Coding categorical and coordinate spatial relations in visual–spatial short-term memory

2009 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 2372-2387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Dent
1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 178-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Postma ◽  
Edward H.F. De Haan

Three experiments are reported on short-term memory for object location. Stimulus displays containing different numbers and types of objects were presented for 30 seconds, after which subjects were required to relocate the various objects within the display, merely to reconstruct positions, or to assign objects correctly to an equal number of premarked positions. In all experiments half the trials were performed with concurrent articulatory suppression. The results support the hypothesis that two processes can be distinguished: one that underlies the construction of a positional map and one that assigns objects to positions. These processes are differentially affected by object numbers and articulatory suppression. This hypothesis is discussed in terms of Baddeley's (1986) working memory model and Kosslyn's (1987) distinction between “categorical” and “coordinate” spatial relations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 4162-4178
Author(s):  
Emily Jackson ◽  
Suze Leitão ◽  
Mary Claessen ◽  
Mark Boyes

Purpose Previous research into the working, declarative, and procedural memory systems in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) has yielded inconsistent results. The purpose of this research was to profile these memory systems in children with DLD and their typically developing peers. Method One hundred four 5- to 8-year-old children participated in the study. Fifty had DLD, and 54 were typically developing. Aspects of the working memory system (verbal short-term memory, verbal working memory, and visual–spatial short-term memory) were assessed using a nonword repetition test and subtests from the Working Memory Test Battery for Children. Verbal and visual–spatial declarative memory were measured using the Children's Memory Scale, and an audiovisual serial reaction time task was used to evaluate procedural memory. Results The children with DLD demonstrated significant impairments in verbal short-term and working memory, visual–spatial short-term memory, verbal declarative memory, and procedural memory. However, verbal declarative memory and procedural memory were no longer impaired after controlling for working memory and nonverbal IQ. Declarative memory for visual–spatial information was unimpaired. Conclusions These findings indicate that children with DLD have deficits in the working memory system. While verbal declarative memory and procedural memory also appear to be impaired, these deficits could largely be accounted for by working memory skills. The results have implications for our understanding of the cognitive processes underlying language impairment in the DLD population; however, further investigation of the relationships between the memory systems is required using tasks that measure learning over long-term intervals. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13250180


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-131
Author(s):  
A. Toornstra ◽  
P. P. M. Hurks ◽  
W. Van der Elst ◽  
G. Kok ◽  
L. M. G. Curfs

Abstract The study aims to establish demographically corrected norms for three computerized tasks measuring different aspects of visual short-term memory (VSTM) in Ukrainian schoolchildren. These tasks measure respectively visual STM (the Pattern Recognition Memory (PRM) test), spatial STM (the Spatial Span (SSP) task), and visual spatial STM (the Paired Associates Learning (PAL) task). All tasks were administered to n = 186 children aged 5.10 years to 14.5 years old to evaluate the influence of demographic variables. Relevant demographic factors that influence task scores (VSTM), i.e., age and level of parental education, are identified and in keeping with the current literature. No sex differences were found. Based on these data, regression-based, demographically corrected norms were established per task. This approach to constructing norms differs from how (worldwide) PRM, SSP, and/or PAL norms have been constructed traditionally. In the latter approach, norms are calculated for each age group separately and without correcting for level of parental education, whereas in the regression-based normative method, multiple regression models are used to compute the expected test scores of an individual (rather than the subgroup means that are used in the traditional approach). Consequently, the regression-based norms for the PRM, SSP, and PAL presented in this paper are individualized, taking into account the unique characteristics of the individual that is tested on these tasks. Last, the confidence intervals of the PRM scores of the Ukrainian schoolchildren and the western norm group largely overlapped, except for the youngest age group, which adds to the literature about cultural effects on cognition.


1972 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Kershner

31 trainable mentally retarded children were divided into lateralized and mixed-dominant groups and were then tested for their ability to perform a spatial task requiring short-term memory and reversible visual imagery. Retarded children with inconsistent and crossed laterality patterns were better in visual-spatial ability than retarded children whose sided preferences were unilateral in eye, hand, ear and foot modalities. The results support the developmental importance of bilateral sensory and motor functioning.


2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek H Berg

An age-matched/achievement-matched design was utilized to examine the cognitive functioning of children with severe arithmetic difficulties. A battery of cognitive tasks was administered to three groups of elementary aged children: 20 children with severe arithmetic difficulties (SAD), 20 children matched in age (CAM) to the children with SAD, and 20 younger children matched in arithmetic achievement (AAM) to the children with SAD. Measures were related to processing speed, short-term memory, verbal working memory, and visual-spatial working memory. Results suggest three important fi ndings. First, in contrast to previous studies, children with SAD did not show a processing speed impairment. Second, children with SAD were impaired in short-term memory for numerical and non-numerical information. And third, while children with SAD displayed working memory impairments, these impairments were not uniform within verbal working memory or visualspatial working memory. Taken together, findings indicate that previous studies that have reported differences between children with SAD and their normally achieving peers might have overestimated or mischaracterized the differential cognitive functioning of these groups. Results are discussed within a framework that views the cognitive functioning impairments of children with SAD as representative of a developmental lag rather than a cognitive deficit.


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