The aim of this study is to disentangle the relative contribution of semantic and phonological representation in immediate serial recall. Indeed, short-term memory (STM) performance could be enhanced by familiarity with the phonological form of the word only or together with semantic information. Participants learned two sets of words in an unknown language: for one set they acquired both phonology and semantics, while for the other only phonology. After that, they performed two immediate serial recall tasks involving either “phonology and semantics” or “only phonology” words and one with untrained words. The analyses showed that the trained lists did not differ from each other, while they did from the untrained one. These data confirm that familiarity with the phonological form is sufficient for immediate serial recall. Therefore, we argue that semantics is not required for verbal STM, but knowledge of the phonological form is what matters.

Benetello, A., Cecchetto, C., Papagno, C. (2015). When meaning is useless. MEMORY, 23(7), 1001-1012 [10.1080/09658211.2014.945939].

When meaning is useless

BENETELLO, ANNALISA
;
CECCHETTO, CARLO;PAPAGNO, COSTANZA
2015

Abstract

The aim of this study is to disentangle the relative contribution of semantic and phonological representation in immediate serial recall. Indeed, short-term memory (STM) performance could be enhanced by familiarity with the phonological form of the word only or together with semantic information. Participants learned two sets of words in an unknown language: for one set they acquired both phonology and semantics, while for the other only phonology. After that, they performed two immediate serial recall tasks involving either “phonology and semantics” or “only phonology” words and one with untrained words. The analyses showed that the trained lists did not differ from each other, while they did from the untrained one. These data confirm that familiarity with the phonological form is sufficient for immediate serial recall. Therefore, we argue that semantics is not required for verbal STM, but knowledge of the phonological form is what matters.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Immediate serial recall; Phonology; Semantics; Verbal short-term memory;
Immediate serial recall; Phonology; Semantics; Verbal short-term memory
English
2015
23
7
1001
1012
none
Benetello, A., Cecchetto, C., Papagno, C. (2015). When meaning is useless. MEMORY, 23(7), 1001-1012 [10.1080/09658211.2014.945939].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/52526
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