The role of auditory features in memory span for words

Abstract

In two experiments on the effects of modality on memory span for words, conventional measures of span were supplemented by analyses of serial position curves and by analyses of the principal auditory features of intrusion errors. Auditory presentation led not only to better recall of the terminal words in each stimulus list but also to better recall of word order given correct item recall. Intrusion errors were found to share a number of auditory features with the corresponding omissions, even when the lists had been presented visually. The most salient or the best-retained word features were the syllabic stress pattern and the identity of the stressed vowel phoneme. The data provide evidence for a partial retention of auditory features of stimulus words in short-term memory tasks and are taken to support attribute rather than unit models of short-term memory.