[Aspects of auditory short-term memory according to a multimodal sequence paradigm].

Capacity and temporal characteristics of auditory short-term memory have been investigated through a simple multi-tonal sequence paradigm in five normally hearing subjects. They were required to judge whether the tonal sequence contained or not a tone probe following the sequence. Performance was evaluated relative to the sequence length (2, 4, 6 stimuli) and sequence-probe interval (1, 3, 6 s.). The subjects' performance has been proven to be mainly dependent on the number of the sequence components (90% of the explained variance), while sequence-probe interval represents a factor of minor weight. Furthermore, a strong recency effect has been shown for the last sequence component, extending to the preceding components in dependence of the sequence-probe interval. Contrasting to studies on the verbal short-term memory, a primary effect has been not demonstrated. As these results reflect the typical effects of auditory short-term memory, it is likely that memory tests based on simple tonal sequences may be suitable for clinical use.