This thesis examines the effects of prosody on serial recall. Serial recall is an experimental task commonly used to evaluate the capacity of short-term memory. The Working Memory model by Baddeley and Hitch is a theoretical framework that describes the inner operation of short-term memory. Its hierarchies are supported by empirical evidence, but details of the core mechanisms remain unclear. In an attempt to refine the framework, this thesis investigated prosody as a factor in serial recall accuracy. Two behavioural experiments were conducted on native speakers of Canadian English. In the first experiment, the explicit awareness of word stress was examined. Results showed a main effect of word stress type, where iambic words received higher stress identification scores compared to trochaic words. In the second experiment, an immediate serial recall task was used to examine serial recall of word lists. The lists consisted of disyllabic words from Canadian English sources. The lists had mixed or uniform stress patterns. A main effect of list stress patterns was found, where mixed lists elicited better recall of the order of list items compared to uniform lists. Overall, the present thesis offers a new interpretation on how word stress is represented in the short-term memory. It adds support to the proposed interaction between short-term and long-term memory. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Many daily experiences require us to remember a list of items, such as drafting a grocery list and reciting phone numbers. How well we can remember a list can be influenced by various characteristics of the list. This thesis looks at a seldom studied characteristic: prosody. Prosody in the English language can be realized via word stress, which is the amount of emphasis we place on certain parts of a word. This thesis explores the impact of word stress on our ability to remember a list of common English words. It reports data from an online survey and a laboratory experiment. Results show that mixed word stress patterns in a list lead to better memory for said list. Overall, this thesis offers new suggestions on the role of prosody in memory. As well, it offers a novel set of data that supports current theories in memory.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/29064 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Hu, Lan |
| Contributors | Service, Elisabet, Cognitive Science of Language |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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