The relation between the working memory skills of sign language interpreters and the quality of their interpretations

In two experiments we investigated the relationship between the working memory skills of sign language interpreters and the quality of their interpretations. In Experiment 1, we found that scores on 3-back tasks with signs and words were not related to the quality of interpreted narratives. In Experiment 2, we found that memory span scores for words and signs under oral articulatory suppression were related to the quality of interpreted narratives. We argue that the insensitivity to articulatory suppression in memory span tasks reflects the interpreters' ability to bind information from multiple sources in episodic memory. This enhanced ability leads to less reliance on the retention of information from the source language in memory during interpreting, and will positively affect the quality of interpretations (Padilla, Bajo & Macizo, 2005). Finally, in contrast to previous studies on the memory spans for signs and words (Hall & Bavelier, 2010), we found that the memory spans scores for spoken words and signs were equally large. We argue that the use of a large set of phonologically complex stimuli in the present study may have stimulated participants to use a speech-based code to store and retain the signs in short-term memory.

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Distinction between Visuo-Spatial Short-Term-Memory and Working Memory Span Tasks

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185.65.1.37 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 65 (1) ◽

pp. 37-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Thierry Lecerf ◽

Jean-Luc Roulin

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Fluid Intelligence ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Memory Span ◽

Item Difficulty ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory ◽

Spatial Span ◽

Span Test ◽

Span Tasks

Six experiments are presented that examined the constraints underlying performance in two visuo-spatial span tasks. In the Location Span Test (LST), participants have to memorize the cells of a 5×5 matrix containing arrows, while in the Direction Span Test (DST) they have to memorize the cells pointed at by arrows. The main objective was to assess whether both tasks were similarly influenced by experimental factors. Results showed that performance improved with longer encoding time (1-s. vs. 3-s) only for the DST. Maintenance interval (0-s vs. 5-s) and order of item difficulty (ascending vs. descending) have no effect either on the LST or on the DST. Another experiment indicated that the DST is a better predictor of fluid intelligence. These results seem to provide evidence that the LST and the DST relate to different constructs. Implications of these findings for the distinction between short-term and working memory span tasks are discussed.

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Process estimates of recollection and familiarity in working memory span tasks

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e520592012-050 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

David P. McCabe ◽

Vanessa M. Loaiza

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Memory Span ◽

Span Tasks

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Consolidation and reconsolidation of visual and semantic memory in Parkinson’s disease

Bulletin of Russian State Medical University ◽

10.24075/brsmu.2021.069 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

VB Nikishina ◽

EA Petrash ◽

AA Kuznetsova ◽

TV Shuteeva ◽

IA Zakharova

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Visual Memory ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Memory Span ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Semantic Content ◽

Significant Negative Impact ◽

Memory Consolidation And Reconsolidation

Cognitive and mnestic impairments have a significant negative impact on the quality of parkinsonian patients’ life. Memory impairment causes changes in the mechanisms of information processing. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of transformations undergone by memorized visual and semantic content during memory consolidation and reconsolidation in patients with Parkinson’s disease. The study was conducted on 32 male patients with PD (ICD code: G20). Among the patients, 9 had rigidity/bradykinesia-d ominant PD, 11 had tremor-dominant PD, and 12 suffered from a mixed type of PD. Short-term memory span was assessed using the 10 words and the visual memory tests proposed by Luria. As stimulus materials we used a symbolic representation of the old Greek letter resembling an owl and a translated excerpt from a Canadian aboriginal epic. Regardless of the PD form, the quality of the memorized information was either altered or completely lost. The mechanisms underlying such transformations differed quantitively depending on the PD form. Transformation of the memorized information occurred in the conditions of both incidental and deliberate memorization and was represented by distortions (substitution of the original content with confabulations) and simplifications of the structural and semantic organization. We consolidated significantly lesser amount of auditory verbal (р = 0.018) and visual (p = 0.029) information. This trend was consistent with the pronounced distortion of content during its retrieval.

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Short-term memory span: insights from sign language

Nature Neuroscience ◽

10.1038/nn1298 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 7 (9) ◽

pp. 997-1002 ◽

Cited By ~ 76

Author(s):

Mrim Boutla ◽

Ted Supalla ◽

Elissa L Newport ◽

Daphne Bavelier

Keyword(s):

Sign Language ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Memory Span ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory

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Performance on the processing portion of complex working memory span tasks is related to working memory capacity estimates

Behavior Research Methods ◽

10.3758/s13428-021-01645-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lauren L. Richmond ◽

Lois K. Burnett ◽

Alexandra B. Morrison ◽

B. Hunter Ball

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Memory Span ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Span Tasks ◽

Capacity Estimates

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Comparison of the Working Memory Load in N-Back and Working Memory Span Tasks by Means of EEG Frequency Band Power and P300 Amplitude

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnhum.2017.00006 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Christian Scharinger ◽

Alexander Soutschek ◽

Torsten Schubert ◽

Peter Gerjets

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Frequency Band ◽

Memory Span ◽

Memory Load ◽

P300 Amplitude ◽

Working Memory Load ◽

Band Power ◽

Span Tasks

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Working-memory capacity predicts the executive control of visual search among distractors: The influences of sustained and selective attention

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1080/17470210802479329 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 62 (7) ◽

pp. 1430-1454 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

Bradley J. Poole ◽

Michael J. Kane

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Visual Search ◽

Target Location ◽

Memory Span ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Attentional Focus ◽

Search Tasks ◽

Span Tasks ◽

Target Locations

Variation in working-memory capacity (WMC) predicts individual differences in only some attention-control capabilities. Whereas higher WMC subjects outperform lower WMC subjects in tasks requiring the restraint of prepotent but inappropriate responses, and the constraint of attentional focus to target stimuli against distractors, they do not differ in prototypical visual-search tasks, even those that yield steep search slopes and engender top-down control. The present three experiments tested whether WMC, as measured by complex memory span tasks, would predict search latencies when the 1–8 target locations to be searched appeared alone, versus appearing among distractor locations to be ignored, with the latter requiring selective attentional focus. Subjects viewed target-location cues and then fixated on those locations over either long (1,500–1,550 ms) or short (300 ms) delays. Higher WMC subjects identified targets faster than did lower WMC subjects only in the presence of distractors and only over long fixation delays. WMC thus appears to affect subjects’ ability to maintain a constrained attentional focus over time.

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Working memory in children

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.1983.0058 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 302 (1110) ◽

pp. 325-340 ◽

Cited By ~ 104

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Memory Span ◽

Developmental Change ◽

Central Processor ◽

Older Children ◽

Short Term ◽

Developmental Growth ◽

Children's Memory ◽

Subvocal Rehearsal

It is frequently assumed that the development of children’s abilities in short-term memory reflects changes in a unitary short-term store. This approach makes only poor contact with recent research on adults, which suggests the idea of a more complex ‘ working memory ’ system consisting of a limited-capacity central processor controlling a number of special-purpose stores. Two such stores are (i) the articulatory loop, a subsystem involved in subvocal rehearsal and associated with memory span, and (ii) the visuo-spatial scratch-pad, involved in imagery. This paper considers the applicability of the working memory framework to the study of children’s memory. In adults, memory span for words is affected by their length, varying linearly with the rate at which they can be articulated, and thus presumably rehearsed. Studies of the developmental growth of memory span in children show that the same linear relation describes performance, with older children’s better memory associated with faster rates of articulation. It appears from this that developmental change corresponds to an increase in the efficiency of subvocal rehearsal, with the decay characteristic of the articulatory loop remaining constant. However, although this simple developmental pattern is observed in memory for sequences of spoken words it is not present when the items are nameable pictures. Further investigation shows that older children use the articulatory loop to remember picture names: their performance is sensitive to phonemic similarity of the names and articulatory interference. However, younger children’s performance is not affected by either of these factors but is sensitive to visual similarity. It is suggested that such children may be storing material in the visuo-spatial scratch-pad. An additional aspect of working memory is that separate mechanisms are thought to be involved in memory span and the ‘recency effect’, the tendency for recent items in a list to be remembered well in unordered recall. A review of evidence obtained with children suggests that age differences in these two phenomena are independent. In general, therefore, it seems difficult to interpret the developmental changes reported here in terms of a unitary short-term store, and it is concluded that working memory provides a more promising approach.

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Movement and Working Memory: Patterns and Positions in Space

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A ◽

10.1080/02724988843000041 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 40 (3) ◽

pp. 497-514 ◽

Cited By ~ 130

Author(s):

Mary M. Smyth ◽

Norma A. Pearson ◽

Lindsay R. Pendleton

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Articulatory Suppression ◽

Memory Span ◽

Body Movement ◽

Movement Patterns ◽

Span Task ◽

Whole Body ◽

Spatial Processes ◽

Spatial Span ◽

Whole Body Movement

Five experiments are reported in which subjects were asked to remember short, visually presented sequences of whole body movement patterns, words, and spatial positions. The items were recalled in order in a memory span paradigm. During presentation of the items to be remembered subjects simply watched, or they carried out a concurrent activity involving articulatory suppression, movement to external spatial targets, or body-related movement. When the movement patterns to be remembered were familiar to subjects, movement span was not disrupted by articulatory suppression or movement to spatial targets but was disrupted by body-related movement. This movement suppression task, however, did not interfere with performance on a spatial span task or on verbal span. It is concluded that the memory for patterns of limb movement differs from memory for movement to spatial targets and that accounts of visuo-spatial processes in working memory involve the latter type of movement.

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