You will need:
- Volunteers/ test subjects
- 3 different songs (in different genres)
- Music player
- Pen and paper
- Survey sheet
How many times has it happened that one
particular song gets stuck in our head?
Conduct this experiment to learn more about the dreaded earworm effect.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Hand your volunteers a survey sheet.
- The sheet must include timings, specifically 15 minutes after the experiment, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours and finally 48 hours.
- Ask your volunteers to write down their ages and gender.
- Call your volunteers into a room one by one and play 3 different songs to them. Repeat each song three times and play it at a loud yet reasonable volume.
- Keep in mind the songs must be from varied genres, such as classic, pop, rock, etc.
- Ask your volunteers to write down the song that is stuck in their heads.
- Even if a song you may not have played or no song is stuck in their heads, ask your volunteers to write that down.
RESULT
You might find a pattern that some songs, especially catchy number with an upbeat tune or lyrics, get stuck while other songs do not. But the reason for the earworm effect could also be a result of situations, stress, dream or words that act as a trigger, leading to one particular song playing over and over again in our head. The earworm effect is also known as the brain worm effect.
