title: The contribution of phonological short-term memory to artificial grammar learning.
abstract: Three experiments investigated the contribution of phonological short-term memory (STM) to grammar learning by manipulating rehearsal during study of an auditory artificial grammar made up from a vocabulary of spoken Mandarin syllables. Experiment 1 showed that concurrent, irrelevant articulation impaired grammar learning compared with a nonverbal control task. Experiment 2 replicated and extended this finding, showing that repeating the grammatical strings at study improved grammar learning compared with suppressing rehearsal or remaining silent during learning. Experiment 3 found no effects of rehearsal on grammar learning once participants had learned the component syllables. The findings suggest that phonological STM aids artificial grammar learning via effects on vocabulary learning.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, UK. jackie.andrade@plymouth.ac.uk
authors.forename: Jackie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baddeley
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning / Q000502:physiology; D010700:Phonetics; D013334:Students; D014163:Transfer, Psychology; D014495:Universities; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014825:Vocabulary