scholarly journals Working memory capacity related to reading: Measurement with the Japanese version of reading span test.

1994 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 339-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariko Osaka ◽  
Naoyuki Osaka
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Japanese Version ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
Span Test

scholarly journals High working memory performers have efficient eye movement control systems under Reading Span Test

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miyuki Azuma ◽  
Takashi Ikeda ◽  
Takehiro Minamoto ◽  
Mariko Osaka ◽  
Naoyuki Osaka
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Fixation Time ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
Eye Movement Control ◽  
Span Test

Controlled eye movements are critical in performing highly goal oriented behavior such as text reading. Previous studies have examined the relationship between working memory capacity and eye movement control during working memory task. However, the results were inconsistent, due to a methodological issue including the predictability of target location. In the present study, we used Japanese version of reading span test, where the position of to-be-remembered word is not predictable so that more efficient attentional control is required, and investigated how working memory capacity contributes to eye movement control during reading span test. Results based on total fixation time revealed that highworking memory performers efficiently control or shift their attention under high memory load.

L2 Working Memory Capacity and L2 Reading Skill

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Harrington ◽  
Mark Sawyer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
First Language ◽  
Reading Skill ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Span Test ◽  
Reading Measures ◽  
Processing And Storage

Working memory capacity refers to the ability to store and process information simultaneously in real time and has been shown to correlate highly with first language (L1) reading skill. This study examines the sensitivity of second language (L2) working memory capacity to differences in reading skill among advanced L2 learners. The index of working memory capacity used was the reading span test (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980). Subjects with larger working memory capacities scored higher on measures of reading skill, in contrast with the lack of strong correlations between measures of passive short-term storage (memory for strings of random words or digits) and the same reading measures. This result is consistent with an interpretation of the reading span test as an index of working memory capacity, in which capacity is defined functionally in terms of a trade-off between active processing and storage. Issues involved in investigating working memory capacity are discussed and the role of capacity limitations in models of L2 comprehension is considered.

Measuring Working Memory Capacity With Automated Complex Span Tasks

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas S. Redick ◽  
James M. Broadway ◽  
Matt E. Meier ◽  
Princy S. Kuriakose ◽  
Nash Unsworth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Normative Data ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Span Tasks

Individual differences in working memory capacity are related to a variety of behaviors both within and outside of the lab. Recently developed automated complex span tasks have contributed to increasing our knowledge concerning working memory capacity by making valid and reliable assessments freely available for use by researchers. Combining the samples from three testing locations yielded data from over 6,000 young adult participants who performed at least one of three such tasks (Operation, Symmetry, and Reading Span). Normative data are presented here for researchers interested in applying cutoffs for their own applications, and information on the validity and reliability of the tasks is also reported. In addition, the data were analyzed as a function of sex and college status. While automated complex span tasks are just one way to measure working memory capacity, the use of a standardized procedure for administration and scoring greatly facilitates comparison across studies.

Working Memory Capacity and Individual Differences in the Making of Reinstatement and Elaborative Inferences

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 471-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Pablo Barreyro ◽  
Jazmín Cevasco ◽  
Débora Burín ◽  
Carlos Molinari Marotto
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Decision Times ◽  
Target Words

This study investigated the role of working memory capacity on the making of reinstatement and causal elaborative inferences during the reading of natural texts. In order to determine participants' working memory capacity, they were asked to take the reading span task before they took part in the study. Those participants that were identified as high or low working memory capacity readers were asked to perform a lexical decision task in two conditions: pre-inference and inference. In the pre-inference condition, target words representing reinstatement or causal elaborative inferences were presented immediately before the sentences that were predicted to prompt them. In the inference condition, the target words were presented immediately after the sentences that were predicted to prompt the inferences. Results indicated that, for the high working memory capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the pre-inference locations for both types of inferences. In the case of low working capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the pre-inference locations only for reinstatement inferences. These findings suggest that working memory capacity plays a role in the making of causal inferences during the comprehension of natural texts.

Phonological short-term memory, working memory and foreign language performance in intensive language learning

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUDIT KORMOS ◽  
ANNA SÁFÁR
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span Test ◽  
Span Test

In our research we addressed the question what the relationship is between phonological short-term and working memory capacity and performance in an end-of-year reading, writing, listening, speaking and use of English test. The participants of our study were 121 secondary school students aged 15–16 in the first intensive language training year of a bilingual education program in Hungary. The participants performed a non-word repetition test and took a Cambridge First Certificate Exam. Fifty students were also tested with a backward digit span test, measuring their working memory capacity. Our study indicates that phonological short-term memory capacity plays a different role in the case of beginners and pre-intermediate students in intensive language learning. The backward digit span test correlated very highly with the overall English language competence, as well as with reading, listening, speaking and use of English (vocabulary and grammar) test scores.

Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity in Recency Effects: From the Recall Process

2009 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 545-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Sasaki
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Recall Accuracy ◽  
Recency Effects ◽  
Span Test ◽  
Backward Recall

The purpose was to investigate the role of individual differences in working memory capacity in recency effects on free, forward, and backward recall tasks. In Exp. 1, correlations between scores on a listening-span test and recall accuracy of recent items were positive and significant under all conditions. This result suggested participants with large working memory capacity are likely to show a stronger recency effect. Predictive power of the listening-span test was still significant after the word-span score was partialled out. In Exp. 2, the predictive power of the listening-span test scores was not significant when a delay was introduced between study and recall phases. Analysis suggested participants with a larger working memory capacity, and particularly with higher cognitive function, were sensitive to the recollection process.

scholarly journals Working memory capacity across L2 speech proficiency levels

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 441-462
Author(s):  
Gicele Vergine Vieira Prebianca ◽  
Kyria Rebeca Finardi ◽  
Janaina Weissheimer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Span Test ◽  
The Relationship

This study investigates whether working memory capacity (WMC) varies across languages and in the course of L2 speech proficiency levels. Following suggestions in Finardi and Weissheimer (2009) and Prebianca (2010), who found that WMC varied as a function of L2 speech proficiency, the present study assessed three proficiency levels (elementary, intermediate and advanced) and two languages (L1-Portuguese and L2-English). Two WM tests were used, one in the L1 and another in the L2, both in the speaking mode. Sixty adult learners of English as a foreign language participated in the study: 19 elementary, 19 intermediate and 22 advanced learners. Results of Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests corroborate Finardi and Weissheimer (2009) and Prebianca (2010) suggesting that WMC measured with a speaking span test in L2 seems to conflate the relationship between speech proficiency levels and WMC.

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