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Why do Songs get “Stuck in our Heads”? Towards a Theory for Explaining Earworms

Overview of attention for article published in Music & Science, April 2023
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • One of the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#3 of 281)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (98th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (90th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
25 news outlets
blogs
3 blogs
twitter
6 X users
video
1 YouTube creator

Readers on

mendeley
35 Mendeley
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Article details
Title
Why do Songs get “Stuck in our Heads”? Towards a Theory for Explaining Earworms
Published in
Music & Science, April 2023
DOI 10.1177/20592043231164581
Authors

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Timeline Attention over time Attention Score history
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Activity
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X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 6 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley demographics

Mendeley demographics

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 35 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
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Geographical breakdown

Geographical breakdown
Country Count As %
Unknown 35 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status
Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 3 9%
Unspecified 2 6%
Lecturer > Senior Lecturer 1 3%
Other 1 3%
Student > Ph. D. Student 1 3%
Other 1 3%
Unknown 26 74%
Readers by discipline
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 4 11%
Arts and Humanities 2 6%
Unspecified 2 6%
Neuroscience 1 3%
Unknown 26 74%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 205. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 18 August 2026.
All research outputs
#238,455
of 34,306,620 outputs
Outputs from Music & Science
#3
of 281 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#5,068
of 442,274 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Music & Science
#1
of 10 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,306,620 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 281 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.2. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 442,274 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 10 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than all of them