The Effect of Music on 7th Graders' Recall of Memorized Shapes
Researched by Casey K. 2003-04	PURPOSE  HYPOTHESIS  EXPERIMENT DESIGN  MATERIALS  PROCEDURES  RESULTS  CONCLUSION  RESEARCH REPORT  BIBLIOGRAPHY  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  ABOUT THE RESEACHER

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of classical music versus silence on 7th grade student memory. 

I became interested in this idea when I asked my mother if I could listen to music while I was doing my homework, and she said, “No, I’d rather you not because the music will distract you.” Since then I have wondered if music really would distract someone. 

The information gained from this experiment can be useful to teachers, schools, parents, students, and even the community by helping them to know if music is a good studying tool.

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis was that the students’ scores would be higher with classical music playing during memorization than with no music.

I based my hypothesis on past research done by Brian Vance, a 7th grader who did an experiment on Music vs. Math Test Performance. His results were that “students who listened to classical music during a test would have increased performance.”

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were: 
* The number of students
* The students (the same group of students will take both tests)
* The experimenter’s script given to each subject as instructions
* The amount of time that they have to finish, and wait during the test
* The color of the “shapes”
* The work environment
* The list of “shapes” for students to memorize
* The test 

The manipulated variable was whether or not classical music was playing. 

The responding variable was the number of correctly recalled items on the test.

To measure the responding variable I used a grading key to count how many “shapes” each student missed, and then created an individual score for each student.

MATERIALS
 

PROCEDURES

A. Preparing the tests
1. Choose 15 shapes for the subjects to memorize.
2. Label this as “List 1”. Print out 24 copies of this list.
3. Choose 15 more shapes, somewhat similar to the other ones as distracters.
4. Scramble all of the shapes randomly, so they are in one large group of shapes.
5. Label this as “Test 1”. Print 24 copies of this test. 
6. Create a scoring key, to make it easier to score all of the tests.
7. Label this as “Test Key”. Print only one out (for yourself).
8. On the correcting key, type all of the numbers that the original shapes are beside (NOT any of the distracters).
9. Repeat steps 1-7 with the following changes:
a. All shapes must be new and different from those previously used
b. Both the List and Test are labeled “2” instead of “1”
c. The scoring sheet is in sync with “Test 2”, and not “Test 1”.

B. Obtaining subjects
1. Distribute parent permission sheets to volunteers. 
2. From students who return signed parent permission forms, randomly assign approximately 10 seventh grade males and 10 seventh grade females into four equally sized treatment groups. 

C. Administering tests
1. Bring students in Groups 1 and 2 from their regular class, into the testing classroom.
2. Have each student sit down, and give instructions using experimenter’s script. Answer questions.
3. Using the Treatment Chart, give each student the appropriate list to be memorized while music is playing.
Treatment Chart for Each Group
 Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
Day 1 Test 1 with Music Test 2 with Music Test 1 in Silence Test 2 in Silence
Day 2 Test 2 in Silence Test 1 in Silence Test 2 with Music Test 1 with Music

4. Once students have memorized “shapes” for 2.5 min., have them go back to class for 30 min.
5. When students return, use the Treatment Chart to give each student the appropriate test form.
6. Allow 5 minutes to take test.
7. Gather all of the tests, and pencils, and have all students return to their regular class.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 with Groups 3 and 4 except all students memorize in silence.
9. On Day 2, Repeat steps 1-7 with Groups 1 and 2 using silence during memorization.
10. On Day 2, Repeat steps 1-7 with Groups 3 and 4 using music during memorization.

RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of classical or no music on 7th grade memory. 

The results of the experiment were the subjects that memorized in silence had a higher overall average recall than of when they memorized in classical music.

See the table and graph below.

CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that the student’s scores would be higher if they listened to classical music rather than no music.

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be rejected. 

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if when the students were memorizing, instead of listening to classical, and no music, if it would affect any of the student’s scores if they listened to rock/rock n’ roll, or another somewhat distracting type of music instead of no music, then there would be two contrasting types of music, and it might differentiate the test scores.

If I were to conduct this project again I would have more subjects, a better way to gather the subjects, and I would have a better way to conduct the experiment; during the experimenting, I accidentally had a certain number of subjects go into one group, and a different number of subjects in another group. That in affect changed the number of people in each group, but I fixed the problem by changing the other group(s) as well. I would also have more items in the lists and on the tests. 

RESEARCH REPORT Introduction All humans rely on memory. We use both short-term, and long-term memory. We can’t remember everything that has happened in our lives, but far more than we could if we didn’t have memory.  Music has been around since at least the early 1200’s, and since then it has been altered, and changed. Some music may be loud and discordant, and other music is soft and comforting, but everyone has a favorite. Ears are a part of our body, and they enable us to hear things, and notice things around us that we might not if we couldn’t hear.   Music There are many types of music. There are rock, country, classical, jazz, rap, and many more. Different types of music are listened to by people who have many different tastes. Some people like one type of music, and not another. Classical music was mainly created from about 1700 to 1820. The more famous classical musicians of that time were Ludwig van Beethoven. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Franz Joseph Haydn. All three of those composers were liked then, and they are still liked today.    Memory “If you have no memory, you do not know how to exist,” said Sir John Eccles, a Nobel Prize winner. That is actually quite true for some of the things that make people stand out, or unique, are their memories. If you lost your entire memory, it would be like every precious moment you had in the past would never have happened. You wouldn’t know how to do simple things like tying your shoes, or spelling, or even speaking. Memory is a very useful tool in life; it can help you learn new things, or solve a problem, and it can help you do a lot more than you could if you didn’t have memory. Yet, sometimes memory can be a very puzzling thing even to the greatest, and smartest of scientists. Memory was researched as early as Greek times. To learn how memory works, scientists use newly developed techniques such as hypnosis, to see into a person’s past. Scientists have only begun to understand how memory works.  Memory is what we use to store information so that if we need that information in the future, we can recall, or remember it. There are quite a few different types of memory. One type of memory is perceptual memory which “is a sort of echo of newly received sense of information. It stays in the brain for only a second or so; just enough to give the brain time to interpret it.” Another type of memory is short-term memory. Short-term memory is memory that lasts for only a few minutes. Your brain registers the information, but in a few minutes, or even hours, your brain forgets it. There is also long-term memory, which is memory that you can store in your brain for either a few minutes, or your entire life.    The Ear The ear is a “sense” organ. If we didn’t have ears, or the ability to hear things, we wouldn’t be able to do things like listen to music, or hear the birds chirp. Being able to hear things, especially hearing people talk is pretty important for humans. We can live without it, but it makes it a lot harder. The way that we can hear things is by waves of vibration traveling into our ear(s). Those waves are called “sound waves” and they travel to the eardrum. They are then transformed into nerve signals, which are then sent to the brain. When the nerve signals enter the brain, they are interpreted as sounds. Our ears don’t just help us hear things; they also help us keep our balance. In the ear, there are organs that “respond to any movements of the head.” If our head moves in a certain way, then the organs inform the brain, which informs the muscles that hold both our head and the rest of our body upright and steady.   Summary Music is greatly enjoyed all around the world. Scientists study memory because it is so vital to learning and functioning in society. Scientists also continue to study the ear, and hearing. The ear, is also vital to learning and functioning in society.

BIBLIOGRAPHY   Ammer, Christine “Classical Music” The Harper Collins Dictionary of Music, 1960 David D Caldarelli and Ruth S. Campanelli “Ear” The World Book Encyclopedia, 1998 Groiler Incorporated, “Memory,” Academic American Encyclopedia, 1998  “Human Memory,” http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/cs6751_97_winter/Topics/humancap/memory.html “Memory,” The World Book Encyclopedia, 1999 Vance, Brian. “Music vs. Math Test Performance” http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/SOAR/SciProj2003/purpose 12/4/03 Yount, Lisa, Memory, Lucent Books Inc., 1996, pg.9-30

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the following people for helping make my project possible:
* My parents for helping me in my experiment, and for supporting me the entire time.
* My science teacher for helping me and never giving up on me. 
* My science teacher’s assistant for being really helpful and nice.
* All of the teachers that let me use students for testing during class time.
All of the students who willingly memorized, and tested. 
 
 

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