Phonological loop

The phonological loop, also called the phonetic loop or the articulatory loop, is the part of working memory that rehearses verbal information. The first component is a phonological memory store which can hold traces of acoustic or speech based material. Material in this short term store lasts about two seconds unless it is maintained through the use of the second subcomponent, articulatory subvocal rehearsal. Prevention of articulatory rehearsal results in very rapid forgetting (a process known as decay).

When a song or tune gets latched onto the phonological loop, it is rehearsed in a constant loop. This is to prevent decay. This explains why sometimes, you can't seem to get a song out of your head. The best way to overcome this phenomenon is to distract your attention away from the tune. This will allow the natural process of decay to rapidly set in on the memory, thereby ending the rehearsal process.

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