Echoic Memory Interference and Comprehension in a Foreign Language*

Abstract

Based on the hypothesis that students who are less able to comprehend speech in a foreign language suffer from greater echoic memory interference, faculty evaluated the listening comprehension of students in several introductory foreign language courses. The evaluations were used to assign students to weaker and stronger comprehension groups. Both groups were tested for echoic memory interference using the standard suffix procedure in which a list of digits is read with either a tone control, or a suffix recall, appended to the end of the list. Echoic interference is measured by comparing the recall performance in the suffix and nonsuffix (tone) conditions. Poorer recall of terminal digits in lists in the suffix condition, as compared to the nonsuffix condition, indicates echoic interference. The results were consistent with our hypothesis, suggesting that students with weaker listening comprehension depend more upon vulnerable sensory codes in echoic memory, while those with better comprehension rely on stable higher‐order codes.