May 27, 2005
Scientists study how music stirs memories
MSNBC has a wonderful article on a new study that backs the obvious notion that a song can evoke strong memories. It also reveals that you don't even have to hear a song for the past to come flooding back.
"The new study involved 124 people, average age 19, who were asked to choose from a list of old songs and pick the one that evoked the strongest memory. One group just saw the title, another saw the lyrics, the third saw the album cover or a photo of the artist. A fourth group heard a snippet of the song.
The participants ranked the vividness of their memories.
The recollections were extremely clear for each group, said researcher Elizabeth Cady. "Music is a big cue," she concludes.
Cady, a doctoral student in psychology at Kansas State University, cites the study as evidence for the pervasiveness of mass media, noting that many of the participants' memories were the same as her own.
The results will be presented this week at the American Psychological Society meeting in Los Angeles."
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