State-Dependant Memory Essay

Considering the support for both context-dependant memory and state-dependant memory, it is reasonable to theorize that there should be an effect of music-dependent memory as well. Music-dependant memory then, is an extension of both context-dependant memory and state-dependant memory that assumes that it is easier for an individual to recall information while listening to the same music that was playing when the individual encoded the information. This is especially potent when you consider the common effect of recalling distant memories when listening to music from your past. While the research is sparse, it still exists. Smith was the first to suggest this in 1985. In his study, he placed participants in one of three conditions, two listening
However, Balch et. al., found conflicting results. In their first experiment they found that on an immediate recall test, participants who were tested under the same musical condition in which they retained the information performed best, lending further support to music-dependant memory. There were multiple crucial differences, however, between Balch et al.’s first experiment and Smith’s. The first and most important, is that while Balch, et al. were able to find an effect of music dependent memory in immediate recall, which was not found by Smith, they were unable to replicate his results from a delayed recall test. Where Smith found a significant effect of music-dependant memory on a recall test 48 hours later, Balch, et al. did not. Another important consideration is that Balch, et al.’s utilized an incidental recall task as opposed to Smith’s intentional recall task. That is to say, that in Balch, et al.’s experiment, participants did not intentionally learn the material because they were not instructed to anticipate a recall test. Furthermore, Balch, et al.’s result found no effect of music type on music-dependant memory which is contrary to Perham & Currie’s results