Memory for Related and Unrelated Words: Further Evidence on the Influence of Semantic Factors in Immediate Serial Recall

1995 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 384-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Poirier ◽  
Jean Saint-Aubin
Keyword(s):  
Serial Recall ◽  
Articulatory Suppression ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Semantic Category ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Homogeneous Condition ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Immediate Serial Recall

A number of recent studies have explored the role of long-term memory factors in memory span tasks. The effects of lexicality, frequency, imageability, and word class have been investigated. The work reported in this paper examined the effect of semantic organization on the recall of short lists of words. Specifically, the influence of semantic category on immediate serial recall and the interaction of this variable with articulatory suppression was investigated in three experiments. Experiment 1 compared immediate serial recall performance when lists comprising items from the same semantic category were used (homogeneous condition) with a situation where lists held items from different semantic categories. Experiment 2 examined the same conditions with and without articulatory suppression during item presentation, and Experiment 3 reproduced these conditions with suppression occurring throughout presentation and recall. Results of all three experiments showed a clear advantage for the homogeneous condition. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the homogeneous category advantage did not depend on the articulatory loop. Furthermore, error analysis indicated that this effect was mainly attributable to better item information recall for the homogeneous condition. These results are interpreted as reflecting a long-term memory contribution to the recall stage of immediate serial recall tasks.

scholarly journals SKOOL versus ZOOL: Effects of orthographic and phonological long-term memory on nonword immediate serial recall

Memory ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 487-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy J. Tree ◽  
Chris Longmore ◽  
Steve Majerus ◽  
Nicky Evans
Keyword(s):  
Serial Recall ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Immediate Serial Recall

Working memory span for pictures, names, and touched objects

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Alexandra M. Fernandes ◽  
Pedro B. Albuquerque
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Serial Recall ◽  
Articulatory Suppression ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Presentation Modality ◽  
Immediate Serial Recall ◽  
Computer Screen ◽  
Real Objects ◽  
The Impact

Through an immediate serial recall task, working memory for objects’ pictures, objects’ names and touched objects was evaluated with and without a simultaneous articulatory suppression task. Each group performed the task in one modality: seeing object pictures presented on a computer screen, reading out loud two-syllabic object names presented in a computer screen, or touching real objects without sight. The task was performed twice by the participants, once with articulatory suppression and once without articulatory suppression. The objects were presented sequentially for three seconds each, starting with lists of two items and progressively increasing the number of items by one, according to the participant’s performance, until a maximum of 10 items. The results showed that span values were similar in the three modalities, with an average of five items being recalled without articulatory suppression and about four items being recalled with articulatory suppression. This study suggests similar performance in immediate serial recall tasks regardless of presentation modality. Articulatory suppression presented an equivalent effect in all groups, impairing recall performance in average by one item. Results are discussed attending to the verbal nature of the task, which implies the recall of the object’s name, and the impact of articulatory suppression in common object’s encoding.

scholarly journals Working memory recruits long-term memory when it is beneficial: Evidence from the Hebb Effect

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eda Mizrak ◽  
Klaus Oberauer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Serial Recall ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
New Order ◽  
Mediated Learning ◽  
Term Memory

When encoding task-relevant information in working memory (WM), we can use prior knowledge to facilitate task performance. For instance, when memorizing a phone number, we can benefit from recognizing some parts as known chunks (e.g., 911) and focus on memorizing the novel parts. Prior knowledge from long-term memory (LTM), however, can also proactively interfere with WM contents. Here, we show that WM selectively recruits information from LTM only when it is helpful, not when it would interfere. We used variants of the Hebb paradigm in which WM is tested through immediate serial recall of lists. Some lists were repeated frequently across trials, so they were acquired in LTM, as reflected in increasing serial-recall performance across repetitions. We compared interference conditions in which that LTM knowledge could interfere with holding another list in WM to a neutral condition in which that knowledge could be neither beneficial nor harmful. In Experiments 1-3, lists in the interference conditions shared their items with the learned lists but not their order. We observed no proactive interference. In Experiments 4 and 5, the interference lists’ first three items overlapped exactly with the learned lists, and only the remaining items had a new order This made LTM knowledge partially beneficial and partially harmful. Participants could use LTM flexibly to improve performance for the first part of the list without suffering interference on the second half. LTM-mediated learning of the first part even boosted memory for the unknown second part. We conclude that there is a flexible gate controlling the flow of information from LTM and WM so that LTM knowledge is recruited only when helpful.

Long-term memory span

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Nairne ◽  
Ian Neath
Keyword(s):  
Memory Span ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Single Experiment ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Capacity Limits ◽  
Magical Number ◽  
Capacity Limit

Cowan assumes that chunk-based capacity limits are synonymous with the essence of a “specialized STM mechanism.” In a single experiment, we measured the capacity, or span, of long-term memory and found that it, too, corresponds roughly to the magical number 4. The results imply that a chunk-based capacity limit is not a signature characteristic of remembering over the short-term.

scholarly journals Syllable frequency effects on phonological short-term memory tasks

2002 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
LISA M. NIMMO ◽  
STEVEN ROODENRYS
Keyword(s):  
Serial Recall ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Recall Accuracy ◽  
Syllable Frequency ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Frequency Effects

Recent evidence suggests that phonological short-term memory (STM) tasks are influenced by both lexical and sublexical factors inherent in the selection and construction of the stimuli to be recalled. This study examined whether long-term memory (LTM) influences STM at a sublexical level by investigating whether the frequency with which one-syllable nonwords occur in polysyllabic words influences recall accuracy on two phonological STM tasks, nonword repetition and serial recall. The results showed that recall accuracy increases when the stimuli to be recalled consist of one-syllable nonwords that occur often in polysyllabic English words. This result is consistent with the notion that LTM facilitates phonological STM at both a lexical and sublexical level. Implications for models of verbal STM are discussed.

scholarly journals Freeing capacity in WM through the use of LTM representations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Maria Bartsch ◽  
Peter Shepherdson
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Interference Effects ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Low Performance

Previous research indicates that long-term memory (LTM) may contribute to performance in working memory (WM) tasks. Across three experiments we investigated the extent to which active maintenance in WM can be replaced by relying on information stored in episodic LTM, thereby freeing capacity for additional information in WM. First, participants encoded word pairs into LTM, and then completed a WM task, also involving word pairs. Crucially, the pairs presented in each WM trial comprised varying numbers of new pairs and the previously learned LTM pairs. Experiment 1 showed that recall performance in the WM task was unaffected when memory set size increased through the addition of LTM pairs, but that it deteriorated when set size increased through adding new pairs. In Experiment 2 we investigated the robustness of this effect, orthogonally manipulating the number of new and LTM pairs used in the WM task. When WM load was low, performance declined with the addition of LTM pairs, but remained superior to performance with the matched set size comprising only new pairs. By contrast, when WM load was higher, adding LTM pairs did not affect performance. In Experiment 3 we found that the benefit of LTM representations arises from retrieving these during the WM test, leading them to suffer from typical interference effects. We conclude that individuals can outsource workload to LTM to optimise performance, and that the WM system negotiates the exchange of information between WM and LTM depending on the current memory load.

How Does Semantic Knowledge Impact Working Memory Maintenance? Computational and Behavioral Investigations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Kowialiewski ◽  
Sophie Portrat ◽  
Benoit Lemaire
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Semantic Relatedness ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Immediate Serial Recall ◽  
Serial Recall Task ◽  
Memory Knowledge ◽  
Tree Branch

It is now firmly established that long-term memory knowledge, such as semantic knowledge, supports the temporary maintenance of verbal information in Working Memory (WM). This support from semantic knowledge is well-explained by models assuming that verbal items are directly activated in long-term memory, and that this activation provides the representational basis for WM maintenance. However, the exact mechanisms underlying semantic influence on WM performance remain poorly understood. We manipulated the presence of between-item semantic relatedness in an immediate serial recall task, by mixing triplets composed of semantically related and unrelated items (e.g. leaf – tree – branch – wall – beer – dog; hand – father – truck – cloud – sky – rain). Compared to unrelated items, related items were better recalled, as had been classically observed. Critically, semantic relatedness also impacted WM maintenance in a complex manner, as observed by the presence of proactive benefit effects on subsequent unrelated items, and the absence of retroactive effects. The complexity of these interactions is well-captured by TBRS*-S, a decay-based computational architecture in which the activation occurring in long-term memory is described. The present study suggests that semantic knowledge can be used to free up WM resources that can be reallocated for maintenance purposes, and supports models postulating that long-term memory knowledge constrains WM maintenance processes.

Patterns of verbal learning and memory in traumatic brain injury

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 574-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
GLENN CURTISS ◽  
RODNEY D. VANDERPLOEG ◽  
JAN SPENCER ◽  
ANDRES M. SALAZAR
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Central Executive ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Memory Processes

CVLT and WMS–R Digit Span variables were used to calculate indexes of seven specific short- and long-term memory processes: working memory span and central executive functions, and long-term memory encoding, consolidation, retention, retrieval, control abilities. Scores on these indexes were then cluster-analyzed to determine whether subtypes of memory performance exist that correspond to deficits in these theoretical memory constructs. Parallel analyses were conducted with two large samples (N = 150 and N = 151) of individuals who had sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Findings showed that TBI results in subgroups of memory disorders with specific deficits in consolidation, retention, and retrieval processes. Control problems (keeping track of list versus non-list items) only appeared in conjunction with retrieval deficits. Working memory span and central executive functioning (i.e., the ability to manipulate information in working memory) do not appear to be deficits characteristic of TBI as no such clusters emerged in the analyses. By using specific indexes of memory processes, and in contrast to previous studies, patterns of memory dysfunction were found that correspond to deficits in theoretically meaningful memory constructs. (JINS, 2001, 7, 574–585.)

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