scholarly journals Visuospatial working memory and the construction of a spatial situation model in listening comprehension: An examination using a spatial tapping task

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Lin ◽  
Norio Matsumi
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Situation Model ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Concurrent Task ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Impaired Performance ◽  
Dual Task Performance

AbstractThe present study investigated how visuospatial working memory (VSWM) is involved in the construction of a spatial situation model for spatial passages presented auditorily. A simple spatial tapping condition, a complex tapping condition as a target-tracking task, and a control condition, were used to analyze the role of VSWM. To understand how individuals who differ in verbal working memory (VWM) capacity (determined with a listening span test) process spatial text during dual-task performance, individual differences in VWM capacity were analyzed. In two experiments, the participants listened to a spatial text at the same time as performing a spatial concurrent task or no concurrent task. The results of the free recall test in Experiment 1 showed that there were no differences between the tapping conditions in the high VWM capacity group; the low VWM capacity group had a lower performance in both spatial tapping tasks compared to the control condition. The results of the map drawing test in Experiment 2 showed that complex spatial tapping impaired performance in comparison to simple spatial tapping and the control condition in the high VWM capacity group; in the low VWM capacity group, both spatial tapping tasks impaired recall performance. In addition, the participants with high VWM capacity demonstrated better performance. Overall, the results suggest that individuals with high VWM capacity have more resources to process verbal and spatial information than those with low VWM capacity, indicating that VWM capacity is related to the degree of the involvement of VSWM.

scholarly journals Maintenance Mechanisms in Children’s Verbal Working Memory

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Laure Oftinger ◽  
Valerie Camos
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Concurrent Task ◽  
Verbal Information ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Span Tasks ◽  
Joint Contribution

<p>Previous research in adults has indicated two maintenance mechanisms of verbal information in working memory, i.e., articulatory rehearsal and attentional refreshing. However, only three studies have examined their joint contribution to children’s verbal working memory. The present study aimed at extending this line of research by investigating the developmental changes occurring from 6 to 9 years old. In two experiments using complex span tasks, children of three different age groups maintained letters or words while performing a concurrent task. The opportunity for attentional refreshing was manipulated by varying the attentional demand of the concurrent task. Moreover, this task was performed either silently by pressing keys or aloud, the latter inducing a concurrent articulation. As expected, recall performance increased strongly with age. More interestingly, concurrent articulation had a detrimental effect on recall even in 6-year-old children. Similarly, introducing a concurrent attention-demanding task impaired recall performance at all ages. Finally, the effect of the availability of rehearsal and of attentional refreshing never interacted at any age. This suggested an independence of the two mechanisms in the maintenance of verbal information in children’s working memory. Implications for the development of rehearsal use and for the role of attention in working memory are discussed.</p>

The Working Memory of Musicians and Nonmusicians

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Talamini ◽  
Barbara Carretti ◽  
Massimo Grassi
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Concurrent Task ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
And Task

Musicians have superior performances compared to nonmusicians in many auditory perception tasks. This superiority extends to memory tasks such as the digit span. Literature suggests that the musicians’ advantage unfolds along two axes: sensory modality (musicians perform better when the task is auditory) and task complexity (musicians tend to perform better in the forward and not — for example — backward digit span). In addition, it is unclear whether there are specific music abilities linked with improved performance in the digit span. Here, musicians and nonmusicians performed a digit span task that was presented aurally, visually, or audiovisually. The task was performed with or without a concurrent task (i.e., articulatory suppression) in order to explore the role of rehearsal strategies and also manipulate task complexity. Finally, music abilities of all participants were assessed using the Profile of Music Perception Skills (PROMS) test. Musicians had larger spans than nonmusicians regardless of the sensory modality and the concurrent task. In addition, the auditory and audiovisual spans (but not visual) were correlated with one subscale of the PROMS test. Findings suggest a general advantage of musicians over nonmusicians in verbal working memory tasks, with a possible role of sensory modality and task complexity.

The Effect of Path Length and Display Size on Memory for Spatial Information

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Guérard ◽  
Sébastien Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Path Length ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Serial Memory ◽  
Fixed Reference ◽  
A Minor

In serial memory for spatial information, some studies showed that recall performance suffers when the distance between successive locations increases relatively to the size of the display in which they are presented (the path length effect; e.g., Parmentier et al., 2005) but not when distance is increased by enlarging the size of the display (e.g., Smyth & Scholey, 1994). In the present study, we examined the effect of varying the absolute and relative distance between to-be-remembered items on memory for spatial information. We manipulated path length using small (15″) and large (64″) screens within the same design. In two experiments, we showed that distance was disruptive mainly when it is varied relatively to a fixed reference frame, though increasing the size of the display also had a small deleterious effect on recall. The insertion of a retention interval did not influence these effects, suggesting that rehearsal plays a minor role in mediating the effects of distance on serial spatial memory. We discuss the potential role of perceptual organization in light of the pattern of results.

scholarly journals The Fear to Move in a Crowded Environment. Poor Spatial Memory Related to Agoraphobic Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 796
Author(s):  
Micaela Maria Zucchelli ◽  
Laura Piccardi ◽  
Raffaella Nori
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Exploratory Activity ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Tasks ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Crowded Environment ◽  
Active Processing

Individuals with agoraphobia exhibit impaired exploratory activity when navigating unfamiliar environments. However, no studies have investigated the contribution of visuospatial working memory (VSWM) in these individuals’ ability to acquire and process spatial information while considering the use of egocentric and allocentric coordinates or environments with or without people. A total of 106 individuals (53 with agoraphobia and 53 controls) navigated in a virtual square to acquire spatial information that included the recognition of landmarks and the relationship between landmarks and themselves (egocentric coordinates) and independent of themselves (allocentric coordinates). Half of the participants in both groups navigated in a square without people, and half navigated in a crowded square. They completed a VSWM test in addition to tasks measuring landmark recognition and egocentric and allocentric judgements concerning the explored square. The results showed that individuals with agoraphobia had reduced working memory only when active processing of spatial elements was required, suggesting that they exhibit spatial difficulties particularly in complex spatial tasks requiring them to process information simultaneously. Specifically, VSWM deficits mediated the relationship between agoraphobia and performance in the allocentric judgements. The results are discussed considering the theoretical background of agoraphobia in order to provide useful elements for the early diagnosis of this disorder.

Developmental improvement in strategies to maintain verbal information in working memory

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Laure Oftinger ◽  
Valérie Camos
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Retention Interval ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Concurrent Task ◽  
Verbal Information ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Attentional Demand ◽  
Maintenance Strategies ◽  
Strategy Changes

Although it has been proposed that maintenance of verbal information in adults’ working memory relies on two strategies, articulatory rehearsal and attentional refreshing, little is known about the interplay of these strategies in children. To examine strategy changes around the age of seven, children were asked to maintain digits during a retention interval introduced between encoding and recall. In Experiment 1, this interval was either unfilled in a delayed span task or filled with an attention-demanding task in a Brown-Peterson task. This concurrent task was either silent or aloud to vary the availability of rehearsal. Experiment 2 introduced variation in the attentional demand of the concurrent task, and an independent concurrent articulation. As predicted, recall performance was better in older children, but was reduced under concurrent articulation or when attention was less available, bringing further evidence in favor of two maintenance strategies. Moreover, the measure of the availability of attention for refreshing was correlated with recall performance in eight- and seven-year-olds, though only when rehearsal was impeded for seven-year-olds, but it did not correlate with six-year-olds’ recall. This could suggest that rehearsal is the default strategy in young children who can adaptively switch to refreshing when articulatory processes are unavailable.

scholarly journals The Inferior Frontal Gyrus and Phonological Processing: An Investigation using rTMS

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Nixon ◽  
Jenia Lazarova ◽  
Iona Hodinott-Hill ◽  
Patricia Gough ◽  
Richard Passingham
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Posterior Part ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Normal Operation ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Language Areas

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) offers a powerful new technique for investigating the distinct contributions of the cortical language areas. We have used this method to examine the role of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in phonological processing and verbal working memory. Functional neuroimaging studies have implicated the posterior part of the left IFG in both phonological decision making and subvocal rehearsal mechanisms, but imaging is a correlational method and it is therefore necessary to determine whether this region is essential for such processes. In this paper we present the results of two experiments in which rTMS was applied over the frontal operculum while subjects performed a delayed phonological matching task. We compared the effects of disrupting this area either during the delay (memory) phase or at the response (decision) phase of the task. Delivered at a time when subjects were required to remember the sound of a visually presented word, rTMS impaired the accuracy with which they subsequently performed the task. However, when delivered later in the trial, as the subjects compared the remembered word with a given pseudoword, rTMS did not impair accuracy. Performance by the same subjects on a control task that required the processing of nonverbal visual stimuli was unaffected by the rTMS. Similarly, performance on both tasks was unaffected by rTMS delivered over a more anterior site (pars triangularis). We conclude that the opercular region of the IFG is necessary for the normal operation of phonologically based working memory mechanisms. Furthermore, this study shows that rTMS can shed further light on the precise role of cortical language areas in humans.

scholarly journals MEMORIA DE TRABAJO EN NIÑOS DE EDUCACIÓN INFANTIL CON Y SIN BAJO RENDIMIENTO MATEMÁTICO

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
M.J Presentación ◽  
Rebeca Siegenthaler ◽  
V. Pinto ◽  
Jesica Mercader ◽  
C. Colomer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Neuropsychological Tests ◽  
Mathematics Learning ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Math Performance ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Children At Risk ◽  
Mathematical Performance ◽  
Los Grupos

Abstract:This study aims to explore working memory in preschool children with and without low mathematical performance. The sample consisted of 255 children aged 5-6 years, to whom were administered neuropsychological tests of working memory and TEDI-MATH to estimate the mathematical performance. The results highlight the capacity of verbal working memory to significantly differentiate groups of children with and without problems in 8 of the 9 analyzed mathematical domains. This factor together with visuospatial working memory differentiate the group of children at risk for mathematical learning disabilities.Keywords: working memory, preschool, math performance, mathematics learning disabilitiesResumen:Este estudio se propone analizar la memoria de trabajo en niños de Educación Infantil con y sin bajo rendimiento matemático. La muestra estaba compuesta de 255 niños de 5 a 6 años, a los que se les aplicó pruebas neuropsicológicas de memoria de trabajo y el TEDI-MATH para estimar el rendimiento matemático. Los resultados destacan la capacidad de la memoria de trabajo verbal para diferenciar significativamente los grupos de niños con y sin dificultades en 8 de los 9 dominios matemáticos analizados. Este mismo factor junto con la memoria de trabajo viso-espacial estática diferencian al grupo de niños con riesgo de aprendizaje de las matemáticas.Palabras clave: memoria de trabajo, Educación Infantil, rendimiento matemático, dificultades de aprendizaje de las matemáticas.

scholarly journals Memorable navigation: Assessing the influence of way-finding in spatial clustering

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Pastor
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Spatial Clustering ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Correct Recall ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Medial Temporal Lobes ◽  
Temporal Lobes

Navigating around an environment and remembering the events that took place within it are crucial cognitive abilities that have been linked to the Hippocampus and medial temporal lobes (MTL). Scene Construction Theory (SCT) has proposed that a function of the Hippocampus is the implicit and continuous construction of scenes to help prediction of upcoming environment. Scenes, as highly efficient means of packaging information, underpin in coordination with other brain regions, episodic memory (EM), spatial navigation, future thinking and perhaps even dreaming and mind-wandering. We examined the conditions in which spatial contiguity of stimuli influences the organization of memory by examining spatial clustering (SC) phenomenon. In this research, an augmented reality (AR) system was used to test 14 participants in a spatially dependent memory task which assessed the SC differences between active navigators and passive spectators. We confirmed our hypothesis that navigators use spatial information as part of the retrieval process in free recall, as they tended to sequentially recall any two neighboring otherwise unrelated items. We also found a significant correlation between SC and correct recall performance supporting our second hypothesis. These results may be valuable for design of learning applications, especially dealing with large amounts of data. Research on Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases may also benefit from our approach. Future studies may assess the role of encoding and retrieval modality and participant's use of mnemonic strategies.

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