Singing in the Brain

Killingly, Callula; Lacherez, Philippe F.; Meuter, Renata

doi:10.1525/mp.2021.38.5.456

Cited by 9 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…This task was chosen because it provides continuous movement which may be in synchrony without being rhythmic, as we were concerned that a strongly rhythmic stimulus may encourage participants to entrain their responses to the stimulus (Killingly et al, 2021), thus influencing reaction times and confounding the results. The animated Gabor patch provides a solution, as it has a continuous movement without providing a "beat" that participants could tap in time with.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our participants were not required to move or tap in time with anything, only to respond by categorising stimuli. This makes it difficult to compare to previous work, like that of Hove and Risen (2009), but it did remove potential confounds that could arise from measuring reaction times while participants perform rhythmic actions (Killingly et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reaction times have rarely been studied in the context of synchronised action because synchrony requires precise timing by its nature. Reaction times may be influenced by spontaneous entrainment to a periodic stimulus, as people will tend to respond in time with the stimulus (Killingly et al, 2021). Therefore, the present study uses non-periodic stimuli, involving continuous movement without any rhythmic structure.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Processing fluency for visual synchrony perception

Bamford¹

2022

Preprint

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Synchrony is an important aspect of social behaviour. Prior research has observed a synchrony-bonding effect, suggesting that synchronised action may be an efficient way of creating and maintaining social affiliation. However, most of the theories attempting to explain this synchrony-bonding effect rely upon higher-order social cognition. Relatively little attention has been given to the perceptual experience of synchrony, and the low-level perceptual mechanisms involved. One possible mechanism that could explain some of the effects of synchrony is that of processing fluency. In two pre-registered experiments, we test the novel hypothesis that synchrony (congruent movement) is easier to process than non-synchrony. We find an effect of speed congruency, but not direction congruency, on performance in a Flanker task with animated Gabor patches. The stimuli presented here are continuous vectors, best understood as derivatives of the periodic movement seen in naturalistic stimuli. As such, incongruent speed is most likely to be experienced while perceiving non-synchronised periodic movement, suggesting a greater processing load during the perception of that movement. Crucially, the effect observed here does not rely upon social stimuli, and may operate at an early stage of perceptual processing. This is an initial step in establishing a novel theory of the synchrony-bonding effect, based upon the principles of processing fluency.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Processing fluency for visual synchrony perception

Bamford¹

2022

Preprint

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“…Instead, I argue that what makes earworms distinct from other aspects of auditory cogni-tion…is the reaction of people experiencing an earworm. Beaman's implication that it is solely the visceral negative reaction that makes the earworm phenomenon distinct is not consistent with the majority of literature that has generally shown that, for most people, experiencing an earworm is not unpleasant or disturbing (most of the time) (Halpern and Bartlett 2011;Killingly et al 2021; Williamson and Jilka 2014). The alternative explanation by Beaman is that if one is not voluntarily suppressing the earworm then one is instead voluntarily "singing along"-either of which (suppression or singing)-could cue repetition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Why do Songs get “Stuck in our Heads”? Towards a Theory for Explaining Earworms

Arthur

2023

Music & Science

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This paper offers a critical reflection on the paucity of theories for the phenomenon of “earworms,” also known as involuntary musical imagery (INMI), and poses some as-yet unanswered questions relating to the unique nature of the phenomenon, the optimal conditions for earworm induction, as well the underlying mechanisms that may drive the behavior. While numerous earworm studies have focused on analyzing the symptoms of the phenomenon, few studies have attempted to focus on investigating the underlying cause. In addition, common explanations are typically tied to proximal rather than distal causes (e.g., recent exposure). In particular, the question of “why music” (as opposed to other time-based auditory stimuli such as language/poetry), or, perhaps “what about music” is raised, and some conjectures and starting places for future studies are offered. Possible theoretical avenues and testable hypotheses are suggested, based on synthesizing informal observations and existing empirical research across multiple disciplines.

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“…This challenge was highlighted in our previous work (Killingly et al, 2021), where it was evident that factors such as the enjoyment of a song and desire to sing along were also associated with previous exposure to the music (in terms of participants' perceived familiarity). While songs tended to vary in terms of how familiar people were with them, there were consistent significant relationships among participants' ratings of their enjoyment, familiarity with, and desire to sing along to different songs, and self-reported earworms, indicating that higher levels of familiarity were positively associated with higher levels of enjoyment and the desire to sing along.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

The song that never ends: The effect of repeated exposure on the development of an earworm

Killingly

Lacherez

2023

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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An ‘earworm’ – the experience of a catchy melody that repeats persistently in the mind – is a ubiquitous yet mysterious cognitive phenomenon. Previous research demonstrates that earworms for vocal music engage working memory resources, manifesting as ‘inner singing’. The present study investigated whether this effect is moderated by prior exposure to music. In one experimental session, participants (N = 44) were presented with four novel song choruses. To manipulate exposure, each song was presented between 1 and 4 times, counterbalanced across participants. The following day, participants undertook a serial recall task during and following presentation of each song. In addition, they rated the music on familiarity, enjoyment, their desire to sing along, and perceived catchiness, both before and following the experiment. Increased exposure to novel songs on the first day tended to result in greater interference on task performance during and following their presentation on the second day, yet the effect varied depending on the song. Ratings of the desire to sing along and perceived familiarity increased significantly between the sessions for all songs. These findings are important in understanding the relative influence of familiarity and song-level characteristics on the development of an earworm.

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Singing in the Brain

Cited by 9 publications

References 54 publications

Processing fluency for visual synchrony perception

Processing fluency for visual synchrony perception

Why do Songs get “Stuck in our Heads”? Towards a Theory for Explaining Earworms

The song that never ends: The effect of repeated exposure on the development of an earworm

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