Abstract
The number of people projected for a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia
could reach over 7 million by the year 2030. Since no known cure currently exists, the
magnitude of this figure places an emphasis on using a wide variety of interventions to help
maintain cognitive functioning even for short-term benefits. The purpose of this pilot project
was to determine 1f using a teaching method called Errorless Learning, along with music
would produce greater word memory recall when compared to Errorless Learning and no
music. Ten participants with dementia were selected from a convenience sample based on
study criteria and randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group.
Participants were asked to learn words from an original song either through the use of music
and sung text or through spoken delivery with no music. Correct word recall for both groups
was scored and analyzed with no significant difference found between the two groups. The
researcher reflected on possible reasons for non-significant results, including small sample
size, range of Mini-Mental Status Exam scores used, and similarities between sung and
spoken text. Recommendations for future studies were also included.
