Popular songs spark specific memories
Just thinking about a song which was popular in your youth can prompt specific memories, researchers have found.
Whether you have a preference for ABBA or Nirvana the boffins say songs from your era are likely to evoke strong memories and emotions.
Psychologists from Kansas State University gave a group of 18-20-year-olds a list of songs from five periods of their life, and asked them to consider what memories they prompted, they were then played the same songs.
It had been expected that listening to the songs would cue a stronger memory but they found just reading the titles prompted the same reaction. 26 percent said Vanilla Ice`s "Ice Ice Baby" cued a memory while 36 percent said the same of Coolio`s "Gangsta`s Paradise".
Maybe they group just said they were having a strong memory to stop the researchers putting "Ice Ice Baby" on the CD player for the 18th time.
"Music is a very emotional stimulus," said Richard Harris, professor of psychology at K-State.
"It's autobiographical in that we remember events from a long time ago with strong emotion. These pop songs were played many times, so there's a lot of repeat presentation."
"Most people have this idea that music can be a powerful memory cue," Harris added.
"You hear a song on the radio and it brings up memories of senior prom or graduation. That's why oldies stations are so popular -- not because the music is good but because it reminds us of specific times in our lives."
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