Phonological and visual similarity effects in Chinese and English language users: Implications for the use of cognitive resources in short-term memory

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
RACHEL L. COLE ◽  
SUSAN J. PICKERING
Keyword(s):  
Visual Memory ◽  
English Language ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Visual Similarity ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Articulation Rate ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Chinese And English

This study investigated the encoding strategies employed by Chinese and English language users when recalling sequences of pictured objects. The working memory performance of native English participants (n = 14) and Chinese speakers of English as a second language (Chinese ESL; n = 14) was compared using serial recall of visually-presented pictures of familiar objects with three conditions: (i) phonologically and visually distinct, (ii) phonologically similar and visually distinct, and (iii) phonologically distinct and visually similar. Digit span, visual pattern span and articulation rate were also measured. Results indicated that whilst English participants were affected by the phonological but not the visual similarity of items, the performance of Chinese ESL participants was comparable across all three conditions. No significant differences in digit span, visual memory or articulation rate were found between groups. These results are discussed in the light of our understanding of the use of cognitive resources in short-term memory in users of diverse orthographies.

scholarly journals Effects of Dehydration and Rehydration on Cognitive Performance and Mood among Male College Students in Cangzhou, China: A Self-Controlled Trial

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 1891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Na Zhang ◽  
Song M. Du ◽  
Jian F. Zhang ◽  
Guan S. Ma
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Digit Symbol ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Mental Work ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Baseline Test

Water accounts for 75% of brain mass. Associations may exist between hydration and cognitive performance. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dehydration and rehydration on cognitive performance and mood. In this self-control trial, 12 men were recruited from a medical college in Cangzhou, China. After 12 h of overnight fasting, the participants took baseline tests at 8:00 AM on day 2. First morning urine and blood osmolality were analyzed to determine hydration state. Height, weight, and blood pressure were measured following standardized procedures. A visual analog scale for the subjective sensation of thirst was applied, and a profile of mood states questionnaire was applied. Tests were conducted for cognitive performance, including a test of digit span forward and backward, digit-symbol substitutions, dose-work, and stroop effects. Participants were required not to drink water for 36 h but were given three meals on day 3. On day 4, the same indexes were tested as a baseline test. At 8:30 AM, participants drank 1500 mL of purified water over 15 min. After a 1 h interval, the same measurements were performed. Compared with baseline test results, during the dehydration test, participants had lower scores of vigor (11.9 vs. 8.8, %, p = 0.007) and esteem-related affect (8.2 vs. 5.7, %, p = 0.006), lower total scores of digit span (14.3 vs. 13.3, %, p = 0.004), and higher error rates for dose-work (0.01 vs. 0.16, %, p = 0.005). Compared with the dehydration test scores, rehydration test scores showed that fatigue (4.3 vs. 2.1, %, p = 0.005) and total mood disturbance (TMD) (99.0 vs. 90.2, %, p = 0.008) improved, and scores of forward, backward, and total digit span increased (7.7 vs. 8.6, p = 0.014; 5.7 vs. 1.2, p = 0.019; 13.3 vs. 15.4, p = 0.001). Increases were also noted in correct number of digit symbol substitutions, reading speed, and mental work ability (70.8 vs. 75.4, p < 0.001; 339.3 vs. 486.4, n/min, p < 0.001; 356.1 vs. 450.2, p < 0.001), and reaction time decreased (30.2 vs. 28.7, s, p = 0.002). As a conclusion, dehydration had negative effects on vigor, esteem-related affect, short-term memory, and attention. Rehydration after water supplementation alleviated fatigue and improved TMD, short-term memory, attention, and reaction.

Self-Pluralism, Number of Subselves, and Short-Term Memory

2004 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 888-888
Author(s):  
Hubert Suszek
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

In a sample of 55 students, self-pluralism and the number of subselves were positively correlated ( rs = .33 and .28, respectively) with WAIS–R Digit Span scores as an index of short-term memory.

scholarly journals Frontal Phonological Agraphia and Acalculia with Impaired Verbal Short-Term Memory due to Left Inferior Precentral Gyrus Lesion

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhisa Sakurai ◽  
Emi Furukawa ◽  
Masanori Kurihara ◽  
Izumi Sugimoto
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
Normal Range ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Postcentral Gyrus ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Selective Impairment

We report a patient with phonological agraphia (selective impairment of kana [Japanese phonetic writing] nonwords) and acalculia (mental arithmetic difficulties) with impaired verbal short-term memory after a cerebral hemorrhage in the opercular part of the left precentral gyrus (Brodmann area 6) and the adjacent postcentral gyrus. The patient showed phonemic paragraphia in five-character kana nonword writing, minimal acalculia, and reduced digit and letter span. Mental arithmetic normalized after 8 months and agraphia recovered to the normal range at 1 year after onset, in parallel with an improvement of the auditory letter span score from 4 to 6 over a period of 14 months and in the digit span score from 6 to 7 over 24 months. These results suggest a close relationship between the recovery of agraphia and acalculia and the improvement of verbal short-term memory. The present case also suggests that the opercular part of the precentral gyrus constitutes the phonological route in writing that conveys phonological information of syllable sequences, and its damage causes phonological agraphia and acalculia with reduced verbal short-term memory.

Capacity limitations in short-term memory in schizophrenia: tests of competing hypotheses

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 665-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. E. GOLDBERG ◽  
K. J. PATTERSON ◽  
Y. TAQQU ◽  
K. WILDER
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Interference Task ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Capacity Limitation ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Normal Controls

Background. Capacity limitation theories have proved to be surprisingly resilient in characterizing some of the cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. However, this perspective has not generally been applied to short-term verbal memory tasks. We explored this issue by first attempting to ascertain if gross misallocations of processing resources might explain impairments in short-term memory in schizophrenia on a classic digit span task and in a second study by attempting to determine what effects delay and memory set size had on a divided attention short-term verbal memory paradigm.Methods. In the first study 16 patients with schizophrenia and 21 normal controls received 40 trials of a three digit task and 20 trials of a six digit span task. As the absolute number of digits presented and duration of presentation in two conditions were identical, subjects thus had equivalent ‘opportunities’ to make errors if distraction, in the sense of misallocation of cognitive resources, were at the root of poor performance. In the second study 15 patients with schizophrenia and 15 normal controls were tested in conditions in which two, four or six words were presented and in which rehearsal was prevented by an interference task (colour naming) for delays of 5, 10 or 15 s.Results. Patients had disproportionate difficulty on the six digit rather than the three digit condition, suggesting that deficits in the verbal working memory short-term store may not be the result of attentional factors. In the second study, patients' performance was differentially worsened by the interference task, by memory set size (i.e. a capacity limitation) and by delay, a measure of decay rate.Conclusions. In concert, these studies demonstrate that schizophrenia patients have difficulties on verbal short-term memory span tasks not because of misallocation of resources, but rather because of limitations in ‘representational capacity’ and maintenance of information over delays.

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.

scholarly journals Capacity of short-term memory in dyslexia is reduced due to less efficient utilization of items’ long-term frequency

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Kimel ◽  
Itay Lieder ◽  
Merav Ahissar
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Repeated Sequence ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Good Readers ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Term Frequency ◽  
Word Repetition ◽  
Significant Deficit

AbstractDyslexia, defined as a specific impairment in decoding the written script, is the most widespread learning difficulty. However, individuals with dyslexia (IDDs) also consistently manifest reduced short-term memory (STM) capacity, typically measured by Digit Span or non-word repetition tasks. In this paper we report two experiments which test the effect of item frequency and the effect of a repeated sequence on the performance in STM tasks in good readers and in IDDs. IDDs’ performance benefited less from item frequency, revealing poor use of long-term single item statistics. This pattern suggests that the amply reported shorter verbal spans in dyslexia may in fact reflect their impaired sensitivity to items’ long-term frequency. For repeated sequence learning, we found no significant deficit among IDDs, even when a sensitive paradigm and a robust measure were used.

scholarly journals Hubungan Status Gizi dan Status Hidrasi dengan Fungsi Memori Jangka Pendek Anak Usia Sekolah

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-130
Author(s):  
Biyanti Dwi Winarsih ◽  
Yayuk Fatmawati ◽  
Sri Hartini
Keyword(s):  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Urine Specific Gravity ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Hydration Status ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Term Memory

ENGLISHShort-term memory in school-age children is significant in the learning process and academic ability improvement. Adequate intake of nutrients and body fluids are needed to accelerate brain performance so that children have optimum memory function. A preliminary study on short term memory of students in SD N Gembong 2, Pati Regency showed that some students experienced a decrease in short-term memory. The objective of this study was to analyze the correlation between nutritional status and nutritional status with children's short-term memory. This study used a correlational design and involved 52 students from 4th - 6th grade in elementary school. The measurement of hydration status used urine specific gravity, while short-term memory was measured using a digit span test. Then, the Chi-Square test was applied to analyze the data. This study result showed that more than half of children had normal nutritional status, good hydration status and normal short-term memory. Furthermore, nutritional status and hydration status were associated with children's short-term memory. Parents should provide more attention to their children’s nutritional and fluid needs, by 1) the children are getting used to taking breakfast before going to school and 2) parents provide meals and drinks from home for their children. INDONESIAMemori jangka pendek pada anak usia sekolah sangat berpengaruh terhadap proses belajar dan upaya peningkatan kemampuan akademik. Asupan nutrisi dan cairan tubuh yang cukup dibutuhkan untuk meningkatkan kerja otak sehingga fungsi memori anak lebih optimal.  Data awal penelitian terkait memori jangka pendek anak di SD N Gembong 2 Pati menunjukkan sebagian anak mengalami penurunan memori jangka pendek. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah menganalisis hubungan status gizi dan status nutrisi dengan memori jangka pendek anak. Metode penelitian korelasional dengan jumlah sampel 52 responden anak kelas 4-6 SD. Pengumpulan data status gizi melalui pengukuran berat badan dan tinggi badan. Pengukuran status hidrasi menggunakan pemeriksaan berat jenis urine dan memori jangka pendek menggunakan test digit span. Analisa menggunakan chi square. Hasil penelitian  menunjukkan sebagian besar anak mempunyai status gizi normal, status hidrasi baik dan memori jangka pendek yang normal. Terdapat hubungan antara status gizi dan status hidrasi dengan memori jangka pendek anak. Orang tua sebaiknya lebih memperhatikan kebutuhan nutrisi dan cairan anak  dengan cara: 1) membiasakan sarapan sebelum berangkat sekolah; dan 2) pada saat anak ke sekolah lebih baik dibawakan bekal makanan dan minuman.

Characterizing chunks in visual short-term memory: Not more than one feature per dimension?

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 144-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Werner X. Schneider ◽  
Heiner Deubel ◽  
Maria-Barbara Wesenick
Keyword(s):  
Visual Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory

Cowan defines a chunk as “a collection of concepts that have strong associations to one another and much weaker associations to other chunks currently in use.” This definition does not impose any constraints on the nature and number of elements that can be bound into a chunk. We present an experiment to demonstrate that such limitations exist for visual short-term memory, and that their analysis may lead to important insights into properties of visual memory.

Short-Term Memory and the Nature of Interference from Concurrent Shadowing

1972 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 414-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neal E. A. Kroll
Keyword(s):  
Retention Interval ◽  
Proactive Interference ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Auditory Memory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

Trigrams were presented visually or auditorily and followed by a 12 s retention interval filled with shadowing numbers or letters. Auditory memory letters followed by letter shadowing were recalled less than auditory memory letters followed by number shadowing or visual memory letters followed by either type of shadowing. The latter three conditions did not differ among themselves. An analysis of the recall intrusions suggested that forgetting of auditory memory letters followed by letter shadowing was caused mainly by a confusion between covert rehearsals and shadowing activity, while forgetting in the other three conditions was caused primarily by proactive interference from earlier memory trials.

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