‘I Believe in Yesterday’

The power of music

Most people can remember important news stories clearly， whether it was the murder of President Kennedy or the events of 9/11. But now， psychologists Professor Martin Conway and Dr Catriona Morrison， from the University of Leeds， are investigating how music can create ‘autobiographical memory’ of the main events in our lives. The study is online. People must choose a song by the Beatles， and describe the memories that they have when they listen to it.

Reminiscence bump

Dr Morrison explains that they looked at different age groups and their memories. We often remember more from when we are teenagers， and this is called ‘the reminiscence bump’. This is the time in your life when you form your idea of who you are. For older people who have memories related to the Beatles’ music， most of those memories are from when they were teenagers. But younger people also had a very strong response， and had vivid personal memories from their past.

She Loves You

This study was different from other memory studies， because people remembered events from their past with lots more details. Morrison explains， ‘It was like people had travelled back to the past， and they had very clear memories of things that had happened. When they heard a song like She Loves You by the Beatles， they could remember one night in autumn 1963. They remembered what they were wearing， what the weather was like and what their friend said to them. You get a lot more information than if you just say “tell me about a night you remember”.’

The study has found that music could be used with people who have problems remembering the past. ‘You could use music to help improve people’s ability to remember，’ says Morrison. ‘In the future， we would like to do more experiments to see how useful music is in helping people to remember the past， and compare it to other things that might also help.’

Activity 1

Before you read， match the words to a definition.

1. form （verb） 2. psychologist 3. reminiscence

4. response 5. study 6. vivid

a. clear and with lots of details or bright colours

b. someone who studies the mind and human behaviour

c. create

d. thoughts about the past and past experiences

e. how you feel after something is said or happens

f. an experiment to find out information about something

Activity 2

Choose the best answer （a， b or c） to complete each sentence.

1. This study ___

a. is done on the telephone.

b. is on the Internet.

c. happens in a science laboratory.

2. In the study， people ___

a. have to choose their favourite Beatles song.

b. have to remember the words to their favourite Beatles song.

c. have to talk about the memories they have when they listen to a Beatles song.

3. The reminiscence bump is ___

a. having more memories from when we are 13–19.

b. having a memory of something recent.

c. having more memories from when we are children.

4. Dr Morrison says that when people listen to music ___

a. they remember less.

b. they remember more details.

c. it has no effect on memory

5. The scientists from this study think that music ___

a. could help people to remember to do things.

b. could help people who can’t remember the past.

c. could help people who had problems when they were teenagers.

Activity 3

Complete the sentences with a preposition from the box. Use each word once.

to      for      of      in      from      about

Example： Older people had very clear memories ___ what had happened in the past. of

1. The two cakes looked the same， but hers was different ___ mine， because she added chocolate.

2. I asked her why she was late， and she told me ___ a problem with the train service.

3. Jenny listens ___ music every morning while she is having a shower.

4. I asked ___ a cup of tea， but he made me a coffee instead.

5. John is very interested ___ learning languages， so this year he is doing a French course.

Activity 4

Think about a song that you liked a long time ago. Can you remember where you were and who you were with？ How many details can you remember？

Answers

Activity 1

1. c; 2. b; 3. d; 4. e; 5. f; 6. a

Activity 2

1. b; 2. c; 3. a; 4. b; 5. b

Activity 3

1. from; 2. about; 3. to; 4. for ; 5. in