Abstract
Immediate ordered recall is strongly disrupted by concurrent irrelevant speech even when the speech is unfamiliar to the subject. This effect has been replicated in many experiments with immediate serial recall. In the present study, we examined the effect of speech on immediate free recall of lists of 16 words presented visually. No impairment in the speech condition was found in comparison with the control, but the same subjects showed a consistent impairment of immediate serial recall under speech in a separate experiment. It is concluded that irrelevant speech impairs immediate phonological memory but does not disrupt performance on either the long- or short-term components of the standard verbal free recall task.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In K. W. Spence (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 2, pp. 89–195). New York: Academic Press.
Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working memory. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. In G. A. Bower (Ed.), Recent advances in learning and motivation (Vol. 8, pp. 47–90). New York: Academic Press.
Baddeley, A. D., & SalamÉ, P. (1986). The unattended speech effect: Perception or memory? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 12, 525–529.
Baddeley, A. D., Thomson, N., & Buchanan, M. (1975). Word length and the structure of short-term memory. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 14, 575–589.
Baddeley, A. D., & Warrington, E. K. (1970). Amnesia and the distinction between long- and short-term memory. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 9, 176–189.
Colle, H. A. (1980). Auditory encoding in visual short-term recall: Effects of noise intensity and spatial location. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 19, 722–735.
Colle, H. A., & Welsh, A. (1976). Acoustic masking in primary memory. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 15, 17–32.
Glanzer, M. (1972). Storage mechanisms in recall. In G. H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 5, pp. 129–193). New York: Academic Press.
Juilland, A., Brodin, D., & Davidovitch, C. (1970). Frequency dictionary of French words. The Hague: Mouton.
Richardson, J. T. E., & Baddeley, A. D. (1975). The effect of articulator suppression in free recall. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 14, 623–629.
Salamé, P., & Baddeley, A. D. (1982). Disruption of short-term memory by unattended speech: Implications for the structure of working memory. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 21, 150–164.
Salamé, P., & Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Phonological factors in STM: Similarity and the unattended speech effect. Bulletin of the Psycho-nomic Society, 24, 263–265.
Salamé, P., & Baddeley, A. D. (1987). Noise, unattended speech and short-term memory. Ergonomics, 30, 1185–1193.
Salamé, P., & Baddeley, A. D. (1989). Effects of background music on phonological short-term memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 41A, 107–122.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Thanks are due to Vera Dubois from the Institute of Dialectology of the Université des Sciences Humaines de Strasbourg, for her help in preparing the word lists, and to Ian Nimmo-Smith from the Applied Psychology Unit, for statistical advice.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SalamÉ, P., Baddeley, A. The effects of irrelevant speech on immediate free recall. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 28, 540–542 (1990). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334073
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334073