Musical Mood and Musical Arousal Affects Different Stages of Learning and Memory Performance

110 Pages·2017·1.19 MB·English

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Tram Nguyen, The University of Western Ontario
Supervisor: Dr. Jessica Grahn, The University of Western Ontario
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science degree in
Psychology
© Tram Nguyen 2013
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MUSICAL MOOD AND MUSICAL AROUSAL AFFECT DIFFERENT STAGES OF
LEARNING AND MEMORY PERFORMANCE

(Thesis format: Monograph)

by

Tram Nguyen

Graduate Program in Psychology

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science

The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
The University of Western University
London, Ontario, Canada

© Tram Nguyen 2013
Abstract
This thesis examined whether the effect of music on memory is attributable to musical
mood, musical arousal, context, or some combination of these factors. In Experiment 1,
participants performed a face-name paired-association task while music was played in the
background. In Experiment 2, the perceptual context (Experiment 2A) and emotional
context (Experiment 2B) of music was examined more thoroughly. Experiment 3
examined whether the context effect of musical mood and musical arousal occurs in a
recall task (Experiment 3A), a recognition task (Experiment 3B), and an association task
(Experiment 3C). The results showed that low arousal music enhanced memory while
high arousal music lowered memory, particularly when arousal was paired with negative
mood. This effect was most robust when the context at study and at test was similar. The
results suggested that musical mood and musical arousal affect different stages of
learning and memory performance.

Keywords: arousal, association memory, context, learning, recall memory, recognition
memory, mood, music, the arousal and mood hypothesis, the encoding-retrieval
specificity hypothesis

ii
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Jessica Grahn, for her
unwavering support. This thesis would not have been possible without her guidance. I am
particularly grateful that she has dedicated so much of her time, resources, and expertise
to me. She is an extraordinary woman and brilliant scientist, and I am so lucky to have
such a wonderful role model in my life.
I would also like to thank my lab mates (past and present) for their support. In
particular, I want to thank Daniel Cameron and Aaron Gibbings for teaching me that
nothing is ever too daunting if you do it with a smile. A special thank you also goes out to
Taylor Parrott for being my partner in crime and for his constant support.
I am also extremely fortunate to have amazing friends who have supported me in
both my personal life and academic life. I would like to thank Raechelle Gibson for her
friendship and helpful comments on my thesis. I am also grateful to Daniel Trinh for his
friendship and without whom my thesis could not have been completed. I am indebted to
him for all the wisdom he has shared with me over the past two years.
My deepest gratitude goes to my family for their love and support. Thank you to
my parents who have taught me to be a strong and independent person. I am also grateful
to Matthew McDonald and his family for their love and encouragement.
Lastly, I want to extend my gratitude to all those who have supported me in any
respect during the completion of this thesis.

Simply —
Thank you!
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Table of Contents
Page
Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ii
Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ iii
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. iv
List of Tables ................................................................................................................... vii
List of Figures ................................................................................................................. viii
Chapter 1: General Introduction .................................................................................... 1
Mood and Memory ................................................................................................. 1
Arousal and Memory .............................................................................................. 4
The Arousal and Mood Hypothesis ........................................................................ 6
The Encoding-Retrieval Specificity Hypothesis ..................................................... 9
Overview of Thesis ............................................................................................... 11
Chapter 2: Experiment 1 ................................................................................................ 14
Pilot Experiment ................................................................................................... 15
Method ...................................................................................................... 15
Results ....................................................................................................... 16
Discussion ................................................................................................. 17
Experiment 1A ...................................................................................................... 17
Method ...................................................................................................... 19
Results ....................................................................................................... 24
Discussion ................................................................................................. 26

iv
Experiment 1B ...................................................................................................... 28
Method ...................................................................................................... 30
Results ....................................................................................................... 31
Discussion ................................................................................................. 35
Chapter 3: Experiment 2 ................................................................................................ 37
Experiment 2A ...................................................................................................... 38
Method ...................................................................................................... 38
Results ....................................................................................................... 40
Discussion ................................................................................................. 40
Experiment 2B ...................................................................................................... 42
Method ...................................................................................................... 43
Results ....................................................................................................... 44
Discussion ................................................................................................. 47
Chapter 4: Experiment 3 ................................................................................................ 50
Experiment 3A ...................................................................................................... 51
Method ...................................................................................................... 52
Results ....................................................................................................... 53
Discussion ................................................................................................. 54
Experiment 3B ...................................................................................................... 56
Method ...................................................................................................... 57
Results ....................................................................................................... 59
Discussion ................................................................................................. 60

v
Experiment 3C ...................................................................................................... 64
Method ...................................................................................................... 65
Results ....................................................................................................... 67
Discussion ................................................................................................. 68
Chapter 5: General Discussion ...................................................................................... 71
Theoretical Explanations ...................................................................................... 74
Implications and Limitations ................................................................................ 78
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 81
References ........................................................................................................................ 82
Appendix A – Music Stimuli .......................................................................................... 93
Appendix B – Word Stimuli ........................................................................................... 96
Appendix C – Ethics ....................................................................................................... 99
Curriculum Vitae .......................................................................................................... 100

vi
List of Tables
Page
Table 1. Mean ratings of arousal and mood for the music used in Experiment 1A
and Experiment 3. .............................................................................................. 93
Table 2. Mean ratings of arousal and mood for the music used in Experiment 2A. ........ 94
Table 3. Mean ratings of arousal and mood for the music used in Experiment 2B. ........ 95
Table 4. Words used in Experiment 3A. ............................................................................ 96
Table 5. Words used in Experiment 3B (in addition to the words listed in Table 4). ....... 97
Table 6. Words used in Experiment 3C (in addition to the words listed in Table 4). ....... 98

vii
List of Figures
Page
Figure 1. Mean sensitivity (d’) to old/new differences in the four mood and arousal
conditions (adapted from Greene et al., 2010) .................................................... 8
Figure 2. Mean ratings of mood and arousal for the 150 musical excerpts used in
the pilot experiment. ......................................................................................... 18
Figure 3. A diagram of the experimental design. ............................................................. 23
Figure 4. The significant two-way interaction between musical mood and musical
arousal for Experiment 1A. ............................................................................... 25
Figure 5. The significant three-way interaction between musical mood, musical
arousal, and context for Experiment 1A. .......................................................... 27
Figure 6. The significant two-way interaction between musical mood and musical
arousal for Experiment 1B.. .............................................................................. 32
Figure 7. The significant three-way interaction between musical mood, musical
arousal, and context for Experiment 1B. .......................................................... 34
Figure 8. The three-way interaction between musical mood, musical arousal, and
context for Experiment 2A................................................................................ 41
Figure 9. The significant two-way interaction between musical arousal and context
for Experiment 2B............................................................................................. 46
Figure 10. The three-way interaction between musical mood, musical arousal, and
context for Experiment 2B. ............................................................................. 48
Figure 11. The three-way interaction between musical mood, musical arousal, and
context for Experiment 3A.............................................................................. 55
viii
Page
Figure 12. The significant two-way interaction between musical mood and musical
arousal for Experiment 3B.. ............................................................................ 61
Figure 13. The significant two-way interaction between musical arousal and
context for Experiment 3B. ............................................................................. 62
Figure 14. The three-way interaction between musical mood, musical arousal, and
context for Experiment 3B. ............................................................................. 63
Figure 15. The three-way interaction between musical mood, musical arousal, and
context for Experiment 3C.. ............................................................................ 69
ix