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Beyond its interests in fundamental research, the aim of the study was to explore the effects of music on long-term memory and to test how different types of music affect long-term memory recall, hypothesizing instrumental music is more beneficial than non-instrumental music when encoding and retrieving memory. Our results support the hypothesis that instrumental music is beneficial to long-term memory. However, this study did not consider additional factors that could have affected an individual’s performance during the test. Therefore, a longitudinal study will be required to establish a clear association when taking these differences into consideration.

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This pilot study aimed to investigate if instrumental music is more beneficial than non-instrumental music when encoding and retrieving memory. The results show a difference between instrumental and non-instrumental music being played when retrieving memory. These findings suggest the results are not statistically significant however, the hypothesis has been supported by the research carried out. However, there were limitations to the study, that did not comprehend unspecified factors such as time of day, mood, stress levels of the participants and familiarity of the song or the positive emotional content of participants, however, most limitations have been managed using a repeated measure design. Replicating measurements yields a more precise estimate of true performance and consequently, statistical power is improved (Goulet & Cousineau, 2019). Additionally, due to our small sample size, the reported results can be considered as a pilot study, enabling future perspectives for a large-scale clinical trial to observe further statistical significance. Therefore, these aspects need to be considered for future research studies.

The results of the memory test indicated the majority of the participants recalled the first and last words. The serial position effect is a cognitive bias, that suggests individuals have a tendency to remember the first and last items in a series and disregard the middle items on a list (Logan, 2021). The primary effect suggests recalling the first few items on the list is simple and the recency effect explains why individuals can recall items at the end of the list, however, the middle part of the list becomes disregarded from the short-term memory (Kelly & Risko, 2019). Additionally, a small number of participants recalled words that were from the list of words, this could have been impacted by false memory or due to the eight-minute break participants had during the experiment (Dimsdale-Zucker et al., 2019).

The potential impact of the participant’s background, such as changes in mood and even depression, as well as biological and psychosocial factors can impact cognitive functioning (Bach-y-Rita & Bach-y-Rita, 1990). Our study did not consider the influence of individual personality traits, research from Hans Eysenck (1967) proposed introverts and extroverts require different levels of external stimulation to reach their optimal level of arousal. Hans Eysenck (1967) demonstrates introverts have higher levels of internal cortical arousal, therefore, requiring less external stimulation to reach their optimal level of arousal, however, extroverts are less internally aroused and require additional external stimulation (Eysenck, 1967). Therefore, it is currently not possible to ascertain whether the effects of optimal levels of arousal have enhanced the best performance of individuals (Gould & Udry, 1994). These aspects could provide important features to further research.

This pilot study did not consider an additional factor, such as pregnancy. A study in 2010 explored memory performance and cognitive functioning during the early stages of pregnancy, investigating whether memory and/or information processing speed is different in early pregnancy compared to the nonpregnant state (Groot et al., 2010). Pregnant participants were 14 weeks pregnant and in good health and non-pregnant women in the control group were friends and family members of the pregnant women with a total of 71 pregnant women and 57 control subjects (Groot et al., 2010). Participants were required to engage in five tests to measure the speed of information processes and retrieval from semantic memory. The results show statistical significance between pregnant and non-pregnant women when retrieving information from the semantic memory, however, little differences between information processing (Groot et al., 2010). This study supported previous research on cognitive functioning decreasing during pregnancy and memory becoming impaired (Brindle et a., 1991). Also, it is important to highlight medications can cause memory impairment for individuals or other severe side effects when processing information (Goodman et al., 2005).

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There were some differences in the data, overall, the results indicated that instrumental music is more beneficial to long-term memory with a difference of 1.2 between the mean scores of each data set. The standard deviation was not statistically significant; however, the overall results support the hypothesis that instrumental music is more beneficial than non-instrumental music when encoding and retrieving memory.

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This study used a repeated measures design where the same participants took part in both memory tests. Test one; instrumental music was played whilst participants memorised a set list of unrelated words for two minutes. The participants then took an eight-minute break as instructed. When the participants returned from the break, they were asked to write down as many words as they could remember whilst the same instrumental music was played. Test two; Non-instrumental music was played whilst participants memorised a set list of unrelated words for two minutes. The participants then took an eight-minute break as instructed. When the participants returned from the break, they were asked to write down as many words as they could remember whilst the same non-instrumental music was played.

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Participants were recruited by an advertisement at Coventry University Scarborough, ten participants volunteered to take part in the research, seven females and three males with a total of eight students and two tutors. Ethical approval was granted by Coventry University Scarborough and consent was obtained from each participant.

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The influence of music can have a profound effect on memory, particularly positive benefits for improving mood, attention and general cognition when encoding and retrieving information (Särkämö et al., 2014). The mental processing of encoding, retention and retrieval or reactivation of the memory can remember information from past experiences or particular facts (Eyesenck & Keane, 2020). Research has explored listening to popular music rather than classical aided students with memory recall Mensink & Dodge (2014) with other research suggesting classical music is more beneficial to cognitive processes Falcon (2017) leaving mixed results for future research, particularly within academic settings (Lehmann & Seufert, 2017). Some studies suggest that music used as a cognitive and emotional intervention should be individualised Huber et al., (2021) with differing opinions on what types of music is most beneficial for individuals (Baird & Samson, 2015). It is important to highlight Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms are associated with working memory deficits (Sanjeevan et al., 2020). Working Memory deficiencies in children with ADHD may be caused by weaknesses in the short-term memory or the central executive alone or together (Dovis et al., 2013). Research implies that individuals with ADHD who take the substance Methamphetamine run the risk of increasing working memory deficit (Duarte et al., 2012).

Many of us use music to enhance concentration, reduce or eliminate distractions, or make dreary tasks more appealing. Nevertheless, it is ambiguous how music affects our cognitive functioning, particularly learning and memory by altering mood and arousal (Nguyen & Grahn, 2017). Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) proposed the multi-store model consisting of three memory stores: sensory stores limited to hold information briefly, short-term stores with limited capacity and long-term stores with unlimited capacity (Craik & Lockhart, 1972). However, Baddeley & Hitch (1974) substituted the idea of short-term memory with working memory (Baddeley, 2017). Explicit memory has been distinguished from implicit or non-conscious memory is used to recall a list of words or images, however, it remains unclear whether background music is beneficial when encoding and retrieving information, with some research providing conflicting results (Hirokawa, 2004). More knowledge of the memory types that are retained and those that are degraded is required in order to develop effective interventions to enhance memory retention (Deason et al., 2019). The researchers reviewed three studies that incorporated music therapy or music interventions and the effects or outcomes for memory recall and found conflicting results with some unsupported hypotheses.

A study in 2012 explored the effect of music genre on a memory test, participants were sixty college students with an average age of 20.25, who were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups: classical, rap or silence with the dependent variable being the number of cards flipped to complete a game named concentration, A player turns over any card followed by a second card to look for the first cards match. If the cards match, the player removes these cards from the array and then repeats the procedure. If the cards do not match, they are turned back over. When all the matches are collected the experiment was completed. (Bugter & Carden, 2012). The results of the tests show a difference between the three groups, classical music produced the best results and the results supported existing research suggesting that working in silence neither increases nor decreases performance (Bugter & Carden, 2012). However, one major limitation is that while the current study demonstrated that participants exposed to classical music outperformed those exposed to rap on a memory task, it does not help understand why and future research could determine whether relaxing music like classical, has beneficial effects or aggressive music like rap has distracting effects, or that’s both are possible (Anderson & Fuller, 2010). Additionally, research suggests stress can have a significant impact on memory, it is evident that stress influences interconnections between memory systems as well as the striatum and hippocampus-dependant memory (Schwabe et al., 2012).

Research shows signs of Alzheimer’s with working memory and long-term declarative memory are impacted by a person’s specific pattern of memory impairment and are correlated with certain measures of structural or functional brain integrity (Marina et al., 2022). A study by Bottiroli (2014) evaluated how background music affects older people’s cognitive task performance hypothesising cognitive tasks should be severely impacted by background music (Bottiroli et al., 2014). The study included sixty-five older people, aged sixty to eighty-four who participated in three cognitive tests under four background conditions: (1) no music; (2) white noise; (3) Mozart; and (4) Mahler’s Adagietto Symphony, in two-hour sessions spaced one week apart. The results show the highest performance with classical music and Mozart’s music improved information processing speed; however, the other findings did not support the hypothesis enabling future research to explore the findings in more detail (Bottiroli et al., 2014).

The above studies investigated only one or some aspects of background music providing cognitive benefits to performance. A study by Musliu (2017) explored the effects of music on short-term memory, hypothesising lyrical music hinders short-term memory capacity in comparison to the no-music condition and relaxing music facilitates short-term memory in comparison to the no-music condition. Method: 74 participants aged 18 -22. The participants were tested including random nonsense syllables, same nonsense syllables, rhyming lines and numbers. During the tests participants were split into three groups, one took the nonsense syllable memory test accompanied by silence and the second group took the test accompanied by lyrical music and the third was accompanied by instrumental music (Musliu et al., 2017). The no-music group significantly memorized more same nonsense syllables and rhyming lines in comparison to the non-lyrical music group. The no-music group also memorized more rhyming lines than the instrumental group. No significant differences were found in the number of tests. Hypothesis one, lyrical music hinders short-term memory in comparison to no music was confirmed. Hypothesis two, relaxing music facilitates short-term memory in comparison to no music was rejected (Musliu et al., 2017). Overall, the study found that relaxing music negatively impacts short-term memory. Although the study successfully identified differences in some of their tests, some of the tests conducted did not return any significant results and therefore causality cannot be referred. The mixed results do confer with previous research findings (Echaide, Del Rio & Pacios, 2019).

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The research on music and memory recall is increasing, as are the number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. This study was conducted to measure the effects of music on long-term memory and test how instrumental and non-instrumental music can impact long-term memory. It was hypothesised that instrumental music is more beneficial for individuals than non-instrumental music when encoding and retrieving memory. To the researcher’s knowledge, the current study will be the first examination, using undergraduate students to explore the effects of music on long-term memory. Ten participants, seven females and three males, two of the participant’s tutors, and eight students from Coventry university Scarborough, completed two memory tests. In test one, instrumental music was played, and in test two non-instrumental music was played, with both tests requiring all participants to memorise a set list of unrelated words. This study used a repeated measures design, where the same participants took part in both memory tests. The differences observed in the memory tests indicated that instrumental music is more beneficial to long-term memory when encoding and retrieving information. In addition, these results should be interpreted with care as this study was conducted with a small number of participants, subsequently, further research should consider a longitudinal study.