Title of the Report:

“Types and volume of music and intensity of light has

influence on remembering of words”

Submitted by:
Student Id:
ARAVIND GURRAM 20046047
AZAD TONDURU 20038551
DEVA VADTHYA 20038547
HASAN ALDEWACHI 20037207
KARTHEEK ANNEM 20040867
KARTHIK GOUD GUNDUMALLA 20044850
MUHAMMD TARIQUL ISLAM 20040698

Academic Year: 2010/11

MSc Pharmaceutical Analysis

Module Tutor:
Dr. Florian Wulfert

Faculty of Health and Wellbeing

Department of Biosciences
Sheffield Hallam University

1
 ABSTRACT

Memory is a mental system that receives stores, organizes, alters and recovers

information from sensory input (Coon, 1997). Different issues influence the

memory. One of these factors is music, which has been found to stimulate parts

of the brain. Music has also been found to reduce pressure, assist recreation and

ease sadness. This experiment placed 8 subjects into three different conditions

based on the independent variable of music. The three types of the independent

variable were types of music, volume of the music and the intensity of the light.

Each subject was asked to read a list of words for 2 minutes with their specific

music in the background. The word list was taken away and the music was

turned off. The subject was then asked to tell the words that memorized. There

was a significant interaction found between the volume of music played and

memory recall. But there is no significant interaction observed between the type

of the music and the memory recall or between the intensity of light and the

memory recall.

2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, we are very much thankful to Almighty God for unlimited blessings.

Then it is great pride to express thanks and infinite gratefulness to our respected

teacher and module leader Dr. Florian Wulfert, Academic staff, Department of

Bioscience, Faculty of Health and Well-being, Sheffield Hallam University, for

providing us with all crucial support and facilities, required to complete this

coursework. We are also thankful to all of our course mates for encouraging us to

complete the course work. And lastly we would like to thank the

volunteers/subjects of the coursework whose involvement made us to

successfully complete this experiment.

MEMBERS OF COURSEWORK GROUP 2

3
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0. INTRODUCTION 1
2.0. MATERIALS AND METHODS 2
2.1. Software 2
2.2. Music 3
2.3. Music systems 3
2.4. Lights 3
2.5. List of words 3
2.6. Volunteers 4
2.7. Procedure 5
3.0. RESULT 6
4.0. CONCLUSION 16
5.0. APPENDIX 17
6.0. REFERENCE 19

TABLE OF TABLES
Table 1 : List of Words Used In the Experiment 4
Table 2: Result of the Experiment (number of words remembered in different
conditions) 6
Table 3: Summary of the Design 8
Table 4: ANOVA for Selected Factorial Model 10
Table 5: Predicted and Actual Values of Words Remembred 17

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Intensity of light Vs Words remembered 9
Figure 2: Volume of Music Vs Words Remembered 10
Figure 3: Interaction between music volume and light intensity 12
Figure 4: contour plot of 2 variables 13
Figure 5: 3D surface of the results 14
Figure 6: Cubic model of the experiment 15

4
1.0. INTRODUCTION
Memory is the key aspect of learning and reading which resembles to
intelligence. Recently peoples are used to learn and read while listening music. It
has been found that learning and studying activates the left brain while the music
activates the right brain. This simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes
learning and retention of information. (O’Donnel, L.). But people listen to different
types of music at different volumes and at various intensities of light according to
subject’s preferences. Most commonly used music are soft and metal (rock). The
normal study lighting condition is usual intensity of light but sometimes there are
variations in intensity of light like dim or low lighting condition also observed
during study.

To study the influence of different types and varied volumes of music, and the
effect of intensity of light on learning an experiment was developed which
designed with different experimental conditions. The hypothesis of the study was
“Types and volume of music and intensity of light has influence on remembering
of words”.

In these study, soft and metal (rock) music has been selected because most
people are used to listen to these types of music. The volume that has been
chosen are 30, 65, 100 watts and the safety levels has been checked especially
that volunteers are subjected to these intensities for short interval of time. And
the intensity of light that has been selected are 10, 25, 40 watts because these
ranges are most commonly used in daily life. The experiment was designed with
above mentioned variables on eight volunteers, the consent forms have been
distributed to participants and the method was illustrated to them with possible
consequences. The main context of this experiment is to identify the ideal type,
volume of music and lighting conditions for effective study and memorizing
information.

5
2.0. MATERIALS AND METHODS

There are some materials that were used in the experiment to perform the test
appropriately. The materials that were used:

1. Software

2. Music

3. Music systems

4. Lights

5. Words

6. Volunteers

2.1. Software:

The software which was used for carrying out the design of the experiment is
Design-Expert® version 8.0.4 which is programmed by State-Ease, Inc. The
software helped to design the experiment with different conditions. This software
is a very useful tool for designing an experiment and simple to understand. 2-
level full factorial design was used for the designing of the experiment with 2
replicates and with the center points as it is good for establishing main effects
and interactions.

The features of factorial design are suitable for this experiment because it
provides balanced design and lots of variables can be tested simultaneously as
well. One of the most important features that are not available in all types of
design is ability of factorial design to test for interactions.

After designing of the experiment and testing the different conditions on the
volunteers’ results are collected and submitted in the software which in turn
provides a table that implies the different conditions of variables in different runs.

6
2.2. Music:

The type of music that was selected for the experiment is ‘soft’ and ‘metal (rock)’
music. Every volunteer has got independency to choose the music as there
favorite artist or band. Independency for choosing the music is getting more
involvement of the volunteer in the study. If the music was chosen by the
investigator then it might not make the volunteers interested in listening the
music so their ability of concentration on reading may not be affected because
the volunteers belongs to different cultures. The freedom of selecting types of
music is also supervised by the investigator. So the investigator can check the
selected music belongs to the specification. Online music tools and personal
music library were used for the selection of music.

2.3. Music systems:

The music systems that are employed to assist the experiment are head phones
(Sony MDR V150) and stereo speakers (Panasonic SC-PT90EB-K 5.1 Channel
DVD Home Theater System).

2.4. Lights:

As light of different intensity has different influences on the concentration or

focusing ability of an individual, so in this experiment light sources which have
different volts were used, for the suitability of the experiments 10 watts, 25 watts,
40 watts intensity of light was used for the performance etc.

2.5. List of words:

In the experiment different sets of words list (A, B, C, D) were used, each
contained 15 words and overall 60 words. These words were selected randomly
from above 1000 of words. And the order of the word was randomized. The word
lists that were used are listed below:

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Table 6 : List of Words Used In the Experiment
A B C D
Mark Memory Freedom Tongue
Believe Including Secret Speak
Folks Taught Duty Sir
Handsome Solar Want Mount
Invented Pour Frighten Series
Treated Bay Mission Suit
Floating Character Fly Paris
Taste Shelf Horn Clay
Deeply Leave See Independent
Successful Firm Fix Autumn
Crew Equally Fill Rhyme
Skill Mill Movie Writer
Article Torn Apartment Weren't
Softly Protection Accept Rush
Situation Asleep Mainly Hall

2.6. Volunteers:
For carrying out the experiment 8 volunteers were selected where everyone has
got the right to listen music that they hear in their daily life. A consent form was
provided towards the volunteer. After understanding of the rules and regulation of
the experiment they agreed to sign the consent form. For privacy purposes of the
volunteers in the experiment a coding system was introduced for identification of
the volunteers.

8
2.7. Procedure:
Music was turned on before 2-3 minutes of the experiment to create experimental
environment. Volunteers were asked to read a printed copy of the list of words for
2 minutes. These lists contain 15 words in each set as mentioned previously (see
Table 6). The independent variables were set. At the end of the 2 minutes, the
word list was taken away. Subjects were then asked to tell the words within 1
minute. The data was then collected and recorded.

9
3.0. RESULT
After finishing the procedure of experiment the responses of word remembering
are gathered from the participants and placed in the table of experiment results
(see Table 7), it can be noticed from the table that maximum number of words
remembered is 12 while the minimum number of words retrieved is 6 words. The
variation in memorizing words is investigated for checking which of the variables
is the most significant in affecting the ability of retrieval.

Table 7: Result of the Experiment (number of words remembered in different

conditions)

Factor 1: Factor 2: Factor3: Response of

Intensity Types of Volumes of word
Standard Run Block of lights Music Music remembering
(watts) (watts)
17 1 V01 25 Soft 65 10
3 2 V01 40 Soft 30 11
13 3 V01 10 Rock 100 6
18 4 V01 25 Rock 65 8
19 5 V02 25 Soft 65 9
20 6 V02 25 Rock 65 7
9 7 V02 10 Soft 100 7
7 8 V02 40 Rock 30 8
11 9 V03 40 Soft 100 11
21 10 V03 25 Soft 65 12
22 11 V03 25 Rock 65 9
5 12 V03 10 Rock 30 12
1 13 V04 10 Soft 30 10
24 14 V04 25 Rock 65 7
15 15 V04 40 Rock 100 8
23 16 V04 25 Soft 65 8
25 17 V05 25 Soft 65 9

10
14 18 V05 10 Rock 100 8
4 19 V05 40 Soft 30 11
26 20 V05 25 Rock 65 10
28 21 V06 25 Rock 65 11
8 22 V06 40 Rock 30 12
10 23 V06 10 Soft 100 7
27 24 V06 25 Soft 65 10
12 25 V07 40 Soft 100 8
30 26 V07 25 Rock 65 6
6 27 V07 10 Rock 30 7
29 28 V07 25 Soft 65 11
16 29 V08 40 Rock 100 7
32 30 V08 25 Rock 65 11
31 31 V08 25 Soft 65 11
2 32 V08 10 Soft 30 7

11
Table 8: Summary of the Design

Study Type Factorial Runs 32

Design Type 2 Level Factorial Blocks 8
Center
Points 16
Design
Model Reduced 3FI
Factor Name Units Type Minimum Maximum Mean
1. Intensity of
A light watts Numeric 10 40 25
2. Types of
B Music Categorical Soft Rock Levels:
3. Volume of
C music watts Numeric 30 100 65

Response Name Units Observation Analysis Minimum Maximum Mean

words
Y1 remembered 32 Factorial 6 12 9.03125
(From list of 15)

12
Although different factors have been investigated collectively and not as
individual factors but one of the properties of this software (Design-Expert®
version 8.0.4) is the ability to visualize the effect of individual factors so the
effect of light intensity is illustrated in the figure 1 which is shown below

Design-Expert® Software

Correlation: 0.285
Color points by 12
Run
32
w o rd s re m e m b e re d (fro m lis t o f 1 5 )

1 4 3
11

10 3

9 3

8 2 3

7 4 2

10.00 16.00 22.00 28.00 34.00 40.00

A:1.Intensity of light

Figure 7: Intensity of light Vs Words remembered

From this figure it can be noticed that intensity of light has no so much effect
especially on the maximum ability of memorizing word because 12 words is
obtained with different intensities of light

The effect of the volume of music as a single factor is also shown in the figure 2
in which it can be noticed that low volume of music has positive influence while
high music volume is obviously has strong negative effect as it can be seen that
lowest number of words are recorded mostly at high intensities of volume.

13
 Design-Expert® Software

Correlation: -0.380
Color points by 12 2
Run
32

w o rd s re m e m b e re d (fro m lis t o f 1 5 )
1
11 2 4

10 3

9 3

8 2 3

7 2 2 3

30.00 37.00 44.00 51.00 58.00 65.00 72.00 79.00 86.00 93.00 100.00

C:3.Volume of music

Figure 8: Volume of Music Vs Words Remembered

Table 9: ANOVA for Selected Factorial Model

Analysis of variance table
p-
Sum of Mean F value
Prob >
Source Squares Square Value F
Block 33.71875 4.816964286
Model 25 12.5 5.263157895 0.0136 significant
A-1. Intensity of
light 9 9 3.789473684 0.0645
C-3. Volume of
music 16 16 6.736842105 0.0165

14
The Model F-value of 5.26 implies the model is significant. There is only
a 1.36% chance that a "Model F-Value" this large could occur due to noise.from
table 3 it can be concluded that the volume of music has the greatest effect on
the word remembrance ability of the subjects ,at the same time the effect of light
intensity can not be ignored but it lies in gray region of significance p- value
0.05- 0.1

Std. Dev. 1.54 R-Squared 0.3236

Mean 9.03 Adj R-Squared 0.2621
C.V. % 17.06 Pred R-Squared -0.3936
PRESS 107.65 Adeq Precision 6.674

A negative "Pred R-Squared" implies that the overall mean is a better predictor of
response than the current model.

"Adeq Precision" measures the signal to noise ratio. A ratio greater than 4 is
desirable. Your ratio of 6.674 indicates an adequate signal. This model can be
used to navigate the design space.

Final Equation in Terms of Coded Factors:

words remembered (from list of 15) =
+9.03
+0.75 *A
-1.00*C

Final Equation in Terms of Actual Factors:

words remembered (from list of 15) =
+9.63839
+0.050000*1.Intensity of light
-0.028571*3Volume of music

15
 Design-Expert® Software
Factor Coding: Actual Interaction
words remembered (from list of 15)
12 C: 3.Volume of music
Design Points

X1 = A: 1.Intensity of light

w o rd s re m e m b e re d (fro m lis t o f 1 5 )
X2 = C: 3.Volume of music
11 2
Actual Factor
B: 2.Types of Music = Rock

C- 30.00 10
C+ 100.00

8 2

7 2

10.00 16.00 22.00 28.00 34.00 40.00

A: 1.Intensity of light

Figure 9: Interaction between music volume and light intensity

It is obvious that there no interaction between intensity of light and volume of

music (in the ranges used in the experiment). Whatever the volume of music and

intensity of light used there was no enhancing or suppressing effect between

them. (see

Figure 9)

16
 Design-Expert® Software
Factor Coding: Actual words remembered (from list of 15)
words remembered (from list of 15) 100.00 2 2
Design Points
12
93.00
6 8
86.00
X1 = A: 1.Intensity of light
X2 = C: 3.Volume of music 79.00

Actual Factor
B: 2.Types of Music = Soft 72.00
C: 3.Volume of music

9
65.00 8

58.00

51.00

44.00
10

37.00

30.00 2 2
10.00 16.00 22.00 28.00 34.00 40.00

A: 1.Intensity of light

Figure 10: contour plot of 2 variables

From the figure of contour plot it can be concluded that tha area of high light

intensity (25 – 40) watts and low music volume (30 – 58) watts yeild the best

results with regard to words recall as it can be noticed that 10 - 12 words were

retrived in this area meanwhile the area of low light intensity (10 – 25) watts and

high music volume (75 -100) yeilds the lowest numbers of words recall and in this

area 6 - 8 words were retrived.

17
Design-Expert® Software
Factor Coding: Actual
words remembered (from list of 15)
Design points above predicted value
Design points below predicted value
12

6 12

X1 = A: 1.Intensity of light
X2 = C: 3.Volume of music 11
words remembered (from list of 15)
Actual Factor
B: 2.Types of Music = Soft 10

40.00
34.00
100.00 93.00 86.00 79.00 28.00
22.00
72.00 65.00 58.00 51.00
44.00 37.00 30.00 10.0016.00 A: 1.Intensity of light
C: 3.Volume of music

Figure 11: 3D surface of the results:

18
 Design-Expert® Software
Factor Coding: Actual Cube
words remembered (from list of 15)
X1 = A: 1.Intensity of light words remembered (from list of 15)
X2 = C: 3.Volume of music
X3 = B: 2.Types of Music
2 2
7.28125 8.78125

2 10
C+: 100.00 7.28125 8.78125
C: 3.Volume of music

10 2
9.28125 10.7813 B+: Rock

B: 2.Types of Music

2 2
C-: 30.00 9.28125 10.7813 B-: Soft
A-: 10.00 A+: 40.00
A: 1.Intensity of light

Figure 12: Cubic model of the experiment

The cubic model of the experiment is additional evidence that the type of music is

not affecting the subject ability to memorize words. It can be seen that the same

number of words have been remembered in both types of music (soft & rock). In

contrast it can be seen that there is significant difference in intensity of light and

volume of the music between different sides of the cube.

19
4.0. CONCLUSION

The calculated results for this experiment were significant with regards to music
volume and to some extent with light intensity but inconsistent with the original
hypothesis that type of music would influence memory. The interaction between
the type of music played and the memories recalled was insignificant. So within
the range exploited in the experiment it can be concluded that appropriate
lighting condition (25-40) watts and suitable music volume which is 30-58 watts
(see
Figure 10) has granted the higher number of words retrieval. Although those two
variables have major contribution in the ability of memorizing but they does not
affect each other i.e. no interaction between them. High volume of music is
affecting the ability of memory function because it interferes with competence of
concentration during study. On one side the noise have affect the subjects ability
to concentrate leading to minimum capability of retrieval on the other hand
listening to music at appropriate volumes have led to positive effect on the
subjects ability to remember words.

This hypothesis can be further investigated by applying the procedure with larger
number of subjects and also by introducing additional logical problem in order to
support the results and conclusion obtained by this experiment.

5.0. APPENDIX

20
 Table 10: Predicted and Actual Values of Words Remembred
Response words remembered (from list of 15) (adjusted) Transform: None

Diagnostics Case Statistics

Internally Externally Influence on
Run Actual Predicted Studentized Studentized Fitted Value Cook's
Order Value Value Residual Leverage Residual Residual DFFITS Distance
13 10 8.21875 1.78125 0.40625 1.502355159 1.551918395 1.283700636 0.140391978
32 7 8.96875 -1.96875 0.40625 -1.66049780 -1.738634073 -1.43814627 0.171503773
2 11 10.21875 0.78125 0.40625 0.658927701 0.649800152 0.537495317 0.027006767
19 11 10.96875 0.03125 0.40625 0.026357108 0.025722329 0.021276744 4.32108E-05
12 12 10.96875 1.03125 0.40625 0.869784566 0.864538153 0.71512019 0.047056591
27 7 7.96875 -0.96875 0.40625 -0.81707035 -0.810364054 -0.67030899 0.041525605
8 8 9.21875 -1.21875 0.40625 -1.02792721 -1.029385712 -0.85147717 0.065723668
22 12 11.46875 0.53125 0.40625 0.448070837 0.43937771 0.363440145 0.012487929
7 7 5.71875 1.28125 0.40625 1.08064143 1.085203062 0.897647625 0.072637401
23 7 7.96875 -0.96875 0.40625 -0.81707035 -0.810364054 -0.67030899 0.041525605
9 11 10.46875 0.53125 0.40625 0.448070837 0.43937771 0.363440145 0.012487929
25 8 7.46875 0.53125 0.40625 0.448070837 0.43937771 0.363440145 0.012487929
3 6 6.71875 -0.71875 0.40625 -0.60621348 -0.596849191 -0.49369585 0.022858528
18 8 7.46875 0.53125 0.40625 0.448070837 0.43937771 0.363440145 0.012487929
15 8 7.71875 0.28125 0.40625 0.237213973 0.231807911 0.191744595 0.003500077
29 7 8.46875 -1.46875 0.40625 -1.23878407 -1.25567946 -1.03866062 0.095452717
1 10 9.03125 0.96875 0.28125 0.742629733 0.734440456 0.459424264 0.019618539
4 8 9.03125 -1.03125 0.28125 -0.79054132 -0.78323177 -0.48994534 0.022231622
5 9 8.03125 0.96875 0.28125 0.742629733 0.734440456 0.459424264 0.019618539
6 7 8.03125 -1.03125 0.28125 -0.79054132 -0.78323177 -0.48994534 0.022231622
10 12 11.28125 0.71875 0.28125 0.55098335 0.54163396 0.338815464 0.010799383
11 9 11.28125 -2.28125 0.28125 -1.74877324 -1.846356616 -1.15497590 0.108790003
16 8 8.53125 -0.53125 0.28125 -0.40724856 -0.399012664 -0.24959967 0.005899852
14 7 8.53125 -1.53125 0.28125 -1.17383409 -1.185083156 -0.74132076 0.049015725
17 9 9.78125 -0.78125 0.28125 -0.59889494 -0.589517717 -0.36876882 0.012759195
20 10 9.78125 0.21875 0.28125 0.167690585 0.163758932 0.102438293 0.001000321
24 10 10.28125 -0.28125 0.28125 -0.21560218 -0.210639442 -0.13176408 0.001653592
21 11 10.28125 0.71875 0.28125 0.55098335 0.54163396 0.338815464 0.010799383
28 11 8.28125 2.71875 0.28125 2.084154412 2.283787112 1.428607594 0.154518959
26 6 8.28125 -2.28125 0.28125 -1.74877324 -1.846356616 -1.15497590 0.108790003
31 11 9.28125 1.71875 0.28125 1.317568881 1.342502039 0.839793078 0.061754505
30 11 9.28125 1.71875 0.28125 1.317568881 1.342502039 0.839793078 0.061754505

5.2. Consent form: The consent form that provided towards the volunteers are listed
below:

21
 Informed Consent Form

Title of Study: Volume of music and Intensity of light influence the memorizing of
words after 2 minutes.

Investigators:
Aravind Gurram1, Azad Tonduru1, Deva Vadthya1, Hasan Aldewachi1, Kartheek Annem1,
Karthik G Gundumalla1, Muhammad Tariqul Islam1.

1. Student, MSc Pharmaceutical Analysis, Academic Year 2010/11, Sheffield

Hallam University, UK

Participant’s Printed Name: _________________________________________________

Participant’s Code for identification:

You are invited to participate in a statistical survey entitled “Volume of music and
Intensity of light influence the memorizing of words after 2 minutes”. Taking part in
this study is entirely voluntary. Please read this form carefully, and feel free to contact
the investigators prior to beginning the study if you have any questions. If you decide to
participate you must sign this form to show that you want to take part.

Purpose of the Study:

The main purpose of the study is to recognize the effect of the volume of music and the
intensity of light influence in words memorizing after 2 minutes. As the word
memorizing is related with the concentration of study so the study is mainly the effect of
these variables influencing concentration of study

Once you have read the Consent Form and indicated that you have understood it, you will
be invited to proceed to the survey. It is anticipated that the survey will not take longer
than 5 minutes to complete.

Procedure of the Study:

We will start to play 2 different types of music in different run. One is soft music and
another is metal music and the music will play in an audible range in low volume (30
watts) and high volume (100 watts) in PC general volume system. There is also a lighting
effect available like dim light and normal working efficient intensity of the light. The
music will play for the 5-6 minutes. After 1-2 minutes of the music starts of we will
provide you a list of word and then you have to read the document and memorize the
words as much as you can. After 2 minutes we will take the documents and after
finishing the music you have to tell the words that you memorize within 1 minute.

Time Duration of the Procedures and Study:

22
If you agree to take part in this study, your involvement will last approximately 1 hour
overall.

Discomforts and Risk:

While on the study, you are at risk for the following side effects. Most of them are listed
below but they will vary from person to person.
• Hearing discomfort. (Human can feel pain in hearing above 120 dB)

Potential Benefits:
• Possible benefits to the participant: There is no guarantee that you will benefit
from being in this study.
• Possible benefits to others: The results of this study may guide the learners about
the influence of light and music during learning.

Statement of Confidentiality
Your research records that are reviewed, stored, and analyzed will be kept in a secured
area in Investigators personal study record book. You will not be identified by name; a code
will provide for identification your data. The records may include (a code number, your
initials, date of birth, etc.).

Signature and Consent/Permission to be in the Research:

Before making the decision regarding enrollment in this research you should have:
• Discussed this study with an investigator,
• Reviewed the information in this form, and
• Had the opportunity to ask any questions you may have.

Your signature below means that you have received this information, have asked the
questions you currently have about the research and those questions have been answered.
You will receive a copy of the signed and dated form to keep for future reference.
• Participant: By signing this consent form, you indicate that you are voluntarily
choosing to take part in this research.

__________________________ __________ ______ ________________

Signature of Participant Date Time Printed Name

• Person Explaining the Study: Your signature below means that you have
explained the research to the participant and have answered any questions he/she
has about the research.

______________________________ _________ ______ ______________

Signature of person who explained this research Date Time Printed Name

6.0. REFERENCE

23
Coon, D. (1997). Essentials of Psychology. New York: Brooks/Cole Publishing.
O’Donnel, L., [online] at http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n15/mente/musica.html

24