By Thomas Lee
李浩賢
腦中迴旋曲
A
ca t c h y
t u n e f r e q u e n t l y
l e a v e s a l a s t i n g
impression, sometimes
appea r i ng to r un on
pe r pet ua l au to - l oop.
Much to our frustration, it is
almost as if the more effort
contributed to eradicating
the s tubbo r n me l ody f rom
our consciousness, the more
dete rmi ned i t i s to rema i n
en t r enched . Pe s k y mu s i c
producers and advertisers are
known to deliberately create
repetitions in hit songs and catchy jingles to cling
to the minds of consumers. The aim is clear: to
burrow firmly into the brains of listeners. Believe
it or not, this phenomenon has a name befitting
its description – earworm – with its etymology
stemming from the German word “Ohrwurm”,
or known more scientifically as an “involuntary
musical image”. Researchers were determined
to dissect the ‘parasite’ in the Earworm Project
in an effort to illuminate the mechanisms of the
subconscious mind.
At London’s Goldsmith’s College, Dr. Victoria
Williamson investigated this phenomenon by
collecting thousands of earworm stories and
experiences. She reports that earworms occur
more frequently for individuals who play music
on a regular basis or are more exposed to music.
From a database of more than 2500 experiences,
it was found that ear worm tunes
differed across the board, with only
several songs named more than once,
deeming it “a ver y individual phenomenon”.
However, a small number of songs were cited
more often, especially when they were promoted
in the mass media, s
ely
that repetition and exposure to certain tunes are
more likely to embed songs more deeply into the
subconscious [1].
Wes te r n Was h i ngton Un i ve r s i t y’s mus i c
psychologist, Dr. Ira Hyman noted that earworms
are likely to appear during low cognitive activities,
not unlike mind wandering or daydreaming.
Surprisingly, however, schoolwork was reported
as an activity that triggered the return of intrusive
songs, likely owing to songs having association with
a particular class. Thus, earworms seem to appear
more frequently at both ends of the cognitive load
spectrum [2].
For those that are more easily irritated by these
interfering repetitive tunes, psychologists propose
a potentially successful method in reducing the
“stickiness” of earworms. Based on a theory known
as the Zeigarnik effect, they claim that individuals
tend to experience intrusive thoughts about things
they have started but have yet to finish. Thus,
consciously playing out a song to completion may
be able to curb the intrusive repetition brought
about by earworms. Other psychologists suggest
thinking about a different song could help to
displace the original earworm.
Singin’
in the
Brain
