Memory for music
Marco Costa
Department of Psychology
University of Bologna, Italy
Memory
Human memory is encoded; events in the world (including events in the
body and brain) cause changes in the microstructure (neural networks) of
the brain that persist over varying amount of time.
Memory classification
▪ Echoic memory: brief sensory image of an auditory stimulus that persist
for a second or two at most.
▪ Short-term memory: timescale of seconds, ranging 4-30 seconds,
though it is usually of the order of 4-8 seconds. Short-term memory has
also a capacity limit of about 7 ± 2. This capacity can be increased by
practice.
▪ The process of chunking can significantly increase the limit of auditory
short-term memory.
▪ The passage from short to long-term memory is facilitated by repetition
but there are cases in which one single exposure is enough (flashbulb
memory).
▪ The repetition, in addition to increased memory, results in an increase in
pleasantness and acceptation (effect of mere exposure Zachov)
▪ Since music has not a specific semantic meaning it can be listened to
many times without creating habituation and without loosing its
aesthetic potential. This differentiate music from literature and cinema.
Long-term memory for music
▪ Music is frequently associated with episodic and autobiographical
memory.
▪ This association is used to contrast memory decay due to aging,
dementia, Alzheimer disease.
▪ Episodic memory is typically tested in recognition or, more rarely, recall
tasks.
▪ Semantic memory for music is related to aspects of music that can be
categorized (e.g., music genres, music styles, timbres).
▪ A further distinction is between explicit and implicit memory. The
distinction is based on the accessibility to consciousness.
▪ A prototypical implicit memory is procedural memory, i.e., memory for
actions, that is very important for the acquisition of skills.
▪ Another important implicit memory is statistical representation, which is
involved in learning of regularities (patterns) in the environment. This
implicit memory has been demonstrated in relation to the grammar of
melodic sequences (Loui, 2012).
Memory for music
- Memory for melodies is related mainly to the succession of pitches
(intervals) but not to the absolute pitch (melodies are recognized also if
intonation and pitches are shifted).
- Memory for tonal melodies is much better than memory for atonal
melodies.
- Irregular rhythms are “adjusted” and regularized during memory
encoding and decoding.
