A New Test of Music Mood Induction and Mood Congruent Memory

Background Mood-Congruent Memory (MCM) is defined as the observation that a given mood tends to enhance the encoding or retrieval of target events that are similar in valence or mood. Mood induction has been used to study MCM in the lab. Two common methods are the Velten Mood Induction Procedure (VMIP) and the Music Mood Induction Technique (MMIT). A potential problem with VMIP is it may lead to demand characteristics because subjects are explicitly told to feel a certain way. With MMIT, there is currently controversy over whether the music (melody), the lyrics, or their combination are most effective at mood induction. However, not all combinations have been systematically tested (Table 1). Further, previous research has either used pre-existing songs, which decreased control over the variables, or the music and the lyrics were presented to separate modalities (listen to music and read lyrics).