Background Music and Context-Dependent Memory

Two experiments demonstrated the use of background sound for inducing context-dependent memory. If a list of words was presented with sound in the background (instrumental music or white noise), then recall tested 48 hr later was better and forgetting was less if the acoustic background was reinstated rather than changed or removed. If learning occurred with quiet background conditions, recall performance was the same whether testing took place with quiet, music, or white noise in the background. The results imply that context-dependent memory caused by background sound is the beneficial result of contextual cuing rather than a deleterious effect caused by the distractions of a new background sound during testing.