The results of the research revealed that the hypothesis was supported by data analysis. The experiment confirmed that participants retained more words when listening to classical music in comparison with listening to pop music. Even though the findings of the study are consistent with the current body of knowledge, they can be interpreted differently depending on the applied framework. On the one hand, the differences are mediated by the amount of arousal caused by different types of music. On the other hand, the differences are associated with the reward system. The findings of the present research can be utilized to treat patients with mental disorders or help students learn new words. However, the generalizability and reliability of research results are questionable; therefore, they should be used with caution. Future research should focus on addressing the limitations of the study and exploring the effect of other types of music.
The results of the research supported the hypothesis that listening to classical music in comparison with pop music while learning new words increases retrieval. These findings imply that listening to music has a statistically significant effect on the ability to memorize and reproduce new words depending on the type of music. The findings of the study are consistent with the current body of knowledge about the correlations between music and memory. The results of the present research can be explained by the hypothesis tested by Nguyen and Grahn (2017). It can be assumed that classical music causes less arousal than pop music, which facilitates memory efficiency. Hence, the effect produced by the different types of music may be mediated by the arousal level caused by it. The study by Christopher and Shelton (2017) also supports the idea of an indirect link between exposure to music and memory improvements, as it found that music generally hinders the ability to remember new material.
However, the present research may be explained by the findings presented by Ferreri and Rodriguez-Fornells (2017). Classical music may be considered more rewarding for the learner than pop music, which improves the cognitive ability of the participants. Therefore, the results of the present paper may be used to design and justify interventions for improving memory in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and mental conditions, as it was suggested by Deason et al. (2019). At the same time, teachers from various educational institutions can use the finding. In particular, educators can justify playing classical music while teaching new words to students.
However, the results of the present study should be used with caution due to the limitations of the design. First, the sample size was relatively small, which does not support the reliability of the findings. Second, sample characteristics do not support the generalizability of findings as the results can be applied only to students of a particular age studying in one university. Third, the research did not consider any control variables and did not address the possibility of mediation, which may lead to biased conclusions. Finally, there is no certainty in the interpretation of the results as the current body of knowledge supports different explanations. Therefore, further research is needed to confirm the findings of the present paper. Further investigations should focus on addressing the weaknesses of the present study to improve reliability and generalizability. At the same time, the effect of other types of music needs to be explored to understand which genre is the most beneficial for improving memorizing and retrieval of information.
References
- Christopher, E. A., & Shelton, J. T. (2017). Individual differences in working memory predict the effect of music on student performance. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6(2), 167–173.
- Deason, R. G., Strong, J. V., Tat, M. J., Simmons-Stern, N. R., & Budson, A. E. (2019). Explicit and implicit memory for music in healthy older adults and patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 41(2), 158–169.
- Ferreri, L., & Rodriguez-Fornells, A. (2017). Music-related reward responses predict episodic memory performance. Experimental Brain Research, 235(12), 3721–3731.
- Nguyen, T., & Grahn, J. A. (2017). Mind your music: The effects of music-induced mood and arousal across different memory tasks. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, 27(2), 81–94.