Verbal memory span and the timing of spoken recall

Abstract Prior research indicates that one's memory span approximately equals what one can say in 2 s. However, this refers to pronunciation in separate, subspan tasks. The present research examined speech timing in the memory response in 4-year-olds. It was found that speaking rates depended on list length relative to a subject's span, but that speaking rates for span-length lists were the same for subjects of any span. The results are discussed in terms of a theoretical account that includes the notion of a decaying phonological store (Baddeley, 1986) , but also the notion that rapid scanning of items in the pauses within the response ( Sternberg, Monsell, Knoll, & Wright, 1978 ; Sternberg, Wright, Knoll, & Monsell, 1980 ) may serve to reactivate items before they can decay. Alternative accounts also are discussed.

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