Rhyme is widely considered to be a powerful mnemonic device that facilitates cognitive processing. Previous studies examined rhyme-perception development mainly in the case of children, while the analyses of information-recall processes in the adult population are scarce. It has been shown that rhyme and memory are closely connected in culture transmission procedures, which emphasises the demand for research on whether and how the adult population’s recall ability is enhanced by rhymes. The present study investigates whether rhyming words are more likely to be recalled than non-rhyming ones. Results suggest that rhymes affect the memory consolidation of both real-words and pseudowords in a group of adult subjects (N = 38). The research potentially elucidates the relation between both short- and long-term memory and rhyme. By gaining insight into the patterns of recalling and rhyme, into the processes of cognitive poetics, it may be possible to derive more general conclusions about cognition.

Authors:

Klára E. Finta: University of Vienna; Tecumseh Fitch: University of Vienna