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Purpose:Rhyme increases the phonological similarity of phrases individuals hear and enhances recall from working memory. This study explores whether rhyme aids word learning and examines the underlying neural mechanisms through which rhyme facilitates word learning. Method:Fifty-seven adults completed a word learning task where they were exposed to 15 nonwords (NWs), four times each, in the sentence-final position as their electroencephalogram was recorded. Participants were randomly assigned to either a Rhyme or No-Rhyme group, where the NWs rhymed or did not rhyme with a prime real word in the sentence, respectively, during the exposure phase. Subjects were then tested on their recognition of the NWs. Results:Behavioral accuracy on the NW recognition task did not differ between the Rhyme and No-Rhyme groups; however, the Rhyme group showed an enhanced bilateral P2 in the early exposure phase, which has been linked to increased attention to the phonological and semantic features of speech. By contrast, the No-Rhyme group showed an attenuated N400 amplitude at left centroparietal sites in the later exposure phase, related to semantic retrieval of NWs. Conclusion:These findings indicate that rhyme may facilitate encoding of word meaning via attention to both phonology and semantic information; however, the absence of rhyme does not hinder adults' ability to map meaning to novel words. Supplemental Material:https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.29737478 

Building a robust vocabulary in grade school is essential for academic success. Children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) households on average perform below their higher SES peers on word learning tasks, negatively impacting their vocabulary; however, significant variability exists within this group. Many children from low SES homes perform as well as, or better than, their higher SES peers on measures of word learning. The current study addresses what processes underlie this variability, by comparing the neural oscillations of 44 better versus worse word learners (ages 8–15 years) from lower SES households as they infer the meaning of unknown words. Better word learners demonstrated increases in theta and beta power as a word was learned, whereas worse word learners exhibited decreases in alpha power. These group differences in neural oscillatory engagement during word learning indicate there may be different strategies employed based on differences in children’s skills. Notably, children with greater vocabulary knowledge are more likely to exhibit larger beta increases, a strategy that is associated with better word learning. This sheds new light on the mechanisms that support word learning in children from low SES households.