What can Musical Memories tell us about Musical Preferences

Stephanie Boon
School of Music 

What can Musical Memories tell us about Musical Preferences
Alexandra Lamont, Keele University, 17 February 2021   

After seeing her name in numerous research papers and textbooks I have read over the course of my University studies, and even citing her work myself, I got the opportunity to see and hear her speak in a research seminar I attended. In “What can Musical Memories tell us about Musical Preferences”, Professor Alexandra Lamont presented new data exploring preferences though musical memories, using various recognition and recall techniques. The seminar dived into people’s memories of a wide range of music over the lifespan and what influenced these memories.  

Since I am currently working on a research project on musical memories as part of my studies, I was particularly interested in her covering the details of the various research methodologies used in this field of study. I found it insightful to hear about the contributions and limitations of each type of research approach, as it could inform my own work. More specifically, she outlined the differences in using researcher-chosen music and participant-chosen music as experimental stimuli. This was something I had pondered on whilst designing my study, so hearing more about how different musical stimuli could yield different results, as well as the pros and cons of each type, was especially useful for me. She wrapped up the seminar by talking about where research in this particular field is at now, and what should be considered in future studies.  

As part of the seminar, she also spoke about how her research team had to adapt one of her ongoing studies to be carried out in a global pandemic, where face-to-face lab studies are not yet possible. Called “A Covid Adaptation”, this section of the seminar focused on how she has been collecting data that involved having participants take part in an active music listening activity. Hearing more about the overall methods and procedure she used to conduct the study was definitely applicable to my project given that in time to come, I would have to navigate through how best to conduct experimental studies, and collect rich and substantial data, in an online world.  

This seminar was thought-provoking in a sense that it made me take a step back from my research to evaluate it. The points she had raised on research methodology and future studies is definitely something I am taking into consideration as I move forward with my own upcoming study.