# THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEMORY FOR SPEECH

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA · 1994 · $84,928

## Abstract

This is a proposal to examine short-term memory for speech and its
development in childhood.  The research is based on the premise that an
analytic understanding of memory for speech requires a distinction between
passive processes that occur automatically (e.g., auditory sensory and
phonological memories and their decay) and active processes that can be
initiated and/or carried out only with at least some minimal allocation of
attention (e.g., attentive encoding of speech; overt or covert
articulation).  The main goal of the research is to disentangle these types
of memory faculty and to determine how each of them develops.  To this end,
there are three specific aims:  (1)  To examine developmental changes in
the rate of auditory memory decay; (2)  To examine developmental changes in
how spoken utterances are temporarily retained if the utterances are
ignored at the time of their presentation (e.g., changes in which items are
retained, for how long they are retained, or with what forms of coding they
are retained); and (3)  To determine the contributions of passive, auditory
and phonological memory decay vs. active, articulatory processes in
immediate memory tasks and their development.

Research addressing each of these aims is based on a different method.  In
the examination of auditory memory decay, subjects compare two slightly
different sounds separated by a variable interval during which memory of
the first sound can decay.  In the examination of ignored speech, subjects
are to ignore monosyllabic, spoken words while engaging in the silent
processing of visual materials.  Occasionally, there is a cue for the
subject to interrupt the visual task and identify one or more of the most
recent syllables that had been ignored.  Last, the examination of passive
decay and active processing involves an immediate, serial memory task in
which the delay between the to-be-recalled list and the time of recall of
each item is measured and related to the amount of speech memory decay that
occurred.  In all three procedures, there is an emphasis on testing
subjects of different ages at similar levels of performance so that
forgetting rates can be compared.

It is clear that memory of the auditory and phonological qualities of
speech are affected in important ways by a wide range of language-related
disabilities, but little is known about the memory mechanisms involved or
their normal development.  The present research helps to fill these gaps.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2198225
- **Project number:** 5R01HD021338-09
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA
- **SAM.gov UEI:** SZPJL5ZRCLF4
- **Principal Investigator:** NELSON COWAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $84,928
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1985-06-01 → 1996-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2198225

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2198225, THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEMORY FOR SPEECH (5R01HD021338-09). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2198225. Licensed CC0.

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