Recall of digit and word sequences by musicians and nonmusicians as a function of spoken or sung input and task.

Author(s): Miller, N. L., digits, word-sequences, sung-input.

Journal/Book: Journal of Music Therapy. 1982; 19: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. National Association for Music Therapy 8455 Colesville Rd., Suite 930 20910 Silver Spring, Maryland USA. 194-209.

Abstract: This study was conducted to determine if and how music training, stimulus characteristics, and task requirements influence immediate recall of sequential verbal material in a laboratory experimental setting. Specifically, this study examined sung verbal material as input and/or task to determine the effect of combined tonal and verbal information on the processing of verbal information. Two groups of adult subjects, musicians and nonmusicians, received five combinations of sung and spoken stimuli and response tasks. Recall tasks required each subject to sing or speak in sequential order a sung or spoken seven-item sequence of digits, words, and/or pitches. Results suggest that sequential verbal recall is affected by music training and stimulus characteristics. While the two groups did not differ significantly on overall recall, musicians' scores were higher for sequential recall. For both groups, sung input and recall task resulted in a decrement in recall performance for digits. Recall performance for words, however, was equivalent in both sung and spoken conditions.

Keyword(s): recall, singing, musician, music-training, verbal-learning.

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