This is a concept close to my heart; I might as well call this concept one of my best-kept open secrets, a funny realisation. When I was in my 300-level university, I enjoyed studying with background music. On a particular day, I was feeling nostalgic, and I said Let me put on my favourite cartoon show instrumental playlist and start listening to it, while reading. I enjoyed every minute of it, and im sure you are wondering what cartoon show were you listening to, non-other than one of the best lyric and plot written cartoon I have ever watched STEVEN UNIVERSE, my roommate as of then, Ogaga (Who later became the best graduating student in Business administration, and also best graduating in whole Social Management Science Department and the second best graduating student in Benson idahosa university 2023/2024 set, with a CGPA of 4.96), sorry I always have to give him this introduction because I’m very proud of him. So he will usually see me reading in the room, with my pods on and he will ask me what am I listening to, usually I will always respond with “I’m listening to Steven universe”, which he was intrigued because he also watched the show during his childhood, and this led to us discovering old childhood song instrumental and sharing it amongst ourselves. This escalated to the point that when most of our friends were in the room, we were nostalgic competition of guessing the childhood song.
I never knew the concept that God had introduced to me until my 400level, when mentor and closest friend in the university, who was in 500 level laws as of then, became my roommate, (his name is Rex) all three of us back then in my 300lvl, were friends and he was practically just next door to us, we all engage in those nostalgic games then. Now, in my 400-level and him in his 500-level, we used to play all those games in the room. Once again our other roommate joins in. my love into nostalgic instrumental music grow, from Avatar “Leaves from the Vine” by uncle Iro, Kong Fu Panda 3” The Arrival of Kai” or also known as “Kai theme song”, to even the realm of Anime, Bunny girl senpai “Theme song” (My favorite instrumental by far that I like listening to), Attack on titan, with so many beautiful instrumental playlist, one that stick out to me is “Ashes On fire’, another favorite of my “Suzume instrumental theme song”, Rick and Morty “Evil Morty Theme” and so many others that the list can go on.
Now as a 500lvl student as of then he was doing his project work and we were gisting on how nostalgic it was and the benefit of nostalgia, then when the God given idea came to me, and I said to him “I’m going to do a study on NOSTALGIA & LEARNING” (That was not my Final year project topic, however that was my personnel project).
Meaning of Nostalgia
Firstly, let’s set the foundation for the meaning of nostalgia. Many people know the word but not the meaning behind the word. Nostalgia means, affectionate and often sentimental feeling experienced when remembering past times, places, and experiences, especially those with happy personal associations. This feeling may be associated with place, sound and smell, the sense of returning to that blissful experience.
The word Nostalgia is a Greek word, nostos (“return” or “homecoming”) and algos (“pain”). From this depiction, you can already tell that the creator of the concept called nostalgia associated it with pain and regret and a feeling of homesickness.
In the early 16th century, nostalgia was viewed as a disease which affected military personnel on the battlefield as they long for the solitude of returning home. This was also common among domestic servants who were sent to other countries to serve. This concept was so disdained that it was described as being a “cerebral disease”.
In the 19th century, however, the concept of nostalgia was given a lighter regard, as now it wasn’t seen so much as a deadly disease, but more of a symptom of depression, melancholia (A feeling of deep sadness). During the early 20th century, psychologists believed that nostalgic patients were neurotic and unwilling to meet reality head-on, and many thought that it only affected people from the lower class, CRAZY RIGHT.
It wasn’t until the late 20th century and the early 21st century that nostalgia came to be viewed in a more positive light. The 21st-century nostalgia became known as a predominantly positive phenomenon and a valuable psychological resource. The term is also used to refer to wistful feelings about one’s childhood and the pop culture associated with the time, and companies may even market certain items as nostalgia-themed.
Research to back it up
An experiment conducted by Edward S. Redhead & ors in which participant were spilt into two and placed in a maze which was condition in two ways firstly the Nostalgic condition group, in which items were put to boost the nostalgic feeling of the participant when navigating the labyrinth (Such Items where, pictures were of popular music artists and TV characters from 5 to 10 years ago.). In contrast, in the Controlled condition group, similar items were used, but they didn’t possess any nostalgic connection with the participant. In the test trial, participants in the nostalgia condition completed the maze faster than controls.
Nostalgia also has various positive effects on improving a person’s mood and removing doubtful or negative self-talk; the positive impact of nostalgia on an individual’s emotional state cannot be overemphasised. A study conducted by Leonard Faul and Felipe De Brigarda, during the coronavirus period, which included 293 online participants (22–72 years old; mean age 38; 109 females, 184 males) during the first two waves of the pandemic. Participants completed comprehensive questionnaires that probed state and trait characteristics related to mood and memory, such as the Profile of Mood States, Nostalgia Inventory and State Optimism Measure. The study found that participants who had higher levels of nostalgia buffered against deteriorating mood states associated with concern over the pandemic. This study shows how to overcome negative moods or emotions and also promote emotional homeostasis and resilience during periods of psychological distress.
Examples in Life
Various studies have been conducted to show the benefits of nostalgia in improving brain and memory recollection. Nostalgic instrumental has always been a key thing for me in my productivity journey, as it enhances my state of mind toward my workflow and output. I have used nostalgia at various points in my life to boost my productivity. One key day I could remember was when I had a surge of focus and comprehension while implementing the use of nostalgia in my 300-level class, when I decided to download and listen to the whole Steven Universe instrumental music while studying. It seems like I’m not the only one who treasures the classic hits of these shows, as many of the instrumental compilations seem to rack up millions of views.
Implementation & Conclusion
The best way of implementing this in your study or productivity session to give you a boost of focus, comprehension and understanding, is to dig deep in your archive of childhood or teenage memories, and recall the shows you like to watch and search for the instrumental version of the theme song or certain soundtracks of the show. The best platform I will suggest for you to do this is to use YouTube Music, Spotify, and Apple Music lack some instrumental versions of our childhood shows. This is due to some copyrighted issues in using such music; they, however, have some altered versions, but nothing beats the original instrumental. However, if you are already having or enjoy using this other platform, you can still make do with it. Like, for instance me personally, I personally don’t like any lo-fi beat form of my childhood show instrumental; I like the original, unaltered flow of the song in the instrumental version. Like I always say, there is no learning without implementation, so try this for a day or two most preferable a week, and get the most out of it and remember to be Positive, be Patient and be productive.
References
Edward S. Redhead, Tim Wildschut, Alice Oliver, Matthew O. Parker, Antony P. Wood & Constantine Sedikides (2023): Nostalgia enhances route learning in a virtual environment, Cognition and Emotion, DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2023.2185877
Faul, Leonard, and Felipe De Brigard. “The moderating effects of nostalgia on mood and optimism during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Memory 30.9 (2022): 1103-1117.
