scholarly journals Children With Differing Developmental Trajectories of Prelinguistic Communication Skills: Language and Working Memory at Age 5

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 1026-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sira Määttä ◽  
Marja-Leena Laakso ◽  
Asko Tolvanen ◽  
Timo Ahonen ◽  
Tuija Aro
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Prelinguistic Communication

Purpose In this article, the authors examine the developmental continuity from prelinguistic communication to kindergarten age in language and working memory capacity. Method Following work outlining 6 groups of children with different trajectories of early communication development (ECD; Määttä, Laakso, Tolvanen, Ahonen, & Aro, 2012), the authors examined their later development by psychometric assessment. Ninety-one children first assessed at ages 12–21 months completed a battery of language and working memory tests at age 5;3 (years;months). Results Two of the ECD groups previously identified as being at risk for language difficulties continued to show weaker performance at follow-up. Seventy-nine percent of the children with compromised language skills at follow-up were identified on the basis of the ECD groups, but the number of false positives was high. The 2 at-risk groups also differed significantly from the typically developing groups in the measures tapping working memory capacity. Conclusions In line with the dimensional view of language impairment, the accumulation of early delays predicted the amount of later difficulties; however, at the individual level, the prediction had rather low specificity. The results imply a strong link between language and working memory and call for further studies examining the early developmental interaction between language and memory.

scholarly journals Interactions between implicit and explicit cognition and working memory capacity in the prediction of alcohol use in at-risk adolescents

2008 ◽  
Vol 94 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 116-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolien Thush ◽  
Reinout W. Wiers ◽  
Susan L. Ames ◽  
Jerry L. Grenard ◽  
Steve Sussman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Explicit Cognition ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
At Risk Adolescents

An Examination of Verbal Working Memory Capacity in Children With Specific Language Impairment

1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1249-1260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Ellis Weismer ◽  
Julia Evans ◽  
Linda J. Hesketh
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Word Recall ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Specific Language

This study investigated verbal working memory capacity in children with specific language impairment (SLI). The task employed in this study was the Competing Language Processing Task (CLPT) developed by Gaulin and Campbell (1994). A total of 40 school-age children participated in this investigation, including 20 with SLI and 20 normal language (NL) age-matched controls. Results indicated that the SLI and NL groups performed similarly in terms of true/false comprehension items, but that the children with SLI evidenced significantly poorer word recall than the NL controls, even when differences in nonverbal cognitive scores were statistically controlled. Distinct patterns of word-recall errors were observed for the SLI and NL groups, as well as different patterns of associations between CLPT word recall and performance on nonverbal cognitive and language measures. The findings are interpreted within the framework of a limited-capacity model of language processing.

scholarly journals The forward testing effect is reliable and independent of learners’ working memory capacity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Pastötter ◽  
Christian Frings
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Testing Effect ◽  
Retrieval Practice ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

The forward testing effect refers to the finding that retrieval practice of previously studied information enhances learning and retention of subsequently studied other information. While most of the previous research on the forward testing effect examined group differences, the present study took an individual differences approach to investigate this effect. Experiment 1 examined whether the forward effect has test-retest reliability between two experimental sessions. Experiment 2 investigated whether the effect is related to participants’ working memory capacity. In both experiments (and each session of Experiment 1), participants studied three lists of items in anticipation of a final cumulative recall test. In the testing condition, participants were tested immediately on lists 1 and 2, whereas in the restudy condition, they restudied lists 1 and 2. In both conditions, participants were tested immediately on list 3. On the group level, the results of both experiments demonstrated a forward testing effect, with interim testing of lists 1 and 2 enhancing immediate recall of list 3. On the individual level, the results of Experiment 1 showed that the forward effect on list 3 recall has moderate test-retest reliability between two experimental sessions. In addition, the results of Experiment 2 showed that the forward effect on list 3 recall does not depend on participants’ working memory capacity. These findings suggest that the forward testing effect is reliable at the individual level and affects learners at a wide range of working memory capacities alike. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Sentence Repetition Accuracy in Adults With Developmental Language Impairment: Interactions of Participant Capacities and Sentence Structures

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 302-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard H. Poll ◽  
Carol A. Miller ◽  
Janet G. van Hell
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Ability Group ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Developmental Language Impairment

Purpose We asked whether sentence repetition accuracy could be explained by interactions of participant processing limitations with the structures of the sentences. We also tested a prediction of the procedural deficit hypothesis (Ullman & Pierpont, 2005) that adjuncts are more difficult than arguments for individuals with developmental language impairment (DLI). Method Forty-four young adults participated, 21 with DLI. The sentence repetition task varied sentence length and the use of arguments and adjuncts. We also administered measures of working memory and processing speed. Our regression models focused on these interactions: group and argument status; processing speed, length, and argument status; and working memory capacity, length, and argument status. Results Language ability group was a significant predictor of sentence repetition accuracy but did not interact with argument status. Processing speed interacted with sentence length and argument status. Working memory capacity and its separate interactions with argument status and sentence length predicted sentence repetition accuracy. Conclusions Many adults with DLI may have difficulty with adjuncts as a result of their working memory limitations rather than their language ability. Cognitive limitations common to individuals with DLI are revealed more by particular sentence structures, suggesting ways to construct more diagnostically accurate sentence repetition tasks.

Working Memory and Executive Attention: A Revisit

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall W. Engle
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Intelligence Tests ◽  
Executive Attention ◽  
Psychological Science

In this follow-up to my 2002 article on working memory capacity, fluid intelligence, and executive attention in Current Directions in Psychological Science, I review even more evidence supporting the idea that the ability to control one’s attention (i.e., executive attention) is important to working memory and fluid intelligence. I now argue that working memory tasks reflect primarily the maintenance of information, whereas fluid intelligence tests reflect primarily the ability to disengage from recently attended and no longer useful information. I also point out some conclusions in the 2002 article that now appear to be wrong.

scholarly journals The Development of Working Memory

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 545-553
Author(s):  
John P. Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Computer Simulations ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Neural Network Models ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Shed Light

Working memory is a central cognitive system that plays a key role in development, with working memory capacity and speed of processing increasing as children move from infancy through adolescence. Here, I focus on two questions: What neural processes underlie working memory, and how do these processes change over development? Answers to these questions lie in computer simulations of neural-network models that shed light on how development happens. These models open up new avenues for optimizing clinical interventions aimed at boosting the working memory abilities of at-risk infants.

Working memory following improvements in articulation rate in children with cerebral palsy

1995 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Desirée A. White ◽  
Suzanne Craft ◽  
Sandra Hale ◽  
Jeffrey Schatz ◽  
T.S. Park
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cerebral Palsy ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Original Study ◽  
Verbal Material ◽  
Articulation Rate ◽  
Primary Determinant

AbstractIt has been postulated that rehearsal rate is the primary determinant of working memory capacity for verbal material (Baddeley et al., 1975). A previous study of normal control children and children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (SDCP) suggested that covert rather than overt rehearsal rate determines working memory capacity (White et al., 1994). In the current study, a subset of SDCP children who received a surgical treatment to relieve spasticity were retested on measures of articulation rate and memory span. A subset of control children from the original study were also retested. The SDCP group showed improvements in articulation rate at follow-up, though memory span did not change and was again equivalent to that of controls. These findings indicate that increases in articulation rate are not necessarily accompanied by improvements in memory span, and provide additional evidence that working memory capacity may be determined by covert rather than overt articulatory rehearsal. (JINS, 1995, I, 49–55.)

Differential Effects of Executive Processes on Working Memory

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-249
Author(s):  
Xuezhu Ren ◽  
Tengfei Wang ◽  
Karl Schweizer ◽  
Jing Guo
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Executive Processes ◽  
Differential Effects ◽  
Prepotent Response ◽  
Two Measures

Abstract. Although attention control accounts for a unique portion of the variance in working memory capacity (WMC), the way in which attention control contributes to WMC has not been thoroughly specified. The current work focused on fractionating attention control into distinctly different executive processes and examined to what extent key processes of attention control including updating, shifting, and prepotent response inhibition were related to WMC and whether these relations were different. A number of 216 university students completed experimental tasks of attention control and two measures of WMC. Latent variable analyses were employed for separating and modeling each process and their effects on WMC. The results showed that both the accuracy of updating and shifting were substantially related to WMC while the link from the accuracy of inhibition to WMC was insignificant; on the other hand, only the speed of shifting had a moderate effect on WMC while neither the speed of updating nor the speed of inhibition showed significant effect on WMC. The results suggest that these key processes of attention control exhibit differential effects on individual differences in WMC. The approach that combined experimental manipulations and statistical modeling constitutes a promising way of investigating cognitive processes.

Working Memory Capacity and a Notorious Brain Teaser

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim De Neys ◽  
Niki Verschueren
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Task Load ◽  
Normative Reasoning ◽  
Monty Hall Dilemma ◽  
Monty Hall ◽  
Memory Resources

Abstract. The Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD) is an intriguing example of the discrepancy between people’s intuitions and normative reasoning. This study examines whether the notorious difficulty of the MHD is associated with limitations in working memory resources. Experiment 1 and 2 examined the link between MHD reasoning and working memory capacity. Experiment 3 tested the role of working memory experimentally by burdening the executive resources with a secondary task. Results showed that participants who solved the MHD correctly had a significantly higher working memory capacity than erroneous responders. Correct responding also decreased under secondary task load. Findings indicate that working memory capacity plays a key role in overcoming salient intuitions and selecting the correct switching response during MHD reasoning.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document