Which speech-perception task would place the greatest demand on short-term memory (working memory)?
A) A task in which a subject in an fMRI scanner passively listens to repeating syllable stimuli that sometimes change acoustically
B) A task in which a subject is instructed to click on a computer image that matches a word they hear
C) A forced-choice identification task
D) An ABX discrimination task

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In an ABX discrimination task, the subject has to remember the first sound (A) and compare it to the second sound (B) and then make a decision about whether the third sound (X) matches the first or second sound. This requires a high demand on short-term memory (working memory) as the subject has to hold the first sound in memory while comparing it to the second sound and then make a decision about the third sound. The other tasks (A, B, and C) do not require as much working memory demand.

Which Speech-Perception Task Would Place the Greatest Demand on Short-Term