect on the performance and cognition of
humans, however, use of music while studying are said to be distraction to some people, results
are lesser on memory recall and can impair performance(Perham & Vizard, 2010). It can be used
as a tool on learning especially on memorizing and memory recall. Some people could memorize
and recall words or a number while listening to music with or without lyrics. Using music
according to what we know and what song is popular that individuals could relate to and might
alter fatigue effect on the participants. Studies have also shown that almost all music increases
your mood because it causes a release of dopamine, so if you're feeling tired, bored, or
depressed, a good pop song might be the cure you need.

Past research shows negative correlation between music and the subject’s ability to recall
information with the presence of auditory stimuli. They examine the relationship between
personality type and the amount of information given recalled while listening to music such as
pop and classical that is opposed to silence. The participants were high-school students ages 16-
18 yrs. There were 2 day process wherein on the first day they were given an Eysenck
Personality Questionnaire and on day two they were given 3 sets of list of words to be recalled
for 2 minutes. The results indicated that with silence both introvert and extroverts performed on
the same level. In either pop or classical music extroverts got slightly more words recalled than
the introverts. With that they conclude that music has a minimal effect on memory because of the
music devices are ubiquitous with chosen subjects (Thompson & Mutic, 2013). However, (Jones,
2010) asserts that individual taste in music could play a part in the total music experience in
relation to studying. A significant number of students changed their music preference to a softer
classical style for the purpose of studying because doing so was perceived as a way to improve
concentration or relax. In general, students perceive the act of listening to music as a means of
relaxing or changing their mood. The musical tastes of college age students are ever changing;
therefore, a musical preference for baroque music used in 40 year old research. Music used in
research on the aging could hardly be expected to appeal to the young adult of the 21st century.
With regard to students’ general preferences for genres of music, the most popular genre proved
to be pop music. The second most popular preference was hip hop, followed closely by rock. Of
those who reported listening to music while studying, a number of students indicated that they
listened to classical music (approximately 40 %). The result was identical for those who
indicated that they listened to pop music while studying. However, when compared to the results
for general preferences, it is clear that students changed preference when it came to studying.
Students were able to choose multiple genres within general preferences as well as study
preferences. The fact that classical music gained in favor over both the jazz and the pop
categories as a study preference while the results for those who favored hip hop remained
unchanged was unexpected. This result suggests that students are somehow aware of qualitative
differences with respect to various genres of music and their effects on students’ ability to study.
Most students indicated that music aided their ability to concentrate (Polyglossia vol.19
Jones,2010).

It is predicted that participants will have better recall for words when set to a familiar
melody than when the text is just read. The rhythm and melody of a familiar song provide a
structure for 4 learning new information, a distinctive memory record, and effective retrieval
cues (Rainey & Larson, 2002). Irrelevant sound disrupts attention and has detrimental effects on
performance of cognitive tasks. Even relatively quiet sound shows this effect. Non-speech
sounds can be disruptive when there is acoustic variation. Irrelevant sounds produce these effects
when stimuli is presented and when it is present during retention. Memory is highly vulnerable to
the negative effects of irrelevant sound. Irrelevant sound that holds semantic meaning has been
found to disrupt comprehension tasks (Banbury, Macken, Tremblay, &Jones, 2001).We
sometimes cannot take control on all the variables that would affect the study negatively
especially the irrelevant sounds ,but, according to a study which states that faint noise level is 30
dB which is a common noise level when an individual is in a library or whispering then for
moderate noise level 40 dB , 50 dB and 60 dB which are common when one is in a quiet room,
when there is moderate rainfall and if an individual is having a conversation (Asha, 2015) aside
from this study another research was conducted and it says that the lower the decibels, the better.
Whispering and silence are about 0-15 dB and most noises are over 35 dB. In the research, the
best scores were gotten when the level of background noise was lower than 28 db (Sahagun,
2014).

Research throughout the years has demonstrated that playing music in the background
can have positive effects on memory recall, particularly spatial memory recall and this is known
as the Mozart effect (Rauscher, Shaw &Ky, 1993; as cited in Yao, Sun, Poggio, Liu, Zhong &
Huang, 2010) but Listening to music composed by Mozart does not have unique or special
consequences for spatial abilities. Rather, upbeat, age-appropriate music can improve listeners’
arousal level and mood, at least for short periods (Schellenberg,2005). Some studies stated that
classical music is a good music to listen to while studying. It can enhance ones memory recall. A
university research in France, published in Learning and Individual Differences, found that
students who listened to a one-hour lecture where classical music was played in the background
scored significantly higher in a quiz on the lecture when compared to a similar group of students
who heard the lecture with no music (Prisco, 2014).  Another study from the University of
Dayton found that students performed better at spatial and linguistic processing if Mozart was
playing in the background. So maybe having instrumental music can help performance, since it
doesn’t have any distracting vocals (Doraiswamy, 2012). Some research also suggests that quiet
background music has a positive effect on cognitive memory among those individuals
accustomed to such background music and may hinder those that are unaccustomed to
background music (Su and Wang, 2010; as cited in B Ducharme et.,al, 2013). Additionally, it has
been found that vocal music is significantly more detrimental to STM as compared to
instrumental music (Alley and Greene, 2008).

Finally, education is not the only setting that can use music to enhance memory recall. Even in
the field of medicine, specifically with people who have Alzheimer’s disease. Music as a
memory enhancer in patients with Alzheimer’s disease investigates the effect of music at
encoding on the subsequent recognition of associated verbal information. Lyrics of unfamiliar
children’s songs were presented bimodally at encoding, and visual stimuli were accompanied by
either a sung or a spoken recording. Patients with AD demonstrated better recognition accuracy
for the sung lyrics than the spoken lyrics, while healthy older adults showed no significant
difference between the two conditions. They propose two possible explanations for these
findings: first, that the brain areas sub serving music processing may be preferentially spared by
AD, allowing a more holistic encoding that facilitates recognition, and second, that music
heightens arousal in patients with AD, allowing better attention and improved memory
(Simmons-Sterna et.al, 2010).
Based from the related literature, the following points are hereby summarized:

1. Research throughout the years has demonstrated that playing music in the background
can have positive effects on memory recall, particularly spatial memory recall and this is
known as the Mozart effect (Rauscher, Shaw &Ky, 1993; as cited in Yao, Sun, Poggio,
Liu, Zhong & Huang, 2010).
2. Another study from the University of Dayton found that students performed better at
spatial and linguistic processing if Mozart was playing in the background. So maybe
having instrumental music can help performance, since it doesn’t have any distracting
vocals (Doraiswamy, 2012).
3. The rhythm and melody of a familiar song provide a structure for 4 learning new
information, a distinctive memory record, and effective retrieval cues (Rainey & Larson,
2002).
4. Another study from the University of Dayton found that students performed better at
spatial and linguistic processing if Mozart was playing in the background. So maybe
having instrumental music can help performance, since it doesn’t have any distracting
vocals (Doraiswamy, 2012).
5. Some research also suggests that quiet background music has a positive effect on
cognitive memory among those individuals accustomed to such background music and
may hinder those that are unaccustomed to background music (Su and Wang, 2010; as
cited in B Ducharme et.,al, 2013).
6.

The study The researcher’s aim to answer the following questions:

What are the effects of the participant’s preferred genre on memory recall? Which of the two
conditions: preferred music genre and classical music genre, used as background music while
studying results to a better memory recall? What are the implications of the study for the people
and the future researchers?

The researcher’s has these hypotheses:

 There is a significant difference between classical music and preferred music genre to
memory recall
 Use of preferred music genre while studying is better on memory recall.
The researcher’s study focused on which type of genre: classical or preferred, will they be able to
recall informations better. The aspect of the study was to know the respondents preferred genre
and if they are listening to music while studying as well as if it’s effective or not. The data and
participants are gathered within the premises of San Beda College Alabang specifically in the
CAS building. There were 30 respondents which their ages are only limited to 17-20 years old
and are randomly selected students. The Psychology laboratory 1 was the only room used by the
researchers to avoid extraneous variable to occur during the experiment.

Operational Definition

1. Preferred Music Genre – is classified as an individual’s favorite music selection, it is the

most frequent type of music a participant listens to.
2. Classical Music – it is traditional music which is described as light and almost airy, it greatly
emphasized a single melody that all the instruments plays especially a violin and a piano.
3. Music Genre – is an artistic form of expressive style of music, it is the conventional
category of different types of music.
4. Mozart Effect – it is the effect of short term memory improvement attained whilst listening
to Mozart’s music.
5. Memory Recall – it refers to the mental process of piecing together various information
which are recently learned.
6. Pop – it is genre of popular music considered as a general appeal especially for young
people, it has more rhythm and harmony and often focuses on ‘romantic love’.
7. RnB (Rhythm and Blues) – it is a music genre characterized as a soulful, strong and funky
music with backbeats which are found relaxing for some people.

Recommendation

Based on the foregoing findings of the study, the following are recommended for future
enhancement of the developed Effect of Music Preference to Memory Recall:

Providing a wide range of music genres/music trends, especially for teen participants.

Adding extra devices for sudden defects of used devices to avoid interruptions/complications
during the experiment.
References

Perham,N. & Vizard J. (2011). Can Preference for Background Music Mediate the Irrelevant
Sound Effect?