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. 2023 Nov;76(11):2535-2545.
doi: 10.1177/17470218231152368. Epub 2023 Feb 4.

The song that never ends: The effect of repeated exposure on the development of an earworm

Callula Killingly  1   2 , Philippe Lacherez  1
Affiliations

The song that never ends: The effect of repeated exposure on the development of an earworm

Callula Killingly et al. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2023 Nov.

Abstract

An "earworm"-the experience of a catchy melody that repeats persistently in the mind-is a ubiquitous yet mysterious cognitive phenomenon. Previous research demonstrates that earworms for vocal music engage working memory resources, manifesting as "inner singing." This study investigated whether this effect is moderated by prior exposure to music. In one experimental session, participants (N = 44) were presented with four novel song choruses. To manipulate exposure, each song was presented between one and four times, counterbalanced across participants. The following day, participants undertook a serial recall task during and following presentation of each song. In addition, they rated the music on familiarity, enjoyment, their desire to sing along, and perceived catchiness, both before and following the experiment. Increased exposure to novel songs on the first day tended to result in greater interference on task performance during and following their presentation on the second day, yet the effect varied depending on the song. Ratings of the desire to sing along and perceived familiarity increased significantly between the sessions for all songs. These findings are important in understanding the relative influence of familiarity and song-level characteristics on the development of an earworm.

Keywords: Earworm; involuntary musical imagery; repeated exposure.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Mean difference in song ratings before and after experiment, according to level of exposure. Panel a: Desire to Sing along, Enjoyment, Catchiness. Panel b: Familiarity. Note. Songs were rated on a scale of 0–100 in each session. Error bars represent ± 1 SE.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Change in ratings between Sessions 1 and 2. Note. Confidence bands represent 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Effect of exposure on serial recall performance before, during, and following presentation of each song. Panel a: Don’t Tell. Panel b: Running Away. Panel c: Believer. Panel d: Healing. Note. Error bars indicate ± 1 SE.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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