Phonological Loop
The phonological loop is one of the four components of Alan Baddeley's short-term memory system called The Working-Memory Approach. This complex system includes the central executive, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, the phonological loop, and the episodic buffer. All of these processes work together to temporarily hold and manage several pieces of information at once in one's short-term memory. The phonological loop is the portion that deals with spoken and written material. It processes a limited number of sounds for a short period of time. The phonological loop has many other uses other than in working memory; we use it in our daily lives to read, count, write, and speak a foreign language. The phonological loop is broken down into two parts:
- Phonological store- spoken words can go directly into the store and it holds the information for 1-2 seconds. If the information is not in the form of speech, it must be converted into an articulatory code before it can be transferred into the store.
- Sometimes referred to as the 'inner ear' because it requires spoken words
- Articulatory control process- used in speech production to rehearse information over and over from the phonological store in order to keep the information in your mind. Its function is to convert written material into an articulatory code so that it can enter the phonological store.
- Sometimes referred to as the 'inner voice' because it is constantly rehearsing and repeating
Research shows that there are several factors that determine how much information can be stored in the phonological loop at once. Phonemic similarity involves the idea that if the sounds of the words seen are similar, mistakes are often made in recall. Pronunciation time strongly influences how many items can be stored in the working memory. The harder it is to pronounce a word (the more syllables present), the fewer words the working memory can hold.
Example: Burma, Greece, Tibet, Iceland, Malta, Laos avg 4.2 words recalled
Switzerland, Nicaragua, Botswana, Venezuela, Philippines, Madagascar avg 2.8 words recalled
(Baddeley 1975)
Also, phonological similarity affects the number of words that can be remembered. A list of words that sound similar is harder to remember than a list of words that sound different.
Example: mad man cad mat cap 9.6% correct
pit day cow sup bar 81.2% correct
(Baddeley 1966a,b)
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Created by: Carlie Copeland
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