Young children's recitation and comprehension of information presented by songs

In two experiments, young children's recitation and comprehension of content presented in songs was examined. In the first experiment, repeated exposure to a televised song improved young children's verbatim word-for-word memory of incomprehensible French, but not comprehensible English, lyrics. Memory for verbal factual material never improved after exposure to that song, even after repeated exposure to the English version. In the second experiment, children who were exposed to a prose presentation of their phone number remembered this information more often than did those who heard an original song about their phone number. There was no relation between reciting and understanding that material. Results were interpreted within a modified levels of processing framework, which focuses on superficial versus deeper processing of information.