Digit Span, Reading Rate, and Linguistic Relativity

1986 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 739-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moshe Naveh-Benjamin ◽  
Thomas J. Ayres
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Reading Rate ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Linguistic Relativity ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Simple Surface

The relations between reading time and memory span were studied in four languages: English, Spanish, Hebrew, and Arabic. Reading rate was measured either in speeded reading of digits or in normal-pace reading of stories. Faster speeded reading and normal-pace reading rates for a given language were associated with larger memory span for speakers of that language. These relations, which were shown to be monotonically related to the number of syllables or phonemes per item, extend the within-language word-length effect reported by Baddeley, Thomson and Buchanan (1975), across languages. In addition, these findings demonstrate a form of linguistic relativity: a relation between simple surface-structural features of language (number of syllables) and cognitive processing (memory span and reading rate). It is argued that this linguistic relativity may be limited by trade-offs between surface features and common linguistic practice.

scholarly journals EXPRESS: Improving reading rate prediction with word length information: Evidence from Dutch

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110171
Author(s):  
Marc Brysbaert ◽  
Longjiao Sui ◽  
Wouter Duyck ◽  
Nicolas Dirix
Keyword(s):  
Word Length ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Reading Rate ◽  
English Word ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Non Fiction ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Best Fitting ◽  
Dutch Language ◽  
Processing Effort

Previous research in English has suggested that reading rate predictions can be improved considerably by taking average word length into account. In the present study, we investigated whether the same regularity holds for Dutch. The Dutch language is very similar to English, but words are on average half a letter longer: 5.1 letters per word (in non-fiction) instead of 4.6. We collected reading rates of 62 participants reading 12 texts with varying word lengths, and examined which change in the English equation accounts for the Dutch findings. We observed that predictions were close to the best fitting curve as soon as the average English word length was replaced by the average Dutch word length. The equation predicts that Dutch texts with an average word length of 5.1 letters will be read at a rate of 238 word per minute (wpm). Texts with an average word length of 4.5 letter will be read at 270 wpm, and texts with an average word length of 6.0 letters will be read at a rate of 202 wpm. The findings are in line with the assumption that the longer words in Dutch do not slow down silent reading relative to English and that the word length effect observed in each language is due to word processing effort and not to low-level, visual factors.

The Word-length Effect and Disyllabic Words

2000 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lovatt ◽  
S.E. Avons ◽  
Jackie Masterson
Keyword(s):  
Short Duration ◽  
Serial Recall ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Semantic Associations ◽  
Disyllabic Words

Three experiments compared immediate serial recall of disyllabic words that differed on spoken duration. Two sets of long- and short-duration words were selected, in each case maximizing duration differences but matching for frequency, familiarity, phonological similarity, and number of phonemes, and controlling for semantic associations. Serial recall measures were obtained using auditory and visual presentation and spoken and picture-pointing recall. In Experiments 1a and 1b, using the first set of items, long words were better recalled than short words. In Experiments 2a and 2b, using the second set of items, no difference was found between long and short disyllabic words. Experiment 3 confirmed the large advantage for short-duration words in the word set originally selected by Baddeley, Thomson, and Buchanan (1975). These findings suggest that there is no reliable advantage for short-duration disyllables in span tasks, and that previous accounts of a word-length effect in disyllables are based on accidental differences between list items. The failure to find an effect of word duration casts doubt on theories that propose that the capacity of memory span is determined by the duration of list items or the decay rate of phonological information in short-term memory.

Reversing the Word-Length Effect: A Comment on Caplan, Rochon, and Waters

1994 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 1047-1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Baddeley ◽  
Jackie Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Serial Recall ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Short Word ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Immediate Serial Recall ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Significant Reversal

Caplan, Rochon, and Waters (1992) report a failure to observe the poorer immediate serial recall for words of longer spoken duration obtained by Baddeley, Thomson, and Buchanan (1975) and subsequently replicated by others. Indeed, they find a significant reversal of this effect. We present evidence that the material used by Caplan et al. differs only minimally in spoken duration under speeded articulation conditions (Exp. 1 = 1.9%, Exp 2 = 2.31%), in contrast to a clear difference in the case of the original Baddeley et al. material (24.5%). It is further suggested that the reversal of the word-length effect may result from differences in acoustic similarity between the “long” and “short” word sets used by Caplan et al. We conclude that the evidence continues to indicate that longer spoken duration is associated with reduced memory span.

Articulatory and Phonological Determinants of Word Length Effects in Span Tasks

1992 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Caplan ◽  
Elizabeth Rochon ◽  
Gloria S. Waters
Keyword(s):  
Word Length ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Phonological Structure ◽  
Visual Span ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Span Tasks ◽  
Length Effects

Several previous studies have shown that memory span is greater for short words than for long words. This effect is claimed to occur even when the short and long words are matched for the number of syllables and phonemes and so to provide evidence for subvocal articulation as being one mechanism that underlies memory span (Baddeley, Thomson, & Buchanan, 1975). The three experiments reported in this paper further investigate the articulatory determinants of word length effects on span tasks. Experiment 1 replicated Baddeley et al.'s finding of an effect of word length on auditory and visual span when the stimuli consist of words that differ in terms of the number of syllables. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the effects of word length are eliminated when the words in the span task are matched for the number of syllables and phonemes but differ with respect to the duration and/or complexity of their articulatory gestures. These results indicate that it is the phonological structure of a word and not features of its actual articulation that determines the magnitude of the word length effect in span tasks.

scholarly journals Improving reading rate prediction with word length information: Evidence from Dutch

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Brysbaert ◽  
Longjiao Sui ◽  
Wouter Duyck ◽  
Nicolas Dirix
Keyword(s):  
Word Length ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Reading Rate ◽  
English Word ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Non Fiction ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Best Fitting ◽  
Dutch Language ◽  
Processing Effort

Previous research in English has suggested that reading rate predictions can be improved considerably by taking average word length into account. In the present study, we investigated whether the same regularity holds for Dutch. The Dutch language is very similar to English, but words are on average half a letter longer: 5.1 letters per word (in non-fiction) instead of 4.6. We collected reading rates of 62 participants reading 12 texts with varying word lengths, and examined which change in the English equation accounts for the Dutch findings. We observed that predictions were close to the best fitting curve as soon as the average English word length was replaced by the average Dutch word length. The equation predicts that Dutch texts with an average word length of 5.1 letters will be read at a rate of 238 word per minute (wpm). Texts with an average word length of 4.5 letter will be read at 270 wpm, and texts with an average word length of 6.0 letters will be read at a rate of 202 wpm. The findings are in line with the assumption that the longer words in Dutch do not slow down silent reading relative to English and that the word length effect observed in each language is due to word processing effort and not to low-level, visual factors.

Characteristics of Spatial Memory Span: Is there an Analogy to the Word Length Effect, Based on Movement Time?

1994 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary M. Smyth ◽  
Keith A. Scholey
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Memory ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Movement Time ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Spatial Span ◽  
Immediate Recall ◽  
Word Length Effect

In studies of verbal short-term memory it has been shown that the length of words to be remembered affects the size of memory span. This word-length effect is attributed to relationships between the rate of rehearsal of verbal material and the time it takes to speak the words being rehearsed. For spatial memory span there may also be an internal rehearsal system linked to overt responding, and if there is a strong analogy to be drawn between the verbal and spatial domains then movement time between spatial targets should predict the number of spatial locations that can be recalled. In the experiments reported here the time taken to move between spatial targets is varied by altering the size of targets and the distance between them. No difference between span performance on a nine-block spatial span task were found, either on immediate recall or on recall after an interval. When recall is of items from an array of 27, grouped in nine sets of three, with only one location in any set being presented on any trial, there is an effect of display size. This effect is consonant with the argument that movement time is related to spatial rehearsal, but other explanations are also possible. However, if recall in this task is scored over the nine sets rather than over the 27 items, then there is no difference between the displays. The results indicate that performance on the normal nine-block spatial-span task cannot be predicted by movement time.

Item Identification Time and Rehearsal Rate as Predictors of Memory Span in Children

1989 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Hitch ◽  
M. S. Halliday ◽  
J. E. Littler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Articulatory Suppression ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Developmental Differences ◽  
Memory Model ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Identification Time ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Working Memory Model

According to the working memory model of Baddeley and Hitch (1974), the sensitivity of memory span to word length arises from the time taken to rehearse items in a speech-based “articulatory loop”. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the word-length effect may result from differences in the speed of perceptual processes of item identification. Changes in the speed of rehearsal and of item identification have also been claimed to contribute to the growth of memory span that is seen in development. In order to compare these two variables directly, groups of children aged 8 and 11 were assessed on memory span for words of one, two, and three syllables; span under articulatory suppression; rehearsal rate; and item identification time. Span was found to be a linear function of rehearsal rate across differences in both word length and age. The word-length effect was unrelated to item identification time and was diminished by articulatory suppression. These results show that the word-length effect reflects rehearsal and not item identification processes. However, the results also suggest that changes in item identification time contribute to developmental differences in span when articulation is suppressed. A distinction between item identification and rehearsal effects can be readily interpreted in terms of the working memory model if it is assumed that they indicate the efficiency of different subsystems involved in span.

Phonological Similarity, Pronunciation Rate, and Memory Span

1990 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Schweickert ◽  
Lawrence Guentert ◽  
Lora Hersberger
Keyword(s):  
Word Length ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Phonological Similarity ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Rate Difference ◽  
Immediate Recall ◽  
Word Length Effect ◽  
Phonological Similarity Effect ◽  
Similarity Effect ◽  
Special Case

Memory span is smaller for (a) items taking longer to pronounce and (b) phonologically more similar items. We investigated the relation between the two effects. Chase (1977) found that phonologically similar items were pronounced more slowly than dissimilar ones in a pronunciation task. A pronunciation rate difference in immediate recall could explain the phonological similarity effect as a special case of the word-length effect. Instead, the study found that pronunciation rates were equal. In the equation s = rt, span equals pronunciation rate times trace duration, word-length affects r while phonological similarity affects t. The two effects are shown to be complementary.

scholarly journals Prevalence of Two-Syllable Digits Affecting Forward Digit Span Test Score

SAGE Open ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824401668182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars E. Egner ◽  
Stefan Sütterlin ◽  
Ricardo G. Lugo
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Test Score ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Repeated Measures Design ◽  
Digit Span Test ◽  
Span Test ◽  
Word Length Effect

The word length effect shows a connection between word length and working memory performance. Although the relationship between digit verbal length and digit span has been investigated between languages, it has not been investigated within a language. It was hypothesized that this effect can be shown as a connection between the prevalence of digits with two syllables and digit span score. The study examined the effect of amount of syllables on Norwegian digit span test scores by altering the prevalence of two-syllable digits using three conditions in a repeated measures design ( N = 54). Results suggest that an elimination of two-syllable digits in a digit span test significantly reduced forward span test score (Cohen’s d = 0.36), but had no effect on backward span scores. These results suggest that a balanced distribution of two-syllable digits in a forward digit span tests should theoretically increase the test’s comparability and reduce language-related biases thus increasing the test’s parallel-form reliability. A peak-span model is proposed to integrate the findings into previous research on the word length effect.

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