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Comparative Study
. 1983 Feb;25(1):17-32.
doi: 10.1177/001872088302500102.

Capacity demands in short-term memory for synthetic and natural speech

P A Luce, T C Feustel, D B Pisoni
Comparative Study

Capacity demands in short-term memory for synthetic and natural speech

P A Luce et al. Hum Factors. 1983 Feb.

Abstract

Three experiments were performed that compared recall for synthetic and natural lists of monosyllabic words. In the first experiment, presentation intervals of 1, 2, and 5 s per word were used. Although free recall was consistently poorer overall for the synthetic lists at all presentation rates, the decrement for synthetic stimuli did not increase differentially with faster rates. In a second experiment, zero, three, and six digits were presented visually for retention prior to free recall of each spoken word list in a preload paradigm. Fewer subjects were able to correctly recall all of the digits for the six-digit list than the three-digit list when the following word lists were synthetic. The third experiment required ordered recall of lists of natural and synthetic words. Differences in ordered recall between the synthetic and natural word lists were substantially larger for the primacy portion of the serial position curve than the recency portion. These results indicate that difficulties observed in the perception and comprehension of synthetic speech are due, in part, to increased processing demands in short-term memory.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean number of natural and synthetic words recalled as a function of interword interval.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean number of intrusions for both natural and synthetic word lists as a function of interword interval.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean number of natural and synthetic words recalled as a function of memory preload.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean number of intrusions for both natural and synthetic word lists as a function of memory preload.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Number of subjects correctly recalling all of the digits as a function of memory preload.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Percentage of digits recalled as a function of memory preload. The upper panel shows percentage correct when the digits were scored without respect to the positions in which they were recalled. The lower panel shows the percentage correct for the digits scored according to position.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Overall serial position curves for the natural and synthetic word lists.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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