Recognition memory reveals just how contrastive contrastive accenting is

The effects of pitch accenting on memory were investigated in three experiments. Participants listened to short recorded discourses that contained contrast sets with two items (e.g. British scientists and French scientists); a subsequent continuation picked out one item from the set. Pitch accenting on the critical word in the continuation was manipulated between non-contrastive (H* in the ToBI system) and contrastive (L+H*). On subsequent recognition memory tests, the L+H* accent increased hits to correct statements and correct rejections of the contrast item (Experiments 1-3). L+H* did not impair memory for other parts of the discourse (Experiment 2), suggesting that its effects are not due to prioritizing certain information for encoding. L+H* also did not facilitate correct rejections of lures not in the contrast set (Experiment 3), indicating that contrastive accents do not simply strengthen the representation of the target item. These results suggest comprehenders actively encode information about contrasts in discourse comprehension