On the nature of melody-text integration in memory for songs

In earlier experiments we found that the melodies of songs were better recognized when the words were those that had originally been heard with the melody than when they were different. Similarly, song texts were better recognized when sung with their original melodies. Some possible causes of this...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of memory and language 1986-04, Vol.25 (2), p.123-135
Main Authors: Serafine, Mary Louise, Davidson, Janet, Crowder, Robert G, Repp, Bruno H
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:In earlier experiments we found that the melodies of songs were better recognized when the words were those that had originally been heard with the melody than when they were different. Similarly, song texts were better recognized when sung with their original melodies. Some possible causes of this “integration effect” were investigated in the present experiments. Experiment 1 ruled out the hypothesis that integration was due to semantic connotations imposed on the melody by the words, since songs with nonsense texts yielded the same effect. Experiments 2 and 3 ruled out the possibility that the earlier results were caused by a decrement in recognition when a previously heard component is tested in an unfamiliar context. The results support the notion of an integrated memory representation for melody and text in songs.
ISSN:0749-596X
1096-0821
DOI:10.1016/0749-596X(86)90025-2