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The phonological similarity effect in serial recognition
Lisa M Nimmo1, Steven Roodenrys
1University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia. lisan@psy.uwa.edu.au
Memory (Hove, England)
|September 30, 2005
Summary
Phonemic similarity in memory tasks impacts retention, showing that sub-syllabic mechanisms in short-term memory (STM) operate independently of speech production. This suggests similar memory processes for words and nonwords.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psycholinguistics
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Short-term memory (STM) research often explores phonological similarity effects.
- The role of speech production in phonological similarity effects within STM is debated.
- Understanding sub-syllabic mechanisms is crucial for refining STM models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of consistent phonemic similarity on memory retention.
- To determine if phonemic similarity effects in STM are independent of overt speech production.
- To compare the performance of words and nonwords in STM under controlled phonemic similarity.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a serial recognition task, independent of overt speech production.
- Constructed lists of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words and nonwords with manipulated phoneme overlap.
- Maintained constant phonemic similarity across different overlap conditions (_VC, CV_, C_C).
Main Results:
- Phonemic similarity significantly influenced memory retention in the serial recognition task.
- The effects of sub-syllabic mechanisms on STM performance were found to be independent of speech production processes.
- Identical patterns of results for words and nonwords suggest shared STM mechanisms.
Conclusions:
- Sub-syllabic phonemic similarity affects short-term memory regardless of speech production.
- The findings support psycholinguistic models over nonlinguistic models of STM.
- The study provides implications for understanding the underlying mechanisms of short-term memory for verbal information.
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