Dissociation of Verbal Working Memory System Components Using a Delayed Serial Recall Task

Four experiments tested conflicting predictions about which components of the serial-recall task are most sensitive to auditory distraction. Changing-state (Experiments 1a and 1b) and deviant distractor sounds (Experiments 2a and 2b) were presented in one of four different intervals of the serial-recall task: (1) during the first half of encoding, (2) during the second half of encoding, (3) during the first half of retention, or (4) during the second half of retention. According to the embedded-processes model, both types of distractors should interfere with the encoding and rehearsal of targets in the focus of attention. According to the duplex-mechanism account, changing-state distractors should interfere only with rehearsal, whereas deviant distractors should interfere only with encoding. Inconsistent with the latter view, changing-state and deviant distractor sounds interfered with both the encoding and the retention of the targets. Both types of auditory distraction were most pronounced during the second half of encoding when the increasing rehearsal demands had to be coordinated with the continuous updating of the rehearsal set. These findings suggest that the two types of distraction disrupt similar working memory mechanisms.

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Effect of Perceiving Computing to Be an Acquirable Skill upon a Computer-Mediated Serial Recall Task

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.100.2.354-356 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 100 (2) ◽

pp. 354-356 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. J. Brosnan

Keyword(s):

Serial Recall ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Recall Task ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory ◽

Computer Mediated ◽

Serial Recall Task ◽

Computer Based ◽

Pencil And Paper ◽

Traditional Assessments

Serial recall tasks assess the capacity of verbal short-term memory. The perception of computing as an acquirable skill rather than a fixed ability affected performance upon computer-based serial recall tasks but did not affect performance on comparable pencil-and-paper tasks. Computerized versions of traditional assessments should control for this.

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An fMRI Study of Functional Abnormalities in the Verbal Working Memory System and the Relationship to Clinical Symptoms in Chronic Schizophrenia

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhp079 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 46-60 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Ryu-ichiro Hashimoto ◽

KangUk Lee ◽

Alexander Preus ◽

Robert W. McCarley ◽

Cynthia G. Wible

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Chronic Schizophrenia ◽

Memory System ◽

Fmri Study ◽

The Relationship

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Verbal Working Memory in Children With Cochlear Implants

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2017_jslhr-h-16-0474 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 60 (11) ◽

pp. 3342-3364 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Susan Nittrouer ◽

Amanda Caldwell-Tarr ◽

Keri E. Low ◽

Joanna H. Lowenstein

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Phonological Awareness ◽

Cochlear Implants ◽

Fourth Graders ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Normal Hearing ◽

Vocabulary Knowledge ◽

Second Grade ◽

Speech In Noise ◽

Serial Recall Task

Purpose Verbal working memory in children with cochlear implants and children with normal hearing was examined. Participants Ninety-three fourth graders (47 with normal hearing, 46 with cochlear implants) participated, all of whom were in a longitudinal study and had working memory assessed 2 years earlier. Method A dual-component model of working memory was adopted, and a serial recall task measured storage and processing. Potential predictor variables were phonological awareness, vocabulary knowledge, nonverbal IQ, and several treatment variables. Potential dependent functions were literacy, expressive language, and speech-in-noise recognition. Results Children with cochlear implants showed deficits in storage and processing, similar in size to those at second grade. Predictors of verbal working memory differed across groups: Phonological awareness explained the most variance in children with normal hearing; vocabulary explained the most variance in children with cochlear implants. Treatment variables explained little of the variance. Where potentially dependent functions were concerned, verbal working memory accounted for little variance once the variance explained by other predictors was removed. Conclusions The verbal working memory deficits of children with cochlear implants arise due to signal degradation, which limits their abilities to acquire phonological awareness. That hinders their abilities to store items using a phonological code.

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Sex Differences in Working Memory

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.103.1.214-218 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 103 (1) ◽

pp. 214-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ashley Harness ◽

Lorri Jacot ◽

Shauna Scherf ◽

Adam White ◽

Jason E. Warnick

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Sex Differences ◽

Memory Task ◽

Stimulus Presentation ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Recall Task ◽

Free Recall Task ◽

Men And Women ◽

Distraction Condition ◽

Distraction Task

In two separate studies, sex differences in modal-specific elements of working memory were investigated by utilizing words and pictures as stimuli. Groups of men and women performed a free-recall task of words or pictures in which 20 items were presented concurrently and the number of correct items recalled was measured. Following stimulus presentation, half of the participants were presented a verbal-based distraction task. On the verbal working-memory task, performance of men and women was not significantly different in the no-distraction condition. However, in the distraction condition, women's recall was significantly lower than their performance in the no-distraction condition and men's performance in the distraction condition. These findings are consistent with previous research and point to sex differences in cognitive ability putatively resulting from functional neuroanatomical dissimilarities. On the visual working-memory task, women showed significantly greater recall than men. These findings are inconsistent with previous research and underscore the need for further research.

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