Temporal Grouping Effects in Immediate Recall: A Working Memory Analysis

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham J. Hitch ◽  
Neil Burgess ◽  
John N. Towse ◽  
Vicki Culpin
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Articulatory Suppression ◽  
Phonological Loop ◽  
Connectionist Model ◽  
List Presentation ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Temporal Grouping ◽  
Grouping Effect ◽  
Phonemic Similarity

The presence of temporal pauses during list presentation can markedly improve immediate memory for a sequence of verbal items. A series of experiments analysed this effect using Baddeley's (1986) model of working memory. Experiment 1 showed that the effect of temporal grouping on memory for visual sequences was removed by either articulatory suppression or reciting random digits. Experiment 2 indicated that effects of temporal grouping were insensitive to the word length of the items. Experiment 3 showed that articulatory suppression did not remove the temporal grouping effect for auditory lists. Experiment 4 showed that the temporal grouping effect was insensitive to the phonemic similarity of the items. The effects of concurrent articulation suggest that grouping influences the phonological loop component of working memory. However, the working memory model is insufficiently well specified to account for the insensitivity of grouping effects to word length and phonemic similarity. The main findings could be simulated by a connectionist model of the phonological loop, which invokes a context timing signal (Burgess & Hitch, 1992, in press), This assumed that pauses during list presentation affect the timing signal in a similar way to the pause before list presentation and made some novel predictions.

scholarly journals Following instructions in a dual-task paradigm: Evidence for a temporary motor store in working memory

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (11) ◽  
pp. 2439-2449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka J Jaroslawska ◽  
Susan E Gathercole ◽  
Joni Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Repetitive Sequences ◽  
Phonological Loop ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Verbal Instructions ◽  
Temporal Features ◽  
Action Sequences ◽  
Dual Task Paradigm

Evidence from dual-task studies suggests that working memory supports the retention and implementation of verbal instructions. One key finding that is not readily accommodated by existing models of working memory is that participants are consistently more accurate at physically performing rather than verbally repeating a sequence of commands. This action advantage has no obvious source within the multi-component model of working memory and has been proposed to be driven by an as yet undetected limited-capacity store dedicated to the temporary maintenance of spatial, motoric, and temporal features of intended movements. To test this hypothesis, we sought to selectively disrupt the action advantage with concurrent motor suppression. In three dual-task experiments, young adults’ immediate memory for sequences of spoken instructions was assessed by both action-based and spoken recall. In addition to classic interference tasks known to tax the phonological loop and central executive, motor suppression tasks designed to impair the encoding and retention of motoric representations were included. These required participants to produce repetitive sequences of either fine motor gestures (Experiment 1, N = 16) or more basic ones (Experiments 2, N = 16, and 3, N = 16). The benefit of action-based recall was reduced following the production of basic gestures but remained intact under all other interference conditions. These results suggest that the mnemonic advantage of enacted recall depends on a cognitive system dedicated to the temporary maintenance of motoric representations of planned action sequences.

scholarly journals Reexamination of Word Length Effect: Immediate Serial Recall of Foreign Words

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Junichiro Takeno ◽  
Ken Tamai ◽  
Shigenobu Takatsuka
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Phonological Loop ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Position Effects ◽  
Serial Position Effects ◽  
Immediate Serial Recall ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Effective Use

In this study we examined the word length effect—one characteristic of the phonological loop of working memory—in a foreign language. Serial position effects, such as the primacy effect and the recency effect, were observed in the recall of foreign words, similar to results in L1 studies. Recall of long (one-syllable) and short (three-syllable) words in pure (all long or all short) and mixed (long and short) lists was compared. In pure lists, there was a tendency for long words to be more poorly remembered than short words, which we considered to be because of the word length effect. In mixed lists, both long and short words were recalled equally as well as short words were recalled in pure lists. These results indicate that we should pay more attention to item distinctiveness, which elicits the attention of the central executive in working memory, as well as the word length effect in regards to rehearsal speed. Effective use of the phonological loop in listening comprehension is also discussed. 本研究は、ワーキングメモリモデルの音韻ループに見られる語長効果について再検討を試みたものである。外国語の単語記銘においても、母国語話者を対象とした研究と同じように初頭効果や新近性効果が確認された。単純リストと混合リストにおける長い語と短い語の再生率を比較したところ、単純リストでは、長い語は短い語よりも再生率が悪くなるという語長効果の傾向が見られるものの、混合リストにおいては、長い語も短い語も単純リストにおける短い語と同程度の再生率であった。これらの結果は、短期記憶容量は決められた項目数ではなく復唱速度が重要な要因であるという語長効果に基づく説明に加えて、ワーキングメモリの中央実行系に注意喚起を促す、項目の示差性などによる説明の必要性があることを示している。本研究では、聴解における音韻ループの効果的な活用についても論じている。

Item Identification Time and Rehearsal Rate as Predictors of Memory Span in Children

1989 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Hitch ◽  
M. S. Halliday ◽  
J. E. Littler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Articulatory Suppression ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Developmental Differences ◽  
Memory Model ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Identification Time ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Working Memory Model

According to the working memory model of Baddeley and Hitch (1974), the sensitivity of memory span to word length arises from the time taken to rehearse items in a speech-based “articulatory loop”. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the word-length effect may result from differences in the speed of perceptual processes of item identification. Changes in the speed of rehearsal and of item identification have also been claimed to contribute to the growth of memory span that is seen in development. In order to compare these two variables directly, groups of children aged 8 and 11 were assessed on memory span for words of one, two, and three syllables; span under articulatory suppression; rehearsal rate; and item identification time. Span was found to be a linear function of rehearsal rate across differences in both word length and age. The word-length effect was unrelated to item identification time and was diminished by articulatory suppression. These results show that the word-length effect reflects rehearsal and not item identification processes. However, the results also suggest that changes in item identification time contribute to developmental differences in span when articulation is suppressed. A distinction between item identification and rehearsal effects can be readily interpreted in terms of the working memory model if it is assumed that they indicate the efficiency of different subsystems involved in span.

Shared Processing of Language and Music

2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan P. Atherton ◽  
Quin M. Chrobak ◽  
Frances H. Rauscher ◽  
Aaron T. Karst ◽  
Matt D. Hanson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Phonological Loop ◽  
Memory Model ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Final Test ◽  
Interference Task ◽  
Initial Stimulus ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Language And Music ◽  
Working Memory Model

Abstract. The present study sought to explore whether musical information is processed by the phonological loop component of the working memory model of immediate memory. Original instantiations of this model primarily focused on the processing of linguistic information. However, the model was less clear about how acoustic information lacking phonological qualities is actively processed. Although previous research has generally supported shared processing of phonological and musical information, these studies were limited as a result of a number of methodological concerns (e.g., the use of simple tones as musical stimuli). In order to further investigate this issue, an auditory interference task was employed. Specifically, participants heard an initial stimulus (musical or linguistic) followed by an intervening stimulus (musical, linguistic, or silence) and were then asked to indicate whether a final test stimulus was the same as or different from the initial stimulus. Results indicated that mismatched interference conditions (i.e., musical – linguistic; linguistic – musical) resulted in greater interference than silence conditions, with matched interference conditions producing the greatest interference. Overall, these results suggest that processing of linguistic and musical information draws on at least some of the same cognitive resources.

Articulatory Suppression Increases Proactive and Semantic Interference in a Working Memory Task

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra S. Atkins ◽  
Marc G. Berman ◽  
John Jonides ◽  
Patricia A. Reuterlorenz
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Articulatory Suppression ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Semantic Interference

Grouping in short-term verbal memory: Is position coded temporally?

2002 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Honey L.H. Ng ◽  
Murray T. Maybery
Keyword(s):  
Serial Position ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Positional Information ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Phonological Loop ◽  
Loop Model ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Temporal Grouping

The nature of the mechanisms that code item position in serial short-term verbal recall was investigated with reference to temporal grouping phenomena—effects that arise when additional pauses are inserted in a presented list to form groups of items. Several recent models attempt to explain these phenomena by assuming that positional information is retained by associating items with contextual information. According to two of the models—the Phonological Loop model (Hitch, Burgess, Towse, & Culpin, 1996) and the OSCAR model (Brown, Preece, & Hulme, 2000)—contextual information depends critically on the timing of item presentation with reference to group onset. By contrast, according to the Start-End model (Henson, 1998) and a development from it, which we label the Oscillator-Revised Start-End model (Henson & Burgess, 1997), contextual information is independent of time from group onset. Three experiments examined whether coding of position is time dependent. The critical manipulation was to vary stimulus-onset asynchrony from one group to the next in the same list. Lists of consonants were presented visually, but with vocalization in Experiment 1, auditorily in Experiment 2, and auditorily with articulatory suppression in Experiment 3. The pattern of order errors consistently favoured the predictions of the time-independent models over those of the time-dependent models in that across-group transpositions reflected within-group serial position rather than time from group onset. Errors involving intrusions from previous lists also reflected within-group serial position, thereby extending support for the time-independent models.

Does Brain Volume Loss Predict Cognitive and Narrative Discourse Performance Following Traumatic Brain Injury?

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Lê ◽  
Carl Coelho ◽  
Jennifer Mozeiko ◽  
Frank Krueger ◽  
Jordan Grafman
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Brain Volume ◽  
Brain Lesion ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Narrative Discourse ◽  
Volume Loss ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Cognitive Measures ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Brain Volume Loss

Purpose In this study, the authors investigated the relationship between brain volume loss and performance on cognitive measures, including working memory, immediate memory, executive functions, and intelligence, and a narrative discourse production task. An underlying goal was to examine the prognostic potential of a brain lesion metric for discourse outcomes. It was hypothesized that brain volume loss would correlate with and predict cognitive and narrative discourse measures and have prognostic value for discourse outcomes. Method One hundred sixty-seven individuals with penetrating head injury participated. Correlational and regression analyses were performed for the percentages of total brain and hemispheric volume loss and scores on 4 cognitive measures (WMS–III Working Memory and Immediate Memory primary indexes, D-KEFS Sorting Test, and WAIS–III Full Scale IQ) and 7 narrative discourse measures (T-units, grammatical complexity, cohesion, local and global coherence, story completeness, and story grammar). Results The volumetric measures had significant small-to-moderate correlations with all cognitive measures but only one significant correlation with the discourse measures. Findings from regression analyses were analogous but revealed several models that approached significance. Conclusion Findings suggest that an overall measure of brain damage may be more predictive of general cognitive status than of narrative discourse ability. Atrophy measures in specific brain regions may be more informative.

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