Interaction between segmental and pitch information in short-term memory of auditory stimuli

摘要

Dual task experiments were conducted to investigate the mechanism of short-term retention of auditory stimuli as follows: phonological sequences without pitch changes, melodies with one single phonological information, and phonological sequences with a melody. As predicted, pitch-control movement interfered only with retention of melodies, not with phonological sequences. The results indicate that there are two distinct mechanisms for rehearsal of phonological and pitch information. The results of same-different judgement for melodic phonological sequences show different pattern from those for phonological sequences and melodies. The results imply the existence of another memory system for the stimuli with both phonological and pitch information.