scholarly journals Effects of Lexical Competition on Immediate Memory Span for Spoken Words

2003 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 929-954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winston D. Goh ◽  
David B. Pisoni
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Item Type ◽  
Phonological Similarity ◽  
Lexical Competition ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Spoken Words ◽  
Sampling Procedures

Current theories and models of the structural organization of verbal short-term memory are primarily based on evidence obtained from manipulations of features inherent in the short-term traces of the presented stimuli, such as phonological similarity. In the present study, we investigated whether properties of the stimuli that are not inherent in the short-term traces of spoken words would affect performance in an immediate memory span task. We studied the lexical neighbourhood properties of the stimulus items, which are based on the structure and organization of words in the mental lexicon. The experiments manipulated lexical competition by varying the phonological neighbourhood structure (i.e., neighbourhood density and neighbourhood frequency) of the words on a test list while controlling for word frequency and intra-set phonological similarity (family size). Immediate memory span for spoken words was measured under repeated and nonrepeated sampling procedures. The results demonstrated that lexical competition only emerged when a nonrepeated sampling procedure was used and the participants had to access new words from their lexicons. These findings were not dependent on individual differences in short-term memory capacity. Additional results showed that the lexical competition effects did not interact with proactive interference. Analyses of error patterns indicated that item-type errors, but not positional errors, were influenced by the lexical attributes of the stimulus items. These results complement and extend previous findings that have argued for separate contributions of long-term knowledge and short-term memory rehearsal processes in immediate verbal serial recall tasks.

Immediate Memory for Faces: Long- or Short-Term Memory?

1973 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth K. Warrington ◽  
Angela M. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Verbal Stimuli ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Verbal Control ◽  
Unfamiliar Faces

Immediate recognition memory span and short-term forgetting for non-verbal stimuli (“unfamiliar faces”) were investigated in normal subjects and amnesic patients. Surnames were used as a verbal control. It was found that normal subjects had a reliable immediate recognition span of one for faces and that there was no decrement in performance in the retention of three faces over a 30-s interval. Amnesic subjects were impaired on both the immediate memory span task and on the short-term forgetting task. This pattern of results contrasts with those obtained using surnames on which the results were comparable to other verbal S.T.M. tasks. It is suggested that performance on these tasks of recognition memory for faces is determined by L.T.M. processes. The implications for the interpretation of S.T.M. are discussed.

Unimpaired Short-term Memory and Rhyme Judgement in Congenitally Speechless Individuals: Implications for the Notion of “Articulatory Coding”

1989 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. V. M. Bishop ◽  
J. Robson
Keyword(s):  
Word Length ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Phonological Similarity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Phonological Similarity Effect ◽  
Similarity Effect

In normal adults, concurrent articulation impairs short-term memory, abolishing both the phonological similarity effect and the word length effect when visual presentation is used. It also interferes with ability to judge whether visually presented words rhyme. It is generally assumed that concurrent articulation impairs performance because it prevents people from recoding material into an articulatory form. If this is the explanation, then individuals who are congenitally speechless (anarthric) or speech-impaired (dysarthric) should show the same impairments as normal individuals who are concurrently articulating—i.e. they should have reduced memory spans, fail to show word length and phonological similarity effects in short-term memory, and find rhyme judgement difficult. These predictions were tested in a study of 48 cerebral palsied individuals: 12 anarthric, 12 dysarthric, and 24 controls individually matched to the speech-impaired subjects. There was no impairment of memory span in speech-impaired subjects, who showed normal phonological similarity and word-length effects in short-term memory. Speech-impaired subjects did not differ from their controls in ability to tell whether names of pairs of pictures rhymed. These results challenge the notion that “articulatory coding” is implicated in short-term memory and rhyme judgement and suggests that processes such as rehearsal and phonemic segmentation involve generation of a more abstract central phonological code.

scholarly journals Phonological and Semantic Contributions to Verbal Short-Term Memory in Young Children With Developmental Stuttering

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 644-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie D. Anderson ◽  
Stacy A. Wagovich ◽  
Bryan T. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Similarity ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Semantic Category ◽  
Phonological Similarity ◽  
Absolute Difference ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the verbal short-term memory skills of children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS) in 2 experiments, focusing on the influence of phonological and semantic similarity. Method Participants were 42 CWS and 42 CWNS between the ages of 3;0 and 5;11 (years;months). In Experiment 1, children completed the phonological similarity task, in which they listened to lists of phonologically similar and dissimilar words and then repeated them when signaled to do so. In Experiment 2, children completed another forward span task, the semantic category task, which is similar to the phonological similarity task, except that it consisted of lists of semantically homogeneous and heterogeneous words. Main dependent variables were cumulative memory span, proportion of errors by type, and speech reaction time (SRT) for correct responses. Results The CWS exhibited significantly shorter memory spans for phonologically dissimilar words and were less affected by the phonological qualities of the words than the CWNS in Experiment 1, based on the findings of both between-groups and within-group analyses. In Experiment 2, although the groups did not differ in their performance in either condition, within-group analyses revealed that the CWNS benefitted from semantic similarity, whereas the CWS did not. The between-groups difference in absolute difference scores, however, did not reach significance. The CWS produced more omissions and false alarms than the CWNS in both experiments, but the 2 groups of children were otherwise comparable in SRT, although the CWS exhibited overall faster SRT than the CWNS in Experiment 2. Conclusions Verbal short-term memory is one domain-general cognitive process in which CWS display weakness relative to typically fluent peers. These weaknesses are likely due, in part, to differences in phonological and, perhaps, semantic processing of words to aid memory.

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.

scholarly journals IS DIGIT SUPERIORITY INDISPENSABLE WITH REGARD TO SHORT TERM MEMORY SPAN?

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (22) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Familiar Stimulus ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Superiority Effect ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Color Name ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Familiar Stimuli

It is known that digits have a positive effect on the performance of short term memory (STM) span and it is called the digit superiority effect. This study aims to examine the effect of familiar stimuli (digits, colors, digit names, color names, and words) on STM span. In order to measure STM capacity, a memory span task was used including the digit, word, and color span lists. 91 participants (44 female, 47 male) aged between 18-27 (M = 21,43, SD = 1.50) participated in the study that consisted of three different experiments. Results of Experiment 1 revealed that there was a significant difference between the digit name and word with regard to span size and total span. In Experiment 2 and 3, the main effect of familiar stimulus type on total span and span size was significant, and also the difference between all types of stimuli was significant (Experiment II, digit name>word=color name; Experiment III, digit>digit name>color name>color). The common result obtained from all experiments is that digits are superior with regard to STM span than other familiar stimuli types such as words, color names, colors. This study confirmed that digit superiority effect is indispensable on verbal and visual STM span. Keywords Digit superiority, short term memory, memory span

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