The role of auditory features in memory span for words.

1980 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Drewnowski ◽  
Bennet B. Murdock
Keyword(s):  
Memory Span ◽  
Auditory Features

The capacity of short term memory from an evolutionary perspective

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majid Manoochehri
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Cognitive System ◽  
Evolutionary Approach ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

Memory span in humans has been intensely studied for more than a century. In spite of the critical role of memory span in our cognitive system, which intensifies the importance of fundamental determinants of its evolution, few studies have investigated it by taking an evolutionary approach. Overall, we know hardly anything about the evolution of memory components. In the present study, I briefly review the experimental studies of memory span in humans and non-human animals and shortly discuss some of the relevant evolutionary hypotheses.

The Role of Temporal Parameters in Recall of Synthetic Speech

1987 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 966-968
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Ayres
Keyword(s):  
Serial Recall ◽  
Memory Trace ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Synthetic Speech ◽  
Production Mechanism ◽  
Active Process ◽  
Immediate Serial Recall ◽  
Temporal Parameters ◽  
Limited Duration

The limited-duration articulatory store which has been proposed as the basis of the memory span could involve either a playback or a production mechanism. In order to compare these, immediate serial recall was studied with auditorily-presented lists of digits with durations of 120–300 msec and pauses of 60–240 msec. Memory span declined for decreasing item duration, an effect largely attributable to loss of intelligibility. The results suggest that memory span depends on an active process rather than on passive playback of the memory trace.

scholarly journals Imagining Sounds and Images: Decoding the Contribution of Unimodal and Transmodal Brain Regions to Semantic Retrieval in the Absence of Meaningful Input

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1599-1616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Murphy ◽  
Shirley-Ann Rueschemeyer ◽  
Jonathan Smallwood ◽  
Elizabeth Jefferies
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Information ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
External Input ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Connectivity Analysis ◽  
Semantic Retrieval ◽  
Middle Temporal ◽  
Auditory Features

In the absence of sensory information, we can generate meaningful images and sounds from representations in memory. However, it remains unclear which neural systems underpin this process and whether tasks requiring the top–down generation of different kinds of features recruit similar or different neural networks. We asked people to internally generate the visual and auditory features of objects, either in isolation (car, dog) or in specific and complex meaning-based contexts (car/dog race). Using an fMRI decoding approach, in conjunction with functional connectivity analysis, we examined the role of auditory/visual cortex and transmodal brain regions. Conceptual retrieval in the absence of external input recruited sensory and transmodal cortex. The response in transmodal regions—including anterior middle temporal gyrus—was of equal magnitude for visual and auditory features yet nevertheless captured modality information in the pattern of response across voxels. In contrast, sensory regions showed greater activation for modality-relevant features in imagination (even when external inputs did not differ). These data are consistent with the view that transmodal regions support internally generated experiences and that they play a role in integrating perceptual features encoded in memory.

Working memory span and the role of proactive interference.

2001 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindy Lustig ◽  
Cynthia P. May ◽  
Lynn Hasher
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Proactive Interference ◽  
Memory Span

Note-Taking Skills and Comprehension in Consecutive Interpretation

Babel ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Lung
Keyword(s):  
Memory Span ◽  
Personal Observation ◽  
Note Taking ◽  
Visual Examination ◽  
Cette Observation ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Systematic Training ◽  
Mental Space

Abstract The paper touches on how systematic training and in-depth training in note-taking skills are related to comprehension in interpretation. It argues for a more focused role of note-taking in the interpretation curriculum. This paper identifies five factors resulting in interpretation failure based on personal observation of interpretation students' performance. These factors are timing of note-taking, unit of input, overall comprehension, fragmentation of memory span, and mental space for meaning processing. The paper concludes that these problems can be alleviated by effective note-taking skills during interpretation. Considering that effective notetaking is one of the major prerequisites for quality interpretation, the nuance of notetaking skills should then be regarded as a separate skill to be trained and developed throughout the interpretation curriculum. Such an observation indicates the need to re-examine the role of note-taking teaching in interpretation classroom. The slight shift of focus in the interpretation classroom, from an overwhelmingly audio evaluation to an audio-visual examination of interpretation quality is likely to broaden the scope of the research dimension in interpretation. Résumé L'article traite de la façon dont une formation systématique et approfondie des aptitudes à la prise de notes sont reliées à la compréhension lorsqu'il s'agit d'une interprétation. Il plaide pour un rôle plus concentré de la prise de notes dans le programme d'étude de l'interprétation. Cet article identifie cinq facteurs qui aboutissent à un échec dans l'interprétation; ils sont basés sur l'observation personnelle de la performance des étudiants-interprètes. Ces facteurs sont: le temps qu'il prend pour prendre des notes, l'unité d'entrée des informations, une compréhension globale, la fragmentation de la durée de la mémoire, et l'espace mental pour le traitement des significations. L'article conclut que ces problêmes peuvent être allégés par des aptitudes effectives de prise de notes pendant l'interprétation. En considérant qu'une prise de notes effective est une des conditions préliminaires obligatoires pour une interprétation de qualité, la nuance dans l'aptitude à bien prendre note devrait être considérée comme une aptitude séparée qui doit être formée et développée pendant tout le programme d'études d'interprétation. Cette observation indique la nécessité de réexaminer l'enseignement de la prise de notes dans les classes d'interprétation. Le léger décalage d'objectif dans les classes d'interprétation, partant d'une évaluation axée sur l'audition jusqu'à un examen audio-visuel de la qualité de l'interprétation peut amener une gamme plus large de dimensions de la recherche en interprétation.

Cognitive mechanisms of word learning in bilingual and monolingual adults: The role of phonological memory

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 470-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARGARITA KAUSHANSKAYA
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Phonological Memory ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Novel Word Learning ◽  
Novel Words

Previous studies have indicated that bilingualism may facilitate lexical learning in adults. The goals of this research were (i) to examine whether bilingual influences on word learning diverge for phonologically-familiar and phonologically-unfamiliar novel words, and (ii) to examine whether increased phonological memory capacity can account for bilingual effects on word learning. In Experiment 1, participants learned phonologically-familiar novel words that were constructed using the phonemes of English – the native language for all participants. In Experiment 2, participants learned phonologically-unfamiliar novel words that included non-English phonemes. In each experiment, bilingual adults were contrasted with two groups of monolingual adults: a high memory-span monolingual group (that matched bilinguals on phonological memory performance) and a low-span monolingual group. Results showed that bilingual participants in both experiments outperformed monolingual participants, both high-span and low-span. High-span monolinguals outperformed low-span monolinguals when learning phonologically-unfamiliar novel words, but not when learning phonologically-familiar novel words. The findings suggest that the bilingual advantage for novel word learning is not contingent on the phonological properties of novel words, and that phonological memory capacity as measured here cannot account for the bilingual effects on learning.

The Basis of the Primacy Effect: Some Experiments with Running Memory

1977 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hockey ◽  
Peter Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Memory Span ◽  
Rebound Effect ◽  
Orienting Response ◽  
Primacy Effect ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Primacy Effects ◽  
Selective Rehearsal

Five experiments using the “running memory span” (RMS) technique are reported, in which subjects attempt to recall a specified number of items from the end of long sequences of digits, presented at a rate of 2/s. In Experiments I–III critical lists are included in the series which are exactly equal in length to the specified recall series. Despite the RMS set, these critical lists exhibit (I) marked primacy effects, and (2) an impairment in recall of terminal items (a “rebound effect”), compared to the baseline RMS performance. The rebound effect occurs (Experiments IV and V) even when recall of earlier items is not required. These two phenomena are robust: they occur in different experiments in which, rehearsal patterns, report order, expectancies and retrieval load are controlled. The results suggest an origin for primacy which is of a perceptual (i.e. pre-storage) nature, and that selective rehearsal is not a necessary condition for the effect to occur. A possible role of habituation of the orienting response in this phenomenon is discussed.

The Role of Strategies in the Development of Memory Span Assessed by Running Probes

1985 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme S. Halford ◽  
Murray T. Maybery ◽  
Dianne Bennet
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Probe Task ◽  
Age Range

The running memory span task and the fixed memory span task were administered to children aged 7 to 13 years under conditions which made them directly comparable. A probe task, consisting of a short string of digits embedded in a block of longer strings, was also used. The running probe task was argued to be a better measure of strategy-free span than the standard running task. The probe task showed age differences as great as with the fixed span task, and span was reduced by only about half an item over all ages. It is therefore concluded that strategies are not responsible for memory span development over this age range.

Doubts About the Role of Rehearsal in the Irrelevant Sound Effect

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamielyn R. Samper ◽  
Alexandra Morrison ◽  
Jason Chein
Keyword(s):  
Background Noise ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Task Characteristics ◽  
Sound Effect ◽  
Irrelevant Sound ◽  
Irrelevant Sound Effect ◽  
Rehearsal Strategy ◽  
Serial Recall Task

Abstract. The irrelevant sound effect (ISE) describes the disruption of processes involved in maintaining information in working memory (WM) when irrelevant noise is present in the environment. While some posit that the ISE arises due to split obligation of attention to the irrelevant sound and the to-be-remembered information, others have argued that background noise corrupts the order of information within WM. Support for the latter position comes from research showing that the ISE appears to be most robust in tasks that emphasize ordered maintenance by a serial rehearsal strategy, and diminished when rehearsal is discouraged or precluded by task characteristics. This prior work confounds the demand for seriation with rehearsal. Thus, the present study aims to disentangle ordered maintenance from a rehearsal strategy by using a running memory span task that requires ordered output but obviates the utility of rehearsal. Across four experiments, we find a significant ISE that persists under conditions that should discourage the use of rehearsal and among individuals who self-report use of alternative strategies. These findings indicate that rehearsal is not necessary to produce an ISE in a serial recall task and thus fail to corroborate accounts of the ISE that emphasize the involvement of rehearsal.

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