Four types of word strings were presented either visually or auditorily and rated for grammaticality and meaningfulness. The string types were normal sentences, syntactically deviant strings, semantically deviant strings, and strings both syntactically and semantically deviant. Results for the auditory mode conform to expectations based upon the linguistic competence of the native speaker but results for the visual mode do not. The results are discussed in terms of the inferiority of visual over auditory short-term memory for verbal information and attentional strategies.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AtwoodG.An experimental study of visual imagination and memory. Cognitive Psychology, 1971, 2, 290–299.
2.
ColemanE. B.Approximations to English: Some comments on method. American Journal of Psychology, 1963, 76, 239–247.
3.
ColemanE. B.Responses to a scale of grammaticalness. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1965, 4, 521–527.
4.
DornbushR. L.Shadowing in bisensory memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1968, 20, 225–231.
5.
DornbushR. L.Attention in bisensory simultaneous short-term memory. Perception and Psychophysics, 1970, 7, 244–246.
6.
DornbushR. L.Delay of auditory input in “simultaneous” auditory and visual short term memory. Perception and Psychophysics, 1971, 9, 97–98.
7.
HillA. A.Grammaticality. Word, 1961, 17, 1–10.
8.
MaclayH., & SleatorE.Responses to language: Judgments of grammaticalness. International Journal of American Linguistics, 1960, 26, 275–282.
9.
MarksL. E., & MillerG. A.The role of semantic and syntactic constraints in the memorization of English sentences. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1964, 3, 1–5.
10.
MartinJ. G.A comparison of ordinary, anomalous, and scrambled word strings. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1968, 7, 390–395.
11.
MillerG. A., & IsardS.Some perceptual consequences of linguistic rules. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1963, 2, 217–228.
12.
MurdockB. B.Auditory and visual stores in short-term memory. Acta Psychologica, 1967, 27, 316–324.
13.
MurdockB. B.Modality effects in short-term memory: Storage or retrieval?Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1968, 77, 79–86.
14.
MurdockB. B.Where or when: Modality effects as a function of temporal and spatial distribution of information. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1969, 8, 378–383.
