Schematic processing of heavy metal lyrics was tested by comparing subjects in two cognitive load conditions. Subjects were either provided with the written lyrics (low cognitive load) or not (high cognitive load) as they listened to heavy metal songs with four common themes: sex, suicide, violence, and occult. Schematic processing was evidenced by the pattern of results across three experiments: Low cognitive load subjects showed better recall, song comprehension, and extraction of detailed content than did high cognitive load subjects, but both groups extracted very similar kinds of theme-relevant content. The pattern of effects argued that although heavy metal lyrics are not processed deeply under novice listening conditions, information processing at the schematic level does occur. Having the lyrics available allowed deeper information processing of the song lyrics at the time they were heard but did not substantially alter the kinds of content listeners extracted. Attitudinal and behavioral implications for schematic processing of heavy metal songs were discussed.
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