articulatory loop

n. The articulatory loop (also phonological loop) handles acoustic information in working memory. It is one of the three modules of a multicomponent model of working memory proposed to explain how information is temporarily maintained and manipulated. In the model, a central executive system is aided by the articulatory loop and by a sketchpad, which processes visuospatial information. The articulatory loop itself has two separable subcomponents: one is a phonological store, subject to a two-second decay unless the information
is refreshed by the second subcomponent, an articulatory rehearsal system, or articulatory store. The phonological store serves to explain the phonological similarity effect, by which it is more difficult to recall a list of items when they sound similar (e.g., B, T, C, D, G, P) than when they sound different (e.g., L, U, W, M, R, Q). Recent evidence suggests that the articulatory loop plays a key role in language acquisition: representations of new words are maintained in the loop to optimize learning.     - EMF