EFFECTS OF MELODY AND LYRICS ON MOOD AND MEMORY

137 undergraduate Le Moyne College students volunteered in a study on music and its effects on mood and memory. In a 2 x 3 between-subjects design, there were 2 lyric conditions (Happy and Sad Lyrics) and 3 mus ic conditions (No Music, Happy Music, and Sad Music). Participants wer e asked to listen to instrumental music or mentally to create a melody as they read lyrics to themselves. The study tested cued-recall, self -reported mood state, and psychological arousal. Analysis suggested th at mood of participants was influenced by the music played, not the ly rics. Results also showed those exposed to No Music had the highest sc ore on the recall test. Personal relevance to the lyrics was nor corre lated with memory.