Typically, stimulus quality degradation slows encoding but does not slow retrieval. If modality differences involve more than phonetic information, however, spoken words received in various modalities could have systematic representational differences which might be revealed by characteristic retrieval speeds. See Figure 1. Schematic representation of a typical memory scanning trial. Trial decpicted has a memory set size of 3 and a correct YES response.
Intercept relates to perceptual encoding cost.
Slope relates to memory retrieval speed, i.e., the speed with which comparisons are made between working memory representations of the encoded memory set items and probe. All subsequent auditory testing was done at individual subjects' MCLs. See Figure 2 for trial design. Two subjects out of 28 were dropped because of excessive errors or excessively long RT in testing. Figure 4 summarizes response accuracy.