Jump to content

Earworm: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Line 11: Line 11:
The [[psychoanalysis|psychoanalyst]] [[Theodor Reik]] used the term ''haunting melody'' to describe the psychodynamic features of the phenomenon.<ref>Reik, Theodor (1960): ''The Haunting Melody: Psychoanalytic Experiences in Life and Music.'' [1953]. Grove Press, New York.</ref> The term Musical Imagery Repetition (MIR) was suggested by neuroscientist and pianist Sean Bennett in 2003 in a scientifically researched profile of the phenomenon.<ref>[http://www.seanbennett.net/music/essays.html Sean Bennett, ''Musical Imagery Repetition'', Cambridge University Master Thesis]</ref> Another scientific term for the phenomenon, [[involuntary]] musical imagery, or INMI, was suggested by the neurologist [[Oliver Sacks]] in 2007.<ref>[http://www.musicophilia.com/ Oliver Sacks, ''Musicophilia'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf (October 16, 2007), ISBN 1400040817]</ref>
The [[psychoanalysis|psychoanalyst]] [[Theodor Reik]] used the term ''haunting melody'' to describe the psychodynamic features of the phenomenon.<ref>Reik, Theodor (1960): ''The Haunting Melody: Psychoanalytic Experiences in Life and Music.'' [1953]. Grove Press, New York.</ref> The term Musical Imagery Repetition (MIR) was suggested by neuroscientist and pianist Sean Bennett in 2003 in a scientifically researched profile of the phenomenon.<ref>[http://www.seanbennett.net/music/essays.html Sean Bennett, ''Musical Imagery Repetition'', Cambridge University Master Thesis]</ref> Another scientific term for the phenomenon, [[involuntary]] musical imagery, or INMI, was suggested by the neurologist [[Oliver Sacks]] in 2007.<ref>[http://www.musicophilia.com/ Oliver Sacks, ''Musicophilia'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf (October 16, 2007), ISBN 1400040817]</ref>


The Official Earworm Synonym List includes alternative terms such as "music meme", "humsickness" , "repetunitis", "obsessive musical thought" and "tune wedgy."<ref>[http://earwurm.com/song-in-my-head/ Creative Heroes, ''The Definitive Guide To Earworms'', 2010]</ref>
The Official Earworm Synonym List includes alternative terms such as "music meme", "humsickness", "repetunitis", "headsong", "obsessive musical thought" and "tune wedgy."<ref>[http://earwurm.com/song-in-my-head/ Creative Heroes, ''The Definitive Guide To Earworms'', 2010]</ref>


People with [[obsessive-compulsive disorder]] (OCD) are more likely to report being troubled by ear worms – in some cases, medications for OCD can minimize the effects.<ref>[http://www.yourbrainonmusic.com/ Daniel J. Levitin, ''This is your brain on music'', Dutton Adult (August 3, 2006), ISBN 0525949690]</ref>
People with [[obsessive-compulsive disorder]] (OCD) are more likely to report being troubled by ear worms – in some cases, medications for OCD can minimize the effects.<ref>[http://www.yourbrainonmusic.com/ Daniel J. Levitin, ''This is your brain on music'', Dutton Adult (August 3, 2006), ISBN 0525949690]</ref>

Revision as of 16:10, 7 July 2011

Earworm may also refer to the Helicoverpa zea (corn earworm), the musician DJ Earworm or the record label Earworm Records. Not to be confused with the creature depicted in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.


Earworm, a loan translation of the German Ohrwurm,[1] is a portion of a song or other music that repeats compulsively within one's mind, put colloquially as "music being stuck in one's head."

Use of the English translation was popularized by James Kellaris, a marketing researcher at the University of Cincinnati, and American cognitive psychologist Daniel Levitin. Kellaris' studies demonstrated that different people have varying susceptibilities to earworms, but that almost everybody has been afflicted with one at some time or another.[2]

Profile

According to research by James Kellaris, 98% of individuals experience earworms. Women and men experience the phenomenon equally often, but earworms are more likely to last longer for women and to irritate women more than they irritate men.[3]

The psychoanalyst Theodor Reik used the term haunting melody to describe the psychodynamic features of the phenomenon.[4] The term Musical Imagery Repetition (MIR) was suggested by neuroscientist and pianist Sean Bennett in 2003 in a scientifically researched profile of the phenomenon.[5] Another scientific term for the phenomenon, involuntary musical imagery, or INMI, was suggested by the neurologist Oliver Sacks in 2007.[6]

The Official Earworm Synonym List includes alternative terms such as "music meme", "humsickness", "repetunitis", "headsong", "obsessive musical thought" and "tune wedgy."[7]

People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are more likely to report being troubled by ear worms – in some cases, medications for OCD can minimize the effects.[8]

The best way to eliminate an unwanted earworm is to simply play a different song. Supposedly, some songs are better for this purpose than others, such as the theme song to 'Gilligan's Island' or 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'.[citation needed]

In Alfred Bester's 1953 novel, "The Demolished Man", the protagonist uses a jingle specifically crafted to be a catchy, irritating nuisance as a tool to block mind readers from reading his mind.

Arthur C. Clarke's 1956 short story "The Ultimate Melody" (written long before the term "earworm" was coined in English) offers up a science fictional explanation for the phenomenon. According to writer Michael Chorost on the website of aleph, the story is about a scientist, Gilbert Lister, who develops the ultimate melody—one that so compels the brain that its listener becomes completely and forever enraptured by it. As the storyteller, Harry Purvis, explains, Lister theorized that a great melody "made its impression on the mind because it fitted in with the fundamental electrical rhythms going on in the brain". Lister attempts to abstract from the hit tunes of the day to a melody which fits in so well with the electrical rhythms that it dominates them completely. He succeeds, and is found in a catatonia from which he never awakens.[9]

In Fritz Leiber's Hugo Award-nominated short story "Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-TAH-Tee" (1959), the title describes an earworm so powerful that it rapidly spreads to, and takes over, all areas of human culture, until a counter-rhythm is developed which acts as an antidote.

Earworms are a feature of the Shaun Keaveny Breakfast Show on BBC 6 Music, when listeners are asked to phone in with tunes that are stuck in their heads when they wake up.

The album Misled by Certainty by the metal band Cephalic Carnage contains a track titled Ohrwurm.

There is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode titled Earworm in which SpongeBob gets an earworm from a vinyl record.

In language learning

Earworm-type music is sometimes used in language learning to help memory retention on foreign words.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Untranslatable Words, The Whole Earth Review by Howard Rheingold, 1987
  2. ^ James J. Kellaris, "Identifying Properties of Tunes That Get ‘Stuck in Your Head", Proceedings of the Society for Consumer Psychology, Winter 2001 Conference, Scottsdale, AZ, American Psychological Society, pp. 66-67
  3. ^ "The Straight Dope: Why do songs get stuck in your head?"
  4. ^ Reik, Theodor (1960): The Haunting Melody: Psychoanalytic Experiences in Life and Music. [1953]. Grove Press, New York.
  5. ^ Sean Bennett, Musical Imagery Repetition, Cambridge University Master Thesis
  6. ^ Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia, New York: Alfred A. Knopf (October 16, 2007), ISBN 1400040817
  7. ^ Creative Heroes, The Definitive Guide To Earworms, 2010
  8. ^ Daniel J. Levitin, This is your brain on music, Dutton Adult (August 3, 2006), ISBN 0525949690
  9. ^ Summary of "The Ultimate Memory" at the website of aleph
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Earworm&oldid=438260463"