scholarly journals Acoustics and Resonance in Poetry: The Psychological Reality of Rhyme in Baudelaire’s “Les Chats”

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-39
Author(s):  
Reuven Tsur
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Cognitive Structures ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Psychological Reality ◽  
Visual Phenomenon

This article uses the term “psychological reality” in this sense: the extent to which the constructs of linguistic theory can be taken to have a basis in the human mind, i.e., to somehow be reflected in human cognitive structures. This article explores the human cognitive structures in which the constructs of phonetic theory may be reflected. The last section is a critique of the psychological reality of sound patterns in Baudelaire’s “Les Chats”, as discussed in three earlier articles. In physical terms, it defines “resonant” as “tending to reinforce or prolong sounds, especially by synchronous vibration”. In phonetic terms it defines “resonant” as “where intense precategorical auditory information lingers in short-term memory”. The effect of rhyme in poetry is carried by similar overtones vibrating in the rhyme fellows, resonating like similar overtones on the piano. In either case, we do not compare overtones item by item, just hear their synchronous vibration. I contrast this conception to three approaches: one that points out similar sounds of “internal rhymes”, irrespective of whether they may be contained within the span of short-term memory (i.e., whether they may have psychological relit); one that claims that syntactic complexity may cancel the psychological reality of “internal rhymes” (whereas I claim that it merely backgrounds rhyme); and one that found through an eye-tracking experiment that readers fixate longer on verse-final rhymes than on other words, assuming regressive eye-movement (I claim that rhyme is an acoustic not visual phenomenon; and that there is a tendency to indicate discontinuation by prolonging the last sounds in ordinary speech and blank verse too, as well as in music — where no rhyme is involved).

Working Memory: Models and Applications

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stoo Sepp ◽  
Steven J. Howard ◽  
Sharon Tindall-Ford ◽  
Shirley Agostinho ◽  
Fred Paas
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

In 1956, Miller first reported on a capacity limitation in the amount of information the human brain can process, which was thought to be seven plus or minus two items. The system of memory used to process information for immediate use was coined “working memory” by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram in 1960. In 1968, Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed their multistore model of memory, which theorized that the memory system was separated into short-term memory, long-term memory, and the sensory register, the latter of which temporarily holds and forwards information from sensory inputs to short term-memory for processing. Baddeley and Hitch built upon the concept of multiple stores, leading to the development of the multicomponent model of working memory in 1974, which described two stores devoted to the processing of visuospatial and auditory information, both coordinated by a central executive system. Later, Cowan’s theorizing focused on attentional factors in the effortful and effortless activation and maintenance of information in working memory. In 1988, Cowan published his model—the scope and control of attention model. In contrast, since the early 2000s Engle has investigated working memory capacity through the lens of his individual differences model, which does not seek to quantify capacity in the same way as Miller or Cowan. Instead, this model describes working memory capacity as the interplay between primary memory (working memory), the control of attention, and secondary memory (long-term memory). This affords the opportunity to focus on individual differences in working memory capacity and extend theorizing beyond storage to the manipulation of complex information. These models and advancements have made significant contributions to understandings of learning and cognition, informing educational research and practice in particular. Emerging areas of inquiry include investigating use of gestures to support working memory processing, leveraging working memory measures as a means to target instructional strategies for individual learners, and working memory training. Given that working memory is still debated, and not yet fully understood, researchers continue to investigate its nature, its role in learning and development, and its implications for educational curricula, pedagogy, and practice.

Effects of Irrelevant Sounds on Phonological Coding in Reading Comprehension and Short term Memory

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 398-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Boyle ◽  
Veronika Coltheart
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Phonological Similarity ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Phonological Coding

The effects of irrelevant sounds on reading comprehension and short-term memory were studied in two experiments. In Experiment 1, adults judged the acceptability of written sentences during irrelevent speech, accompanied and unaccompanied singing, instrumental music, and in silence. Sentences varied in syntactic complexity: Simple sentences contained a right-branching relative clause ( The applause pleased the woman that gave the speech) and syntactically complex sentences included a centre-embedded relative clause ( The hay that the farmer stored fed the hungry animals). Unacceptable sentences either sounded acceptable ( The dog chased the cat that eight up all his food) or did not ( The man praised the child that sight up his spinach). Decision accuracy was impaired by syntactic complexity but not by irrelevant sounds. Phonological coding was indicated by increased errors on unacceptable sentences that sounded correct. These error rates were unaffected by irrelevant sounds. Experiment 2 examined effects of irrelevant sounds on ordered recall of phonologically similar and dissimilar word lists. Phonological similarity impaired recall. Irrelevant speech reduced recall but did not interact with phonological similarity. The results of these experiments question assumptions about the relationship between speech input and phonological coding in reading and the short-term store.

Computer modeling, complex biological systems, and their simplifications

1980 ◽  
Vol 239 (1) ◽  
pp. R1-R6
Author(s):  
D. Garfinkel
Keyword(s):  
Biological System ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Amount Of Information ◽  
The Social ◽  
Complex Nonlinear Systems ◽  
The Mind

The amount of information defining a biological system, as specified in its genome, is vastly larger than the amount of information the human mind can handle simultaneously in its short-term memory (7 +/- 2 items at most). In such a situation the mind tends to simplify, linearize, and consider only a few of many variables that may be involved. This may be limiting when an experimenter interprets his own experiments without help from theory or modeling as is common in biology. The Michaelis-Menten model, which is very useful although not necessarily valid, and its linearizations are described as an example of this. The social processes and obligations involved in simplifying complex situations are discussed. Computer simulation provides a method for investigating complex nonlinear systems that does not require excessive simplification of the biological system being studied and whose economics are becoming steadily more favorable.

scholarly journals Formation and decay of auditory short-term memory in the macaque monkey

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (6) ◽  
pp. 2401-2415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Teichert ◽  
Kate Gurnsey
Keyword(s):  
Time Constant ◽  
Exponential Decay ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Echoic Memory ◽  
Auditory Recognition

Echoic memory (EM) is a short-lived, precategorical, and passive form of auditory short-term memory (STM). A key hallmark of EM is its rapid exponential decay with a time constant between 1 and 2 s. It is not clear whether auditory STM in the rhesus, an important model system, shares this rapid exponential decay. To resolve this shortcoming, two rhesus macaques were trained to perform a delayed frequency discrimination task. Discriminability of delayed tones was measured as a function of retention duration and the number of times the standard had been repeated before the target. Like in the human, our results show a rapid decline of discriminability with retention duration. In addition, the results suggest a gradual strengthening of discriminability with repetition number. Model-based analyses suggest the presence of two components of auditory STM: a short-lived component with a time constant on the order of 550 ms that most likely corresponds to EM and a more stable memory trace with time constants on the order of 10 s that strengthens with repetition and most likely corresponds to auditory recognition memory. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first detailed quantification of the rapid temporal dynamics of auditory short-term memory in the rhesus. Much of the auditory information in short-term memory is lost within the first couple of seconds. Repeated presentations of a tone strengthen its encoding into short-term memory. Model-based analyses suggest two distinct components: an echoic memory homolog that mediates the rapid decay and a more stable but less detail-rich component that mediates strengthening of the trace with repetition.

From Short-term Memory to Working Memory

Remembering ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 133-168
Author(s):  
Fergus I. M. Craik
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Secondary Memory ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Term Retention ◽  
Negative Recency Effect ◽  
History Of

The concept of primary memory (PM) in the levels-of-processing (LOP) framework is described and illustrated. The history of the short-term/long-term memory (STM/LTM) distinction is reviewed. Early studies of STM in the Craik laboratory are described, including work on dichotic listening, the negative recency effect, and the surprising finding of long-lasting auditory information in STM. The distinction between PM and secondary memory is reviewed, and their respective roles in short-term retention discussed. Some experiments on release from proactive interference are described. The theoretical evolution of the construct of PM to that of working memory (WM) is described. The proposal that WM is equivalent to “attention paid to information in conscious awareness” is evaluated. It is argued that PM and WM are not separate entities, but are on a descriptive continuum. Further topics include the role of secondary memory in WM, and the possibility of LOP effects in WM (explored in experiments carried out by Craik and Nathan Rose). Further topics include a consideration of WM as a set of separable abilities, hierarchical views of WM, and a final integrated view of short-term retention.

Eye movement based on short-term memory optical flow image

2002 ◽  
Vol 33 (13) ◽  
pp. 24-34
Author(s):  
Satoru Morita ◽  
Yukio Ishihara
Keyword(s):  
Optical Flow ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Flow Image
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