Phonological coding and short-term memory in patients without speech

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Abstract

This study is concerned with the question of whether dysarthric patients who have lost the ability to speak as a result of brain damage, but whose language is intact, show evidence of phonological coding and “inner speech”. One single case is studied in detail, while five further cases are used to test the generality of the results obtained. Phonological coding was studied by requiring the patients to make judgments of homophony on both words and nonwords. Although performance was slow on both this and nonphonological reading tasks, accuracy was within the normal range. Phonological coding in memory was studied through the effect of phonological similarity on retention of visually presented consonant sequences. Memory spans were normal, and phonological similarity had its usual deleterious effect on performance. Finally, the occurrence of a word length effect in immediate memory suggested that our patients were capable of active subvocal rehearsal. It is concluded that phonological coding and subvocal rehearsal can operate centrally without feedback from the peripheral speech musculature.

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