THE ROCK AND CLASSICAL MUSIC GENRES AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE SHORTTERM MEMORY RETENTION OF THE SELECTED

BS PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA UNIVERSITY, Q.C.

A Research Proposal Presented to the Faculty of College of Arts and Sciences Our Lady of Fatima University

In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Science in Psychology

Bagtas, Joseph Nygel T. Datumanong, Arvin Robert P. Dela Cruz, Paola Janine G. Lamoste Caroline Y. Repatacodo, Ma. Diane Grace R.

September 2011

Abstract The researchers focused on the effect of music genres on the memory retention of selected BS Psychology students. Thirty (30) participants were gathered for the experiment that was composed of 3 sets. The first set served as the control set, the second set was conducted with the classical music variable and the third and last set was conducted with the rock music variable. The memory retention of the participants was tested with a simple recall test involving a set of 30 nonsense variables. The performance results of the participants were tabulated, computed and analyzed. The researchers found that music positively affected the participants performance in memory retention. Keywords: instrumental music, music genre, classical music, rock music, memory retention

Introduction In human nature, the retention and recall of information has a large effect on everyday life. Memory is important, especially since it what most people rely on for making decisions. Many researches have shown that memory is affected by many different factors, one of which is music. And when you combine music and memory in learning something new, there is much evidence that points to greater success in retaining the new information. This is because music has been found to stimulate parts of the brain, as stated by Donald A. Hodges, Nothing activates as many areas of the

brain as music. Studies have also demonstrated that music enhances the memory of Alzheimer`s and Dementia patients.

In light of these, the researchers decided to look into the possible effects of instrumental music genres, specifically classical and rock on the human short-term memory with the use of nonsense syllables. The researchers hypothesized that the rock and classical music genres do not have a significant effect on the short-term memory retention of the selected participants. Once the data had been collected, the results were computed and analyzed to draw out conclusions.

Research Problem The research focuses on the effects of music genres on memory retention. Specifically it seeks to answer the following questions, What is the effect of classical music genre and rock music genre on the memory retention of the respondents?

Research Hypothesis: The rock and classical music genres do not have a significant effect on the shortterm memory retention of the selected BS Psychology students.

Objectives 1. To determine the effect of music genres, particularly classical music and rock music, on memory retention. 2. To represent in numbers the effect of music genres on memory retention.

Scope and Delimitation The research focuses on the effect of classical music and rock music on the memory retention of selected BS Psychology students. The research limits itself in the particular locale inside the campus of Our Lady of Fatima University, Hilltop Subdivision, Lagro, Quezon City. The experiment was particularly held on the 2 nd floor of the College of Arts and Sciences Building inside room 208.

Related Literature Foreign Literature According to a book by Linda Shalaway, brain research shows that music and art trains the brain for higher thinking and reasoning skills (Learning to Teach: Not Just for Beginners, pp. 93, 94). This suggests that music have effects on the brain which would help individuals acquire knowledge easier. Another researcher by the name Donald A. Hodges who is the director of Music Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro stated that, Nothing activates as many areas of the brain as

music. This statement by Hodges supports the idea that music can be an effective tool in aiding an individual towards better attentiveness.

Music is believed to have many effects on humans and even other organisms. However, these effects may vary from positive to negative depending on the type of music presented to an individual. According to an article, certain kinds of music are energizing for the minds and can help learn much faster and digest food better. Other types of music on the other hand, actually drain energy from the brain and body and can also affect hormone levels, which is especially problematic in teens. Hence, the parents, instructors and the students themselves aught to be careful in choosing the type of music they play because these may lead to either a positive or negative outcome.

Foreign Studies

In an experiment that took place in an academic setting by Tucker and Bushman (1991), it was correctly hypothesized that rock and roll music has a negative effect on mathematical, verbal and reading comprehension. They administered portions of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Test to students in two groups; one group listened to rock and roll music, while another took the test in silence. It was found that rock and roll music worsened mathematical and verbal abilities, but had no impact on reading comprehension.

Also, according to a report on SAT takers, students with experience in music performance and appreciation scored higher on the SAT compared to students without music participation (College-Bound Seniors National Report Profile of SAT Program Test Takers, Princeton, NJ: The College of Entrance Examination Board, 2001).

These studies show that musical involvement gives positive effects in the learning process of an individual that may lead them to improve and excel themselves.

Conceptual Framework

Instrumental Music Genre

Short-Term Memory Retention

Short-Term Memory Recall

Methods Instruments 3 unique sets of 30 nonsense syllables Answer sheets/Papers Stopwatch Speakers Set of instruments of classical music and rock music

Respondents 30 BS Psychology students participated in the experiment composing of 10 male and 20 female. They were selected using the convenience sampling method. No participant was told about the true nature or purpose of the experiment. All participants were given a fudge bar as a reward for participating in the experiment.

Procedure Participants were arranged to be seated with a one seat distance from each other. Participants were strictly prohibited from communicating with other, creating any form of noise, and excessively looking around once the experiment has started. The participants were to perform a 3 set experiment using a within-subject design in which all participants are exposed to all levels of the independent variable.

Set 1 The participants were given a sheet of paper containing 30 nonsense syllables and were instructed to read and memorize it for 10 minutes. Afterwards, the paper containing the nonsense syllables was collected and a blank sheet of paper was given to the participants. The participants were then asked to write down all the nonsense syllables that they can remember for 10 minutes. After the test, the participants were given a 15 minute break to which they have full freedom to talk to each other. Set2 The procedure in set 1 was repeated in which a different set of 30 nonsense syllables was read and memorized for 10 minutes. In this set however, an instrumental of classical music was played on the background at full volume to make it clearly heard by all participants. After the 10 minute review, the participants completed the 10 minute recall test and were given another 15 minute break. Set3 The procedure in set 1 was again repeated in which a different set of 30 nonsense syllables was read and memorized for 10 minutes. In this set however, an instrumental of rock music was played on the background at full volume to make it clearly head by all participants. After the 10 minute review, the participants completed the 10 minute recall test and were then debriefed about the nature and purpose of the experiment.

Variables Independent Variable The independent variable is the music genre played during the experiment. Specifically, the experimenters made use of 3 variables; the control or no music variable, the classical music variable, and the rock music variable. The control or no music variable was used to provide the baseline level for comparison purposes. The 2 music genres were played at full volume making it clearly heard by all participants in the experiment.

Dependent variable The dependent variable is the performance of the respondents in the memory recall test in each set in which they were asked to write down all the nonsense syllables they can remember.

Results The respondents performance in the recall test in the 3 sets was analyzed comparing the results of the 2nd set and 3rd set to the 1st set. In other word the results of set 1, which contained the control or no music variable was used as the baseline of comparison for the results of set 2 (classical music variable) and set 3 (rock music variable).

The data showed that all respondents experienced an effect on their memory recall when exposed to background music. In the classical music variable, 19 out of 30 or 63.3% of respondents had a positive effect on their memory retention performance while 8 out of 30 or 26.7% of respondents had a negative effect on their memory retention performance. The remaining 10% of respondents did not have any change in their performance in sets 1 and 2. In the rock music variable or set 3, 17 out of 30 or 56.7% of respondents had a positive effect on their memory retention performance while 13 out of 30 or 43.3% of respondents had a negative effect on their memory retention performance. This showed that more respondents had a positive effect on their memory retention performance when exposed to classical music rather than rock music. Also, more respondents had a negative effect on their memory retention performance when exposed to rock music rather than classical music. The mean average of the scores in the classical music variable set and the rock music variable set was also taken and was compared to the mean average of the scores in the control variable set. The analysis showed that the respondents, as a group, had a slightly higher increase in their memory retention performance when exposed to classical music (+8.89%) rather than rock music (+4.56%). To sum it up, the results showed that music genres played on the background have an observed effect on the memory retention performance of the respondents in which classical music had a slightly higher effect than rock music.

Tables RAW RESULTS SUBJECT CONTROL A 2 B 4 C 11 D 3 E 5 F 10 G 2 H 12 I 2 J 1 K 5 L 10 M 2 N 11 O 6 P 14 Q 8 R 10 S 8 T 9 U 14 V 12 W 3 X 7 Y 5 Z 7 AZ 8 BZ 10 CZ 15 DZ 3 7.3 MEAN Table 1

CLASSICAL 6 5 14 12 16 10 3 12 8 14 10 6 11 6 13 15 8 9 5 8 15 17 10 15 9 10 7 7 14 4 9.97

ROCK 4 13 10 8 9 5 5 6 6 9 9 11 11 12 16 17 5 12 6 4 10 15 5 8 3 6 3 4 13 15 8.67

Table 1 presents the results of the memory recall test in the 3 sets labeled accordingly by the variable present in each set. Control, Classical and Rock.

RECALL PERCENTAGE SUBJECT CONTROL CLASSICAL A 6.7 20.0 B 13.3 16.7 C 36.7 46.7 D 10.0 40.0 E 16.7 53.3 F 33.3 33.3 G 6.7 10.0 H 40.0 40.0 I 6.7 26.7 J 3.3 46.7 K 16.7 33.3 L 33.3 20.0 M 6.7 36.7 N 36.7 20.0 O 20.0 43.3 P 46.7 50.0 Q 26.7 26.7 R 33.3 30.0 S 26.7 16.7 T 30.0 26.7 U 46.7 50.0 V 40.0 56.7 W 10.0 33.3 X 23.3 50.0 Y 16.7 30.0 Z 23.3 33.3 AZ 26.7 23.3 BZ 33.3 23.3 CZ 50.0 46.7 DZ 10.0 13.3 24.33 33.22 MEAN Table 2

ROCK 13.3 43.3 33.3 26.7 30.0 16.7 16.7 20.0 20.0 30.0 30.0 36.7 36.7 40.0 53.3 56.7 16.7 40.0 20.0 13.3 33.3 50.0 16.7 26.7 10.0 20.0 10.0 13.3 43.3 50.0 28.89

Table 2 presents the memory recall percentage of the respondents. It is obtained by dividing the results in each set by 30 then multiplying it by 100.

RECALL DIFFERENCE SUBJECT CLASSICAL A +13.3 B +3.3 C +10.0 D +30.0 E +36.7 F 0.0 G +3.3 H 0.0 I +20.0 J +43.3 K +16.7 L -13.3 M +30.0 N -16.7 O +23.3 P +3.3 Q 0.0 R -3.3 S -10.0 T -3.3 U +3.3 V +16.7 W +23.3 X +26.7 Y +13.3 Z +10.0 AZ -3.3 BZ -10.0 CZ -3.3 DZ +3.3 +8.89 MEAN Table 3

ROCK +6.7 +30.0 -3.3 +16.7 +13.3 -16.7 10.0 -20.0 +13.3 +26.7 +13.3 +3.3 +30.0 +3.3 +33.3 +10.0 -10.0 +6.7 -6.7 -16.7 -13.3 +10.0 +6.7 +3.3 -6.7 -3.3 -16.7 -20.0 -6.7 +40.0 +4.56

Table 3 presents the difference in memory recall in the 2 variables, classical and rock in contrast to the baseline of the control variable. A positive result describes an increased effect on memory recall while a negative result describes a decreased effect on memory recall. 0.0 describes no change or no effect on memory recall.

Conclusions Based on the analysis of the data results, the researchers concluded that music does have an effect in memory retention though it appeared to not have much significant difference. The results of the classical music variable set and rock music variable set had a slight increase compared to the control or no music variable set. Furthermore, the results also showed that among the two music genres, classical and rock, classical music was more effective in increasing memory retention performance.

Recommendations Based on the results and findings of the experiment, the researchers recommend the following. The playing of classical music on the background in study sessions of individuals and groups can be more effective as to studying with no music or any other music genre. Further study of the effects of music genres on memory retention that explores other music genres aside from classical and rock music would provide even more information about the relationship of music to memory retention. The researchers would like to note the possible extraneous variables that could contaminate the research. This is to improve any research related to the subject matter. The possible extraneous variables are; noises outside the experiment or laboratory room, the mental state of the

respondents, and the visible presence of other participants. The noises from outside the experiment or laboratory room can be controlled by having a sound proof laboratory. The mental state of the respondents can also be controlled by performing the experiment on a set time where the respondents would be fresh and not fatigued mentally. The sets can also be adjusted to prevent the deterioration of the mental state of the respondents by having the respondents perform the sets in different days or with sets having a longer time interval between them. The visible presence of other participants can also affect performance. This can be controlled by having the participants seated in cubicles that isolate their selves from other participants. Aside from the extraneous variables, other means can also be done to improve the research. The number of nonsense syllables can be increased and the amount of time to review as well as to recall can also be increased.