The effects of music tempo on memory performance using maintenance rehearsal and imagery

• Main Authors: Chie, Qiu Ting *, Karthigeyan, Kartpagam K. *
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sunway University College 2009
• Subjects: BF Psychology; LB Theory and practice of education; M Music
• Online Access: http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/64/1/THE_EFFECTS_OF_MUSIC_TEMPO_ON_MEMORY.pdf; http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/64/; http://sunway.edu.my/media/academic-journal
• Institution: Sunway University

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of music tempo on memory performance when different learning strategies, namely, maintenance rehearsal and imagery are used. A mixed model design experiment was conducted on a total of 120 (37 male and 83 female) participants. Participants were presented two word lists under three music tempo conditions (slow ? 60 bpm, optimum ? 120 bpm, fast ? 165 bpm) and a control condition, using either maintenance rehearsal or imagery in sequential order. A counting task was then introduced to induce delayed recall before being tested using free recall. This study found that participants were not affected by the order in which rehearsal or imagery was used; participants scored significantly higher using imagery in comparison to maintenance rehearsal in all four music conditions; and participants achieved the highest memory performance in the 120 bpm in comparison to the control condition, 60 bpm and the 165 bpm conditions. A research question regarding the interaction between music tempos and learning strategies was also investigated. Under within-subject conditions, no significant effect was found between music tempos and learning strategies, which means that the effect of a particular music tempo on a single participant was constant and the same level of arousal would be effected during Trial 1r (Rehearsal) and Trial 2i (Imagery).