Short Term Retention of Sentences

1971 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Boakes ◽  
B. Lodwick
Keyword(s):  
Digit Span ◽  
Limited Capacity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Term Retention ◽  
Digit Sequence ◽  
General Store ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Digit Recall ◽  
Condition B

A series of experiments was performed on the interaction between the short-term retention of sentences and of digits. In Experiment I a digit span method was used whereby subjects were presented with a sentence followed by a sequence of digits and were required either (a) to recall the sentence first and then the digits or (b) to recall the digits followed by the sentence. Under condition (a) prior recall of the sentence reduced the percentage of digit sequences correctly recalled, while under condition (b) retention of the sentence appeared to have no effect on digit recall. This last finding was confirmed in Experiment II, where the sentences varied both in grammatical complexity and length. In Experiment III the effect of prior recall of a sentence on the recall of digits was found to depend on the type of sentence used. A correlation was observed between the size of this effect and the time taken to recall a sentence. The rate of forgetting suggested by this observation was comparable to that obtained in Experiment IV, where subjects performed an intervening task that did not involve immediate memory for sentences in the interval between the presentation and recall of a six-digit sequence. It was concluded from these results that the short-term retention of sentences and of lists of items cannot be explained in terms of some general store of limited capacity.

The Influence of Acoustic Similarity on Serial Recall of Letter Sequences

1969 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy S. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Term Retention ◽  
Backward Recall ◽  
Recall Procedure ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Long Term Retention

Acoustic similarity is known to impair short-term memory (STM) for letter sequences. The present series of experiments investigated the effects of acoustic similarity on long-term retention. In the first experiment, subjects were asked to learn one of two lists of 8 letters, the letters being either of high or low acoustic similarity. Lists were visually presented for three trials, with subjects responding after each trial. Then subjects participated in an immediate memory task for digits which lasted for 20 min. Finally, subjects tried to recall the list of letters they had learned previously. Lists having items of high acoustic similarity were more difficult to recall on the first trial, but were better recalled on the delayed retention test. In a second experiment, groups of subjects were again asked to learn one of two lists of 8 letters differing in acoustic similarity, using different orders of the letters used previously. The procedures were identical except that in two groups, a STM task for digits intervened between the presentation and test of the letters. This intervening task minimized the effects of STM and eliminated the differences in retention found previously. In a third experiment, better long-term retention for material having high acoustic similarity was also obtained when subjects used a backward recall procedure. In the last experiment 14 item lists were learned to a criterion of two correct trials, and retention was tested after each trial and at a delay of 20 min. and 23 hr. No effect of acoustic similarity was found and little retention loss occurred. These results suggest that reducing the STM component by introducing a STM control or by lengthening the list caused the effect of acoustic similarity to disappear.

The Uses of Short-Term Memory: A Case Study

1986 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Butterworth ◽  
Ruth Campbell ◽  
David Howard
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Syntactic Analysis ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Sentence Repetition

It has been widely claimed that the systems employed in tasks of immediate memory have a function in the comprehension of speech; these systems, it has been proposed, are used to hold a representation of the speech until a syntactic analysis and interpretation have been completed. Such a holding function is meant to be especially important where the sentences heard are long or complex. It has thus been predicted that subjects with impaired short-term memory performance would show deficits in comprehension of such materials. In this study, one subject with impaired phonological processing and a severely reduced digit span was tested on a range of tasks requiring the syntactic analysis, memory and comprehension of long and complex material. She was found to be unimpaired on syntactic analysis and comprehension, but not on sentence repetition. The implications for models of short-term memory are discussed.

Verbal Reasoning and Working Memory

1976 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 603-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Hitch ◽  
A. D. Baddeley
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Verification Task ◽  
Limited Capacity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Reasoning Task ◽  
Verbal Reasoning ◽  
Series Of Experiments

A series of experiments was carried out to explore the hypothesis that a central working memory (WM) system is utilized during verbal reasoning. WM was provisionally defined in terms of two major features of short-term memory (STM): its limited storage capacity and its use of speech-coded information. The reasoning task required subjects to match (verify) as rapidly as possible a sentence of varying grammatical form with a symbolic referent. Experiments I and II studied the effect of storing an additional STM load on sentence verification latencies. As many as six items could be correctly recalled with no slowing of verification speed. Experiment III used a different procedure in which the STM items had to be articulated aloud during verification. In this case six-item STM loads slowed verification speed considerably, and did so more for the more difficult sentences. Only a small non-significant slowing of verification speed was obtained when redundant messages were articulated. Experiment IV showed that latencies were also increased by introducing phonemic similarity into the verification task. Generally the results were not fully consistent with the hypothesis of WM as a limited capacity store called upon by the verification task. Instead they supported the view that the WM is a general executive system with a limited capacity for information processing. It was proposed that the articulatory system, used in rehearsal and concerned with speech-coding, is a “peripheral” of the more central WM executive and plays a relatively minor role in verbal reasoning.

Retention of order and the binding of verbal and spatial information in short-term memory: Constraints for proceduralist accounts

2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 748-748
Author(s):  
Murray T. Maybery ◽  
Fabrice B. R. Parmentier ◽  
Peter J. Clissa
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Information ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Serial Order ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Term Retention ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Long Term Retention ◽  
Memory Constraints

Consistent with Ruchkin and colleagues' proceduralist account, recent research on grouping and verbal-spatial binding in immediate memory shows continuity across short- and long-term retention, and activation of classes of information extending beyond those typically allowed in modular models. However, Ruchkin et al.'s account lacks well-specified mechanisms for the retention of serial order, binding, and the control of activation through attention.

scholarly journals Dynamics of Voluntary Verbal Memory Indicators of Children and Adolescents with Endogenous Mental Pathology During Treatment

Psychiatry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-73
Author(s):  
A. I. Khromov ◽  
N. V. Zvereva ◽  
A. A. Sergienko ◽  
S. E. Strogova
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Treatment Effectiveness ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Mental Pathology

Background: to assess the effectiveness of therapeutic, psychotherapeutic, and psycho-correctional procedures the study of cognitive functions (memory) is necessary. There are few studies of treatment effectiveness through analysis of the dynamics of voluntary memory indicators in children and adolescents with schizophrenia.Purpose: to analyze the dynamics of voluntary verbal memory indicators in children and adolescents with endogenous mental pathology during treatment in the short-term and medium-term.Subjects and methods: clinical groups included 134 patients 7–17 years old with diagnoses of childhood type schizophrenia (F20.8xx3), schizotypal personality disorder (F21), undifferentiated schizophrenia (F20.3). The healthy control group for the assessment of short-term and medium-term dynamics included 64 pupils of secondary schools in Moscow, aged 10–16 years.Methods: Learning of 10 Words, Paired Associations, the Digit Span subtest from WISC. All subjects were examined twice.Results: therapeutic dynamics shows that the deficit level of immediate memorization volume and memorization effectiveness did not change in 55% and 65% of patients, respectively. Improvement (approaching the norm) of immediate memorization and memorization effectiveness was demonstrated by 26% and 21% of patients, respectively. Statistically significant changes in the state of associative memory during therapy were noted in the groups F21 and F20.3. The effect of specific drugs (neuroleptics,nootropics, antidepressants) on memory in a separate sample of 36 patients showed a tendency for the positive effect of nootropics and antidepressants. In the medium-term (age-related) dynamics, patients in F21 and F20.3 groups demonstrated relative stability of memory indicators; a tendency towards positive dynamics was found in the F21 group.Conclusions: a tendency to multidirectional therapeutic dynamics of immediate memory indices was revealed depending on the diagnosis, variability of indices during re-examination in connection with treatment with individual drugs. The dynamics of memory indices in the mediumterm reveals the differences associated with the diagnosis — a minimum of positive age-related shifts in the F20.8xx3 group and variants of dynamics that are close to normal in the F21 and F20.3 groups. The “learning effect” found in the developmental norm is not so noticeable or not noticeable at all in clinical groups.

The Influence of the Quantity of Reward On the Learning Performance in Honeybees

Behaviour ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 41 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 27-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Erber ◽  
Randolf Menzel
Keyword(s):  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Learning Curves ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Retention ◽  
Y Maze ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Long Term Retention

Abstract(i) In a first series of experiments dark-adapted honeybees (Apis mellifera carnica) were trained to spectral colours (444 nm, 590 nm) in an Y-maze. The learning curves for different quantities of the reward (50 μl, 25 μl, I0 μl, 5 μl sucrose solution) were registered. The learning process is independent of the quantity of the reward. (2) In a second series of experiments freely flying bees were trained on horizontal ground-glass discs under daylight conditions. Broad-banded spectral light was projected onto the discs from below. The duration of the reward was kept constant (30 sec). By varying the influx velocity of the sucrose solution (25 μl/30 sec, 9 μl/30 sec, 2.5 μl/30 sec) the bees were offered different quantities of the reward. It can be shown that learning progress is better with the smallest quantity than with the greater ones. (3) In the discussion the learning system is described as being independent of a mechanism controlling the motivation. The experiments enable us more exactly to characterize the bee's learning system with its short-term and long-term retention.

Effects of Task Complexity and Practice on Performance during Acute Alcohol Intoxication

1971 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 307-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph E. Tarter ◽  
Ben M. Jones ◽  
C. Dene Simpson ◽  
Arthur Vega
Keyword(s):  
Motor Coordination ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Alcohol Intoxication ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Motor Speed ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Temporal Acuity ◽  
Immediate Memory ◽  
Flicker Fusion

A battery of psychological tests was administered to 26 medical students in a counterbalanced cross-over design to determine the effects of an acute dose of alcohol on perceptual, perceptual-motor and cognitive capacities. The tests included: temporal acuity (critical flicker fusion threshold), perceptual speed and attention (Stroop), perceptual-motor coordination (Purdue Pegboard), perceptual-motor speed (simple and choice reaction time), immediate memory (WAIS Digit Span), short-term memory (dichotic stimulation), and intellectual and conceptual capacity (Shipley Institute of Living Scale). Three general conclusions were drawn: (1) alcohol exerted a deteriorating effect on performance on all tasks except the Stroop, (2) retesting 48 hr. later showed that practice or familiarity with the task mitigated the effects of the alcohol, and (3) contrary to the hypothesis advanced by Jellineck and McFarland (1940), no systematic relationship was observed between task complexity and degree of impairment from the alcohol.

scholarly journals Regular and Irregular Inflection in Different Groups of Bilingual Children and the Role of Verbal Short-Term and Verbal Working Memory

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Elma Blom ◽  
Evelyn Bosma ◽  
Wilbert Heeringa
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Linguistic Distance

Bilingual children often experience difficulties with inflectional morphology. The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate how regularity of inflection in combination with verbal short-term and working memory (VSTM, VWM) influences bilingual children’s performance. Data from 231 typically developing five- to eight-year-old children were analyzed: Dutch monolingual children (N = 45), Frisian-Dutch bilingual children (N = 106), Turkish-Dutch bilingual children (N = 31), Tarifit-Dutch bilingual children (N = 38) and Arabic-Dutch bilingual children (N = 11). Inflection was measured with an expressive morphology task. VSTM and VWM were measured with a Forward and Backward Digit Span task, respectively. The results showed that, overall, children performed more accurately at regular than irregular forms, with the smallest gap between regulars and irregulars for monolinguals. Furthermore, this gap was smaller for older children and children who scored better on a non-verbal intelligence measure. In bilingual children, higher accuracy at using (irregular) inflection was predicted by a smaller cross-linguistic distance, a larger amount of Dutch at home, and a higher level of parental education. Finally, children with better VSTM, but not VWM, were more accurate at using regular and irregular inflection.

Captions and reduced forms instruction: The impact on EFL students’ listening comprehension

ReCALL ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Chi Yang ◽  
Peichin Chang
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Limited Capacity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Reduced Forms

AbstractFor many EFL learners, listening poses a grave challenge. The difficulty in segmenting a stream of speech and limited capacity in short-term memory are common weaknesses for language learners. Specifically, reduced forms, which frequently appear in authentic informal conversations, compound the challenges in listening comprehension. Numerous interventions have been implemented to assist EFL language learners, and of these, the application of captions has been found highly effective in promoting learning. Few studies have examined how different modes of captions may enhance listening comprehension. This study proposes three modes of captions: full, keyword-only, and annotated keyword captions and investigates their contribution to the learning of reduced forms and overall listening comprehension. Forty-four EFL university students participated in the study and were randomly assigned to one of the three groups. The results revealed that all three groups exhibited improvement on the pre-test while the annotated keyword caption group exhibited the best performance with the highest mean score. Comparing performances between groups, the annotated keyword caption group also emulated both the full caption and the keyword-only caption groups, particularly in the ability to recognize reduced forms. The study sheds light on the potential of annotated keyword captions in enhancing reduced forms learning and overall listening comprehension.

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