Effects of pitch accent on short-term retention of words in young children

This study examined whether pitch accent would affect young children's short-term retention of words. Sixteen 3- and 4-year-olds and fourteen 5- and 6-year-olds received word-span tests under two conditions. In one condition (pitch accent-congruent condition), the pitch accent of presented words were congruent with the pitch accent that the children usually use for those words; whereas, in the other condition (pitch accent-incongruent condition), the pitch accent of presented words were not congruent with the pitch accent that the children usually use for those words. Three- and 4-year-olds' word span was shorter under the pitch accent-incongruent condition than under the pitch accent-congruent condition; whereas the pitch accent of presented words did not affect 5- and 6-year-olds' word span. The result was discussed in terms of the roles of pitch accent in the activities of the phonological loop and word learning.