A study of the relationship between auditory memory span and sentence repetition.

Statement of Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate auditory memory as it relates to sentence repetition. Three questions were investigated: Is the ability to repeat a grammatically complex sentence the result of mastery of the rules of the grammatical relations for that particular sentence form? Is the ability to repeat a grammatically complex sentence the result of a well-developed memory for word sequences? Is the ability to repeat a grammatically complex sentence a combination of mastery of syntactic rules and a well-developed auditory memory span? To do this, the scores on the Auditory Sequential Memory Test for Digits and the Auditory Memory Span Test for Words were compared with the Say What I Say Test of Expressive Language Abilities (SWIS). Method: Twenty four-year-old children and twenty six-year-old children were administered the two auditory memory tests and the SWIS. Statistical correlations were performed between the digit and word repetition tests and the number of SWIS sentences correctly repeated, the number of SWIS elements correctly repeated, the number of SWIS phrases correctly repeated, and the number of SWIS elements plus grammatical transformations correctly repeated. Findings of the Investigation: Significant correlations were found between all areas tested on the SWIS and the two tests of auditory memory. This finding indicates that auditory memory does play some role in expressive language ability as measured on a test of sentence repetition. Higher correlations were observed between all areas tested on the SWIS and the digit repetition test than between the areas tested on the SWIS and the test of word repetition. These results demonstrate that digit repetition tasks may be a better indication of children's ability to repeat grammatically complex sentences than are test of word repetition. Sixteen null hypotheses were rejected and sixteen research hypotheses were accepted.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

1976

Author dc:creator

• McCown, Donna Eberts, 1952-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Richards, Allan L.

• Auditory perception.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/14269

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/14269