Some effects of minimizing articulation on short-term retention

Abstract

Articulation during reception or recall of messages was minimized by having Ss count aloud rapidly. Acoustic similarity of letters within a message was varied in two experiments. Superiority for recall of low similarity messages was not found when articulation was minimized during visual presentations, but was found with minimization during auditory presentations. It was concluded that both auditory and acoustic cues can be used to support short-term retention. In two experiments comparing visual and auditory presentations with articulation minimized, it was found that auditory presentations enjoyed an advantage for a few seconds after presentation. A functional view of short-term memory was suggested, in which retention is based on sensory buffers and rehearsal processes without postulating a structural short-term store separate from a long-term store.