Articulatory loop explanations of memory span and pronunciation rate correspondences: a cautionary note

Abstract

In recent years, a number of memory span findings have been attributed to the operation of an articulatory loop (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974). These attributions have been made on the basis of finding a correspondence between span differences and pronunciation rate differences. This experiment explored articulatory loop explanations for two material effects in memory span: the word-frequency effect (span for high-frequency words is larger than span for low-frequency words) and the word-class effect (span for function words is smaller than span for either nouns or adjectives). The results indicate that it is possible to obtain span differences without finding corresponding pronunciation rate differences. Moreover, span differences were as pronounced under articulatory suppression conditions as they were under rehearsal conditions. Both of these results limit the generality of articulatory loop explanations of memory span.