Repetition learning in the immediate serial recall of visual and auditory materials.

In 5 experiments, a Hebb repetition effect, that is, improved immediate serial recall of an (unannounced) repeating list, was demonstrated in the immediate serial recall of visual materials, even when use of phonological short-term memory was blocked by concurrent articulation. The learning of a repeatedly presented letter list in one modality (auditory or visual) did not transfer to give improved performance on the same list in the other modality. This result was not replicated for word lists, however, for which asymmetric transfer was observed. Inferences are made about the structure of short-term memory and about the nature of the Hebb repetition effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phonemic storage of concrete and abstract words with auditory presentation.

Conducted 2 experiments in which Ss' recognition memory for aurally presented concrete and abstract nouns was tested. In Exp I, 56 undergraduates heard study and test lists of 20 concrete and abstract nouns. The test list contained the same 20 nouns plus 20 new nouns which rhymed or did not rhyme with the study stimuli. In Exp II, 56 new undergraduates heard the same lists as in Exp I, but also heard lists in which concrete distractors rhymed with abstract study items and vice versa. Results show that false recognition depends upon the phonemic similarity of distractors to study words, and that the effect is independent of the concreteness of the words or whether the distractor matches the study word in concreteness. While the results may be inconsistent with aspects of the dual process theory of verbal coding, they may indicate that learners use phonemic attributes for recognition when imaginal attributes are insufficient. The appearance of an overall effect of concreteness on false alarms indicates that auditory presentation can produce imagery codes. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of concurrent semantic categorization on delayed serial recall.

The influence of semantic processing on the serial ordering of items in short-term memory was explored using a novel dual-task paradigm. Participants engaged in 2 picture-judgment tasks while simultaneously performing delayed serial recall. List material varied in the presence of phonological overlap (Experiments 1 and 2) and in semantic content (concrete words in Experiment 1 and 3; nonwords in Experiments 2 and 3). Picture judgments varied in the extent to which they required accessing visual semantic information (i.e., semantic categorization and line orientation judgments). Results showed that, relative to line-orientation judgments, engaging in semantic categorization judgments increased the proportion of item-ordering errors for concrete lists but did not affect error proportions for nonword lists. Furthermore, although more ordering errors were observed for phonologically similar relative to dissimilar lists, no interactions were observed between the phonological overlap and picture-judgment task manipulations. These results demonstrate that lexical-semantic representations can affect the serial ordering of items in short-term memory. Furthermore, the dual-task paradigm provides a new method for examining when and how semantic representations affect memory performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A reexamination of the role of imagery in learning and memory.

Five experiments were conducted to examine whether the superior recall of concrete over abstract words might be better accounted for in terms of relative differences in the processing of relational and distinctive information rather than redundant verbal and imaginal memory codes. Concrete and abstract word pairs were presented in the standard paired-associated learning task or under conditions intended to affect the nature and extent of relational processing between pair members. Concreteness effects were attenuated or eliminated when relational processing was prevented at encoding (Experiments 3, 4, and 5) or when the use of encoded relations within pairs was prevented at recall (Experiments 1, 2, and 3). The results indicated the viability of an account of concreteness effects in paired-associate learning based on the joint functions of distinctive and relational information. They also remove theoretical constraints imposed on imagery theories by the incorrect assumption of a uniform presence of concreteness effects in memory for word lists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phonological Processing Skills and Early Reading Abilities in Hong Kong Chinese Kindergarteners Learning to Read English as a Second Language.

The present 9-month longitudinal study investigated relations between Chinese native language phonological processing skills and early Chinese and English reading abilities among 227 kindergarteners in Hong Kong. Phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and short-term verbal memory differed in their relations to concurrent and subsequent Chinese and English word recognition. The significant bidirectional relations between phonological awareness and Chinese reading ability remained even after accounting for the variance due to age, vocabulary, and visual skills performance. When all predictors were considered simultaneously, only phonological awareness remained a significant predictor of Chinese and English reading abilities both concurrently and longitudinally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of reading and spelling abilities in first- and second-language learners.

This study examined the basic literacy skills and related processes of 1st- through 4th-grade children speaking English as a 1st language (L1) and English as a 2nd language (ESL). The performances of the L1 and ESL children on phonological awareness, word and pseudoword reading, and word and pseudoword spelling tasks were highly similar. The ESL children were at an advantage with regard to lexical access but performed more poorly on verbal working memory and syntactic awareness tasks. The results suggest that the main processes underlying L1 children's basic reading ability in Grades 1 and 2, namely phonological awareness and lexical access, are of equal importance for ESL children. Phonological awareness remained the strongest predictor of word reading ability for L1 and ESL children in Grades 3 and 4. However, the processes involved in L1 and ESL word reading and spelling appeared to vary at other points. Verbal working memory and syntactic awareness were found to be of importance for the word reading and spelling abilities of L1 children but not for ESL children. Lexical access was found to be of more importance for ESL children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal distinctiveness and modality.

It has been proposed that auditory stimuli are more temporally discriminable in memory than visual stimuli. Studies using the continual-distractor paradigm have provided both supporting and contradictory evidence for this hypothesis. The conflicting reports differed, however, in the modality of the interleaved distractor tasks. The present experiments manipulated both word and distractor-task modality. Results showed that aurally presented word lists were more sensitive to temporal schedules of presentation when the distractor task was auditory than when it was visual. The same effect was not consistently found for visually presented word lists. Such an interaction may help explain the previously reported disparate findings and suggests that the auditory modality, in the presence of silent distraction, can reduce participants' use of temporal-distinctiveness information at retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Working memory, short-term memory, and speech rate as predictors of children's reading performance at different ages.

This study explored the contribution of 2 working memory (WM) systems (the phonological loop and the central executive) to reading performance in younger (9-year-old) and older (14-year-old) children. The results showed that (a) significant age-related differences in verbal and visual-spatial WM performance were maintained when articulation speed and short-term memory (the phonological system) were partialed from the analysis and (b) WM predicted age-related differences in word recognition and comprehension performance independent of the contribution of a short-term memory and articulatory rate. The results were interpreted as support for the notion that both the phonological and the executive systems are important predictors of age-related changes in reading but that these processes operate independent of each other in predicting fluent reading. Several implications of the results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Phonological Store of Working Memory: Is It Phonological and Is It a Store?

The phonological store construct of the working memory model is critically evaluated. Three experiments test the prediction that the effect of irrelevant sound and the effect of phonological similarity each survive the action of articulatory suppression but only when presentation of to-be-remembered lists is auditory, not visual. No evidence was found to support the interaction predicted among irrelevant speech, modality, and articulatory suppression. Although evidence for an interaction among modality, phonological similarity, and articulatory suppression was found, its presence could be diminished by a suffix, which is an acoustic, not a phonological factor. Coupled with other evidence-from the irrelevant sound effect and errors in natural speech-the action attributed to the phonological store seems better described in terms of a combination of auditory-perceptual and output planning mechanisms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Working memory and the vividness of imagery.

The working memory framework was used to investigate the factors determining the phenomenological vividness of images. Participants rated the vividness of visual or auditory images under control conditions or while performing tasks that differentially disrupted the visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop subsystems of working memory. In Experiments 1, 2, and 6, participants imaged recently presented novel visual patterns and sequences of tones; ratings of vividness showed the predicted interaction between stimulus modality and concurrent task. The images in experiments 3, 4, 5, and 6 were based on long-term memory (LTM). They also showed an image modality by task interaction, with a clear effect of LTM variables (meaningfulness, activity, bizarreness, and stimulus familiarity), implicating both working memory and LTM in the experience of vividness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of reading-related phonological processing abilities: New evidence of bidirectional causality from a latent variable longitudinal study.

Results from a longitudinal correlational study of 244 children from kindergarten through 2nd grade indicate that young children's phonological processing abilities are well-described by 5 correlated latent abilities: phonological analysis, phonological synthesis, phonological coding in working memory, isolated naming, and serial naming. These abilities are characterized by different developmental rates and remarkably stable individual differences. Decoding did not exert a causal influence on subsequent phonological processing abilities, but letter-name knowledge did. Causal relations between phonological processing abilities and reading-related knowledge are bidirectional: Phonological processing abilities exert strong causal influences on word decoding; letter-name knowledge exerts a more modest causal influence on subsequent phonological processing abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What is phonological awareness?

Phonological awareness was hypothesized to be composed of at least 3 component skills—IQ, verbal short-term memory, and speech perception. In addition, 4 linguistic manipulations within 3 phonological awareness tasks were theorized to affect item difficulties. Multiple measures of IQ, verbal short-term memory, speech perception, and phonological awareness were administered to 136 3rd and 4th graders. Application of structural equation modeling revealed that IQ, speech perception, and verbal short-term memory each contributed unique variance to the phonological awareness construct. All 4 experimental linguistic manipulations influenced phonological awareness item difficulties as well. Results underscore the importance of speech perception for phonological awareness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Orthographic and Phonological Word Length on Memory for Lists Shown at RSVP and STM Rates.

This article reports 3 experiments in which effects of orthographic and phonological word length on memory were examined for short lists shown at rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) and short-term memory (STM) rates. Only visual-orthographic length reduced RSVP serial recall, whereas both orthographic and phonological length lowered recall for STM lists in Experiment 1. Word-length effects may arise from output processes or from the temporal duration of output in recall. In 2 further experiments, output demands were reduced through the use of a recognition test. Recognition accuracy was impaired only by orthographic length for RSVP lists and by phonological length for STM lists in both experiments. The results demonstrate 2 item length effects not simply attributable to increased output time in recall, and implications for theories of STM are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phonological working memory in very young children.

This study was designed to establish whether phonological working memory skills could be assessed in children below 4 yrs of age. A group of 2- and 3-yr-old children were tested on 3 phonological memory measures (digit span, nonword repetition, and word repetition) and were also given tasks that tapped other cognitive skills. Scores on the 3 phonological memory tasks were closely related. In addition, repetition performance was linked with both vocabulary knowledge and articulation rate. Results indicate that phonological memory skills can be reliably assessed in very young children by using conventional serial span and repetition procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of imagery in memory: On shared and distinctive information.

The loci of imagery effects in several domains are clarified by separating issues related to the storage of information in memory and its use following retrieval. Empirical findings from studies of memory for word and sentence lists, language comprehension and memory, and symbolic comparisons are discussed. These consistently indicate a functional role for imagery in human cognition but provide no data necessitating the storage of perceptual information related to verbal materials in an analog form. Instead, concreteness effects in memory appear to result from differential processing of relational (shared) and item-specific (distinctive) information for high- and low-imagery materials. The available evidence suggests that verbal and imaginal processing systems may operate in conjunction with a more generic semantic memory, the form of which is not an issue here, yielding apparently contradictory findings in support of both dual-code and common-code theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of normal aging on recollection of concrete and abstract words.

Verbal memory is known to be affected by word features. Concrete words are remembered better than abstract words (concreteness effect), presumably due to the concurrent activation of image-based and/or semantic associations. Vivid remembering during recognition (recollection) has been linked to the hippocampus and is thought to be more affected by healthy aging than familiarity-based recognition. Recent evidence also implicated the hippocampus in the processing of concrete words. Based on these observations, we hypothesized age-related changes in recollection to affect concrete words more than abstract words. This prediction was tested in a cross-sectional design with three consecutive age groups (mean ages 21 years, 42 years, and 61 years). Changes in recollection, but not familiarity, across ages were significantly modulated by word concreteness. Recollection of concrete words showed a steady decline across age, while recollection of abstract words decreased only from young to middle age, leading to a reduced concreteness effect in the oldest group. These findings are consistent with the idea that changes in hippocampally mediated recollective processes during aging affect concrete words more than abstract words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Word-frequency and phonological-neighborhood effects on verbal short-term memory.

Immediate memory span and maximal articulation rate were assessed for word sets differing in frequency, word-neighborhood size, and average word-neighborhood frequency. Memory span was greater for high- than low-frequency words, greater for words from large than small phonological neighborhoods, and greater for words from high- than low-frequency phonological neighborhoods. Maximal articulation rate was also facilitated by word frequency, phonological-neighborhood size, and neighborhood frequency. In a final study all 3 lexical variables were found to influence the recall outcome for individual words. These effects of phonological-word neighborhood on memory performance suggest that phonological information in long-term memory plays an active role in recall in short-term-memory tasks, and they present a challenge to current theories of short-term memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Basic processes in reading: Two phonological codes.

In Exp I, 16 undergraduates viewed letter strings that varied in phonological similarity and lexical status. Under a no-interference condition, phonologically distinct lists were better recalled than phonologically confusable ones, and lists with entries in a phonological lexicon (e.g., BRANE) were better recalled than lists without lexical status (e.g., SLINT). When Ss were required to articulate irrelevant sounds, the phonological similarity effect was completely eliminated, but a lexicality effect persisted. In Exp II, another 16 Ss viewed letter strings that varied in syllabic length and lexical status. Pseudohomophones were better recalled than control nonwords under both quiet and articulation conditions, but a syllabic length effect was obtained only in the no-articulation condition. Results show that at least 2 phonological codes underlie performance in a memory-span task. The 1st code permits lexical access from print; suppression does not prevent this code from accessing lexical memory. The 2nd underlies both word length and phonological similarity effects in span; suppression prevents the formation or utilization of this code. Implications for understanding normal reading and developmental reading problems are noted. (French abstract) (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memorial and strategic determinants of tactile recency.

Across 4 experiments, recency arising from the presentation of 5-item tactile lists was assessed with immediate and delayed recall with or without a same-modality suffix. The lists were presented with or without concurrent verbalization and at rates varying from 0.5 s to 2 s per item. Delaying recall or the addition of a suffix impaired recency both in the absence of concurrent verbalization during list presentation and at the 1-s presentation rate. In contrast, both concurrent verbalization during list presentation and a 0.5-s presentation rate restored recency for both the delayed recall and suffix conditions. This pattern of data is problematic for sensory memory and for trace discriminability accounts of modality and suffix effects. It is suggested that a sensory memory account together with an attention-biasing strategy by which limited encoding resources are diverted toward the terminal list item can better accommodate the data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)