A relatively simple model of the phonological loop (A. D. Baddeley, 1986), a component of working memory, has proved capable of accommodating a great deal of experimental evidence from normal adult participants, children, and neuropsychological patients. Until recently, however, the role of this subsystem in everyday cognitive activities was unclear. In this article the authors review studies of word learning by normal adults and children, neuropsychological patients, and special developmental populations, which provide evidence that the phonological loop plays a crucial role in learning the novel phonological forms of new words. The authors propose that the primary purpose for which the phonological loop evolved is to store unfamiliar sound patterns while more permanent memory records are being constructed. Its use in retaining sequences of familiar words is, it is argued, secondary. Baddeley and Hitch (1974) considered the possibility that short-term memory (STM) may serve as a general working memory designed to support complex cognitive activities. This suggestion led to the development of a specific multicomponent model of working memory and has subsequently contributed to an enduring interest in the specific cognitive functions that are fulfilled by the separate subcomponents of working memory. The aspect of working memory for which the fullest theoretical account is now available is the phonological loop (Baddeley, 1986). The loop is specialized for the retention of verbal information over short periods of time; it comprises both a phonological store, which holds information in phonological form, and a rehearsal process, which serves to maintain decaying representations in the phonological store. This relatively simple model has proved capable of accommodating a great deal of experimental evidence from normal adult participants, children, and neuropsychoiogical patients (see Baddeley, 1997, and Baddeley, 1993, for reviews).Although the evidence for the existence of such a short-term system is strong, it is not obvious why the phonological loop should be a feature of human cognition at all. People have a remarkable capacity to repeat what they hear, a capacity that

Norms are provided for verbal and visuo-spatial immediate memory span, two tasks widely used in the clinical assessment of short-term memory and its neurological disorders. Data have been collected from 1355 male and female adult subjects, with various educational backgrounds and a 20-99 years age range. Span shows a major decrement after the late sixties and is affected by educational level. Male subjects score better on the spatial task. Data collected from 1112 male and female children, 4-to-10 year-old, show that span increases with age and boys score better on the spatial test.

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