Abstract
After learning word lists to a criterion of two correct serial repetitions, 17 college students were asked to recall the lists while under one of three conditions, ambient noise (approximately 40 dB), limited-bandwidth-noise of 0 to 4,000 Hz at 80 dB, or limited-bandwidth-noise of 4,000 to 8,000 Hz at 80 dB. Noise in the speech spectrum (0 to 4,000 Hz) led to significantly more errors than noise above the speech spectrum or ambient noise. There was no significant difference between the latter two conditions. It was proposed that the results may be due to interference with subvocal verbal rehearsal of the material in short-term memory, either prior to processing into long-term memory or after retrieval from long-term memory.
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