What does the Irrelevant Speech Effect show about the Phonological Loop?

• A. Background speech impairs serial recall of verbal information, indicating automatic involvement of the Phonological Loop
• B. It only affects long-term memory
• C. Background speech has no effect on verbal recall
• D. It affects visuospatial tasks more than verbal tasks

Answer: (A)

The Irrelevant Speech Effect shows that the Phonological Loop automatically processes auditory information and is easily disrupted by background speech. In serial recall tasks, hearing irrelevant speech interferes with how verbal items are encoded and rehearsed, making order recall worse. This demonstrates that the phonological loop is automatically involved when we process speech-like sounds, even when we aren’t trying to remember anything. It’s a verbal-specific disruption, not a general memory effect, and it doesn’t imply a greater impact on visuospatial tasks, which rely on the visuospatial sketchpad.