The Effect of Paired Pitch, Rhythm, and Speech on ...

Journalof Music Therapy,XLIV(4), 2007,415-427 0 2007 by the American Music Therapy Association

The Effect of Paired Pitch, Rhythm, and Speech on Working Memory as Measured by Sequential Digit Recall Michael J. Silverman, PhD, MT-BC University of Minnesota Educationaland therapeuticobjectives are often paired with music to facilitate the recall of information..The purpose of this study was to isolate and determine the effect of paired pitch,' rhythm, and speech on, undergraduate'smemory as measured by sequential digit recall performance. Participants (N = 120) listened to 4 completely counterbalanced treatment conditions each consisting of .9 randomized, monosyllabic digits paired with speech, pitch, rhythm, and the combination of pitch and rhythm. No statisticallysignificant learning or order effects were found across the 4 trials. A 3-way repeated-measuresANOVA indicateda 'statistically significantdifference in digitrecallperformanceacross treatment conditions,"positions, groups, and treatment by position. No other comparisonsresultedin statisticallysignificant differences. Participantswere able to recalldigits from the rhythm condition most accurately while recallingdigits from the speech,and pitch only conditions the least accurately. Consistent with previous research, the music majorpartici-, pants scored significantlyhigher,than,non-music major participantsand the main effect associatedwiih serial position indicated that recallperformance was best during primacy and recency positions.Analyses indicatedan interactionbetween serialposition and treatment condition, also a result consistent with previous research.The results of this study suggest that pairinginformati6ri with rhythm can facilitaterecall but-pairinginformation with pitch or the combination of pitch and rhythm may not enhance recall more than speech when participantslisten to an unfamiliarmusical selection only once. Implicationsfor practicein therapy and education', are made as well as suggestionsfor future research. , *

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Review of Literature Dealing with recall of information is an important area of study as research can be used to facilitate learnifig and to teach academic, social, and daily living skills (Williams, 1982). For example, the "ABC Song" pairs music with the alphabet to teach letters and, ultimately, reading skills (Hodges, 1996; Jellison, 1976). Many other music therapy arid music education objectives involVe sf'ructuring music with a nonmusical task to increase the likelihood that the material will be remembered and possibly trahsferred to a nonmusical setting (Jellison & Miller, 1982). Previous research with a variety of participant populations has consistently suggested that music can facilitate the organization of information in temporally structured units by, acting as a mnemonic device (Claussen & Thaut, 1997; Deutsch, 1982; Gfeller, 1983; Wallace, 1994; Wolfe & Horn, 1993). A number of studies have evaluated how music and recall are related. Studies have shown that with instrumental music more titles were remembered when melodies were given as cues. Additionally, when the lyrics of a song were not presented more melodies were recalled than were titles (Peynircioglu, Tekcan, Wagner, Baxter, & Shaffer, 1998).Jellison (1976) suggested the use of song for speech acquisition and memory training programs in both educational and therapeutic settings. Using familiar music as a mnemonic device to increase the recall accuracy of multiplication tables in learning disabled children has been shown to be more effective than verbal rehearsal (Claussen & Thaut, 1997). Additional studies evaluating sentence learning, sentence recall, rhythm learning, rhythm recall, word finding, and nonverbal intelligence in dysphasic patients have suggested that both verbal learning and verbal recall are two separate disabilities in dysphasia (Ettlinger & Moffet, 1970). Researchers have also noted that music can be used to facilitate learning with children who perform relatively well on right hemispheric tasks but poorly on left hemispheric tasks (Bottari & Evans, 1982). In studies evaluating participants' recall and recognition, participants have obtained higher recognition scores when lyrics are sung compared to when they are spoken (McElhinney & Annett, 1996), with or without musical accompaniment (B6ttari & Evans, 1982). Additionally, lyrics that are sung evidenced greater churik-

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ing of recalled material (McElhinney & Annett, 1996). However, these results are incongruent with another study which found that there were no significant differences in learning verbal material when passages were sung or recited to 5-7 year.olds (Gingold &. Abravanel, 1987). The study also evaluated the use of accompanment and found that learning was greatly disrupted when verbal material passages were accompanied by an inappropriate musical setting (Gingold & Abravanel, 1987). Thus, it would appear that to be effective in aiding recall, accompaniment has to be either aesthetically pleasing or appropriately paired with the material to be I I I I I ...I learned. ' ' pairing digit and word sequences with music has been found to facilitate recall for both musicians and non music majors (Jakobson, Cuddy, & Kilgour, 2003; Kilgour, Jakobson, & Cuddy, 2000), people with formal musical training have been shown to score higher in song conditions (Jellison, 1976). Musicians' scores on sequential word and digit'recall are higher than nonmusic majors' scores (Jellison & Miller, 1982). Additionally, persons with musical training outperform novices in the ability to judge temporal order during sequential recall tasks (Koh, Cuddy, &Jakobson, 2001).1 Researchers have found that musicians exhibit enhanced shortterm memory (Bilhartz, Bruhn, & Olson, 2000) and people with musical training outperform those without musical training in-text and song recall, suggesting that music training leads to enhanced memory for verbal material (Kilgour et al., 2000). Many brain researchers have examined this area to determine what effect musical training has on recall. Studies have shown a verbal memory advantage in musicians with an enhanced function of the left temporal lobe (Chan, Ho, & Cheung, 1998) as well as evidence that highly trained musicians show enlargement of auditory processing areas in the left temporal lobe (Schlaug, Jancke, Huang, & Steinmetz, 1995). This phenomenon with musicians is also evident during passive listening situations (Ohnishi et al., 2001). Musicians', relative to novices', left hemisphere involvement ismore actively involved in a variety of tasks (Bever & Chiarello, '1974; Fabbro, Brusaferro, & Bava, 1990). Research conducted in the early 1900s attempted to study the effect of trochaic, iambic, dactylic, anapestic, amphibrachic f6rms of rhythm and nonrhythmic series on the memory of numbers (Adams, 1915). However, because this type of research involves

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mental processing involving order, learning, and practice effects, it is complicated and difficult to control. In fact, a significant practice effect has been found when conducting research recalling 9 digit series in the reverse order (Steel, Ball, Tamera, & Runk, 1997). Memory for pitch and rhythm was significantly aided when they were put in a tonal-rhythmic context. In learning musical passages, the complete context, including melody and rhythm, facilitated learning (Schellenberg & Moore, 1985). Additionally, studies have paired information with music in order to test the effects of recall performance (Jakobson, et al., 2003; Kilgour et al., 2000; Jellison, 1976;Jellison & Miller, 1982; McElhinney & Annett, 1996). The results of these studies indicate that music, when paired with information, can facilitate recall of information. Although research indicates that musicians are superior at recall compared to nonmusic majors and .that music, when paired with information, may facilitate recall more than speech, no studies have yet evaluated specific aspects or elements of music paired with information and how they affect sequential recall for information. The purpose of this study was to isolate the effects of paired pitch, rhythm, and speech on undergraduates' memory as measured by digit recall performance. Additionally, this study evaluated the sequential recall performance of digit positions and compared undergraduate music majors and non-music majors. Method Participants Participants were 120 undergraduate students from a large university in the southeasternUnited States who volunteered to take part in the study. These participants were recruited by the researcher from the instrument locker room, practice room hallways, a music appreciation class; and courtyard of a large college of music. Participants were not paid and were tested individually in a practice room or classroom. Of the 120 participants, 72 were music majors (39 female and 33 male) and 48 were nonmusic majors (26 female and 22 male). Digits Test The four 9-digit sequences were determined from the monosyllabic digits 1-10. Each digit only occurred once in each series. The

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serial position of each digit in each of the four sequences was determined using random selection. SFour different types of treatment stimuli were used in the study. These consisted of spoken digits, digits paired with pitch only, digits paired with rhythm only, and digits paired with both pitch and rhythm. As in the Jellison (1976) and Jellison and Miller (1982) studies, the experimenter composed simple unfamiliar pitch and rhythm patterns for the song conditions that were all within the key of C Major. Pitch patterns intervals were restricted to a major 3rd or less and, during the speech only and pitch only treatments, used only quarter notes. During the rhythm only and pitch and rhythm treatments, quarter and eighth notes were used. Each quarter note digit was presented at the rate of one per second. No accompaniment or background music was used. Procedure The researcher recorded the four different types of stimuli and instructions onto a CD using a female alto voice. Participants first heard a tone and then the nine digits. After. the. 9 digits were sung/spoken, the participants heard a second tone and were then allowed to write down the digits in the temporal order in which they were sung/spoken on the CD. Participants were told that if they could not recall a number, to leave the answer space blank. Participants were allotted as much time as necessary to write down their answers. To help control for order and carry-over effects, participants heard each of the 4 different sequences in a completely counterbalanced order (Heiman, 2002). As there were four different conditions (speech, pitch only, rhythm only, and,pitch and rhythm), participants were randomly assigned to one of 24 possible orders. As a total of 120 participants took part in the study, each possible order was completed 5 times by 5 different participants. Participants were allowed to adjust the CD player volume to a comfortable level which remained constant throughout the session (Jellison, 1976;Jellison & Miller, 1982). Participants were not given a practice trial but were allowed to ask questions of the researcher after the instructions were given by the CD. Participants completed the study in approximately 4 min. The researcher's institutional review board approved the study.

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Results !A correct response was operationally defined as the correct digit written in the correct position space. If a space was left blank, it was considered an incorrect response. Digit recall performance was assessed by the total number of correct'digits in the correct position for each condition. Results were scored by the researcher and data analyses were performed using SPSS version 11.0 (SPSS, Inc., 1999). Due to the numberof participants and the completely counterbalanced design, an alpha level of .01 was decided upon for data analysis. SPrevious research in recall and memory has suggested that practice effects exist (Steel et al., 1997). Therefore, a repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was first conducted to assess temporal practice effects. As each participant completed 4 separate completely counterbalanced digit tests (speech, pitch, rhythm, and pitch and rhythm), the researcher compared digit recall performance concerning the temporal order of the 4 trials while disregarding the treatment condition (i.e., compared the number of correct responses from trials 1, 2, 3, and 4). Results 'were not statistically significant,F (3, 357) =.2.94, p> .03, indicating that learning and practice effects did not significantly influence results. There were no significant differences between Trial 1 (M = 6.38; SD = 2.03), Trial 2 (M= 5.91; SD= 2.15), Trial 3 (M= 5.79; SD= 2.25), and Trial 4 (M= 5.78; SD-=-2.11). During each successive trial, the mean scores of the number of correct digits decreased: slightly. To determine if there were differences between the 4 treatment conditions, the 9 digit positions, and music and nonmusic major groups, a 3-way repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted. As Mauchly's Test of Sphericity resulted in significance for the position and treatment by position effects, the Greenhouse-Geisser adjustment was used for these within-subjects effects. Results were statistically significant concerning differences between treatments, F (3, 354) = 15.89, p < .001, position F (4.7, 555.3) = 85.80, p < .001, group, F (1, 118) = 9.04, p < .003, and treatment by position, F (15.03, 1774.05) = 7.16, p .02), treatment by group (p > .85), , ' or treatment by position by group (p> .13).

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0.6-

"

3 "2

4

'5

"6

7

8

9

Position

-4-Spe.ch -l. Pi4h --A! Rhythm -0-Pitchand Rhythm FIGURE 1.

Mean recalled in correct position as a function of stimulus.

Figure 1 depicts a graphic representation of the interaction between treatment and serial position. As evidenced from Table 1 and Figure 1, participants' recall accuracy was best during the rhythm condition and poorest during the speech and pitch only conditions. Additionally, Figure 1 indicates digit recall performance was most accurate during primacy and recency positions in all treatment conditions. Of the 120 participants, only 3 scored a perfect score of 9 correct responses on each of the 4 treatment conditions. These 3 participants were music majors. Discussion Although previous research in this area indicated learning, practice, and order effects (Steel et al., 1997), results of the current study indicate these factors apparently did not significantly influence digit recall performance. As evinced by the consistent trial means and standard deviations, learning effects did not affect the outcome of this study. Perhaps this was due to the completely counterbalanced design, the strong effects of the rhythm treatment condition, or enhanced performance ability in primacy and recency

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TABLE,1 TreatmentDescriptive Statistics Speech

Music Majors Non-Music Majors Total

Pitch

Rhythm

M

SD

At

S&

At

5.88 5.48 5.48

2.12 2.15 2.18

5.82 5.25 5.59

1.74 1.84 1.79

7.24 6.35 6.88

Pitch & Rhythm soD

2.15 2.14 2.29

At

D

n

6.22 5.46 5.92

2.09 1.83 2.02

72 48 120

positions. However, participant mean scores slightly declined from Trials 1-4 perhaps indicating fatigue or decreased concentration as the study continued. Although the researcher made every attempt to keep the study brief so that participants would remain on task and be able to concentrate throughout the 4 treatments, it appears there may have been a diminutive fatigue factor in this repeated measures design. Figure I and Table I indicate participants' recall was better during the rhythm treatment condition than when compared to the other three conditions. Thus, from the results of this study, it would appear that rhythmically 'chunking' material does facilitate digit recall. Past research has noted that rhythm may facilitate grouping or chunking into memory (Miller, 1956; Prickett, 1974; Schellenberg & Moore, 1985; Stoffer, 1985). It seems that the rhythmic grouping provided participants with pre-formed chunks thus facilitating sequential recall performance: Instead of recalling 9 separate digits, participants recalled 3-4 chunks of rhythmically organized information (Snyder, 2000). However, there were minimal differences between the pitch and rhythm condition and the speech or pitch only condition. Perhaps during the pitch and rhythm condition, the pitch acted as a distracter and hindered recall. It may have been that the combination of pitch and rhythm in unfamiliar melodies served to overload working memory, thusýhindering recall. Memory literature consistently suggests that working and short-term memory have definite limitations in capacity and duration and that too much storage or processing demand on these brief types of memory can cause retrieval problems (Berz, 1995; Snyder, 2000). It seems that, for accurate recall, a certain amount of information is necessary. However, too much novel information (in the current study, the addition of,pitch) can overload working memory and hinder recall performance (Snyder,

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2000). Additionally, Williams (1982) suggested that during tonal patterns, as in the present study, only the first two tones were adequately processed, thus indicating a limited amount of short-term pitch memory. Concerning Figure 1, it is apparent that recall was strongest during early and later serial positions while weakest 'in the middle serial positions. These results suggest that recall was most accurate during positions of primacy and recency and are congruent with previous research. Jellison (1976) noted that this serial position curve appears frequently in the literature and had been reported in the classic article by Miller (1956). It has been suggested, that primacy performance can be influenced by list length, presentation rate, semantic association, and phonological similarity while recency is mostly affected by time: It seems that items more recently encoded into short-term memory are recalled well (Williams, 1982). Educators and therapists should be aware of these factors when designing curricula to improve and evaluate cognitive functioning skills such as recall and memorization., SThe music major participants scored signific6ntly higher on the digits tests than the nonmusic major participants. As mentioned previously, these data are consistent with existing memory research indicating the superior immediate recall abilities of musically trained individuals. However, there was no interaction between group and treatment or group and position, indicating'music and nonmusic majors were affected relatively equally by the 9 different sequential positions and 4 different treatment conditions. As evidenced by Figure 1, there was an interaction between serial position and treatment condition. This serial position and treatment interaction is consistent with existing. memory research (Dowling, 1973; Murdock,, 1962; Salame &,Baddeley, 1989; Williams, 1975). As this interaction 'is documented and established in the literature, perhaps future research could disregard analyzing position specific data to limit interactions and thus use pairwise comparisons to further analyze treatment data. Since only 3 of the 120 participants scored a total of 9 correct during each of the 4 different treatment conditions, one can assume that this was a difficult test for participants. The 3 participants who did earn "perfect scores" were music majors. The re-searcher opted to employ,the use of 9 digits instead of, the 7 previously used in the Jellison (1976) and Jellison and Miller

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(1982) studies to complicate the test and therefore further differentiate treatment, sequential positions, group differences, and their interactions. Implications for therapy and education consist of pairing information with rhythm in order to facilitate digit recall. It seems that rapping, chanting, or otherwise pairing information with rhythm may be i successful teaching and learning aid. As the pitch element in the pitch and rhythm treatment condition appeared to hinder recall, the results of this study suggest that educators and therapists should attempt to remain on the same pitch or vary pitch minimally while employing a rhythmic element to facilitate information recall after hearing a selection only a single time. However, one must interpret the results of this study with caution as it only assessed digit recall And did not evaluate other types of associative recall. Further research could be conducted to specify clinical protocols with other types of associative recall in clinical settings with clients who have memory deficits. Additionally, this, study evidenced that individuals with musical training receive greater benefits during memory tasks. Therefore, it would seem that clients who have had previous musical training may be more adept at other types of associative recall. Future research can serve to test these hypotheses. In evaluating kinds of associative recall, future research could evaluate the recall of words, ietters, or lyrics instead of digits. In fact, 2 music major participants noted that they were confused with a digit being paired with an incorrect pitch number for the key of C. Additionally, during the data collection period of the study, the researcher noted that many participants wrote down the last few serial positions first, then wrote down the first few serial positions, and wrote down their responses for the middle serial positions lastL Therefore, future research could evaluate which serial positions were written down in what order by participants. Again, these observations support Miller's (1956) enduring theories concerning primacy and recency effects. Future research could also be conducted with specific populations instead of using only university music and nonmusic undergraduates. Specifically, future studies could evaluate the use of musical elements paired with information with populations Who have short-term memory impairments. The music paired with information could be used to teach daily living skills, social And academic tasks, and psychoeducational information.

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The purpose of this study was to isolate and determine which paired musical element facilitates digit recall in undergraduate music and nonmusic majors'. Results indicate that participants recalled digits paired with rhythm better than digits paired with speech, pitch, or the combination of pitch and rhythm. Consistent with existing memory literature, results indicate that recall performance is strongest during positions of primacy and recency and that"music majors are able to recall more sequential information correctly than non-music majors. Future research can furth8r identify how other elements of music facilitate recall for educational and therapeutic purposes and how music can enhance transfer of information to nonmusical settings. References Adams, H. F. (1915). A note on the effect of rhythm on memory. PsychologicalReview, 22, 289-298. Bever, T. G., & Chiarello, R.J. (1974). Cerebral dominance in musicians and nonmusicians. Science, 185,537. Berz, W. L. (1995). Working memory in music: A theoretical model. Music Perception, 12, 353-364. Bilhartz, T. D., Bruhn, IR A., & Olson,J. E. (2000). The effect of music training on ch'ild cognitive development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 20, 615-635. Botari, S. S., & Evans,J. R. (1982). Effects of musical context, type of vocal presentation, and time on the verbal retention abilities of visual-spatially oriented and verbally oriented learned disabled students. Journal of School Psychology, 20, 329-338. Chan, A. S., Ho, Y.-C., & Cheeung, M.-C. (1998). Music training improves verbal memory. Nature,396,128. Claussen, D. W., & Thaut, M. H. (1997). Music as a mnemonic device for children with learning disabilities. CanadianJournalof Music Therapy, 5, 55-66. Deutsch, D. (1982). Organizational processes in music. In M. Clynes (Ed.), Music, mind and brain (pp. 119-131). New York: Plenum Press. Dowling, W. J. (1973). Rhythmic groups and subjective chunks in memory for melodies. Perception &Psychophysics, 14,37--40. Ettlinger, G., & Moffet, A. M. (1970). Learning in dysphasia. Neuropsychologia, 8, 465-474. Fabbro, E, Brusaferro, A., & Bava, A. (1990). Opposite musical-manual interference in young vs. expert musicians. Neurapsychologia,28, 871-877. Gfeller, K. (1983). Musical mnemonics as an aid to retention with normal and learning disabled students.Journal of Music Therapy, 20, 179-189. Gingold, H., & Abravanel, E. (1987). Music as a mnemonic: The effects of good- and bad-music settings on verbatim recall of short passages by young children. Psychomusicology, 7,25-39. Heiman, G. W. (2002). Research methods in psychology (3rd ed.). NY: Houghton Mifflin.

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Hodges, D.A. (1996). Human musicality. In D. A. Hodges (Ed.), The handbook ofmusicppsychology (2nd ed., pp. 29-68). San Antonio, TX: IMR Press. Jakobson, L. S., Cuddy, L. L., & Kilgour, A. i. (2003). Time tagging: A key to musicians' superior memory. MusicPerception, 20, 307-313. Jellison,J. A. (1976). Accuracy of temporal order recall for verbal and song digitspans presented to right and left ears.Journal of Music Therapy, 13,114-129. Jellison,J. A., & Miller, N. 1. (1982). Recall of digit and word sequences by musicians and nonmusicians as a function of spoken or sung input and task,Journal of Music Therapy, 19,194-209. Kilgour, A. R.,Jakobson, L. S., & Cuddy, L. L. (2000). Music training and rate of presentation as mediators of text and' song recall. Memory & Cognition, 28, 700-710. Koh, C. K., Cuddy, L. L., &Jakobson, L. S. (2001). Associations and dissociations among niusic training, tonal and temporal order processing, and cognitive skills. In R.J. Zatorre & 1. Peretz (Eds.), The biologicalfunctions of music (pp. 386-388). NY: The New York Academy of Sciences. McElhinney, M., &Annett,J. M. (1996). Pattern of efficacy of a musical mnemonic on recall of familiar words over several presentations. Perceptualand MotorSkills, 82,395-400. Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. PsychologicalReuiew,63, 184-185. Murdock, B. B. (1962). The serial position effect of free recall.Journal ofExpeimentalPsycholog, 64,482-488. Ohnishi, T., Matsuda, H., Asada, T., Aruga, M., Hirakata, M., Katoh, A., & Imabayashi, E. (2001). Functional anatomy of musical perception in musicians. CerebralCortex, 11, 754-760. Peynircioglu, Z. E, Tekcan, A. I.,'Wagner,J. L, Baxter, T. L., & Shaffer, S. D. (1998). Name or hum that tune: Feeling of knowing for music. Memory & Cognition, 26, 1131-1137. Prickett, C. A. (1974). A comparison of two rhythmicpatterns as aids to digit recall Unpublished master's thesis, Florida State University, Tallahassee. Salame, P., & Baddeley, A. (1989). Effects of background music on phonological short-term memory. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 41A, 107-122. Schellenberg, S., & Moore, R. S. (1985). The effect of tonal-rhythmic context on short-term memory of rhythmic and melodic sequences. Bulletin of the Council foriResearch in Music Education, 85, 207-217. Schlaug, G.,Jancke, L., Huang, Y., & Steinmetz, H. (1995). In vivo evidence of structural brain asymmetry in musicians. Science, 267, 699-701. Snyder, B. (2000). Music and memory:An introduction.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. SPSS Inc. (1999). SPSS Bise 10.0 for Windows User's Guide. SPSS Inc., Chicago IL. Steele, K. M., Ball, T. N., Tamera, N., & Runk, R. (1997). Listening to Mozart does not enhance backwards digit span performance. Perceptual& MotorSkills, 84, 1179-1184. Stoffer, T. H. (1985). Representation of phrase structure in the perception of music. Music Perception,3, 191-220. Wallace, W. T. (1994). Memory for music: Effect of melody on recall of text.Journal of ExperimentalPsychology:Learning Memory, Cognition, 20,1471-1485.

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'Williams, D. B. (1982). Auditory cognition: A study of the similarities in memory processing for musical tones and spoken words. Bulletin of the CouncilforResearch in Music Education, 71, 30-44. Williams, D. B. (1975). Short-term retention of pitch sequence.Journal ofResearch in MusicEducation,23,53-66. Wolfe, D. E., & Horn, C. (1993). Use of melodies as structural prompts for learning and retention of sequential verbal information by preschool students.Journal of Music TherajV, 30,100-118.

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TITLE: The Effect of Paired Pitch, Rhythm, and Speech on Working Memory as Measured by Sequential Digit Recall SOURCE: J Music Ther 44 no4 Wint 2007 The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it is reproduced with permission. Further reproduction of this article in violation of the copyright is prohibited. To contact the publisher: http://www.yale.edu/jmt/