Working memory capacity across L2 speech proficiency levels

This study investigates whether working memory capacity (WMC) varies across languages and in the course of L2 speech proficiency levels. Following suggestions in Finardi and Weissheimer (2009) and Prebianca (2010), who found that WMC varied as a function of L2 speech proficiency, the present study assessed three proficiency levels (elementary, intermediate and advanced) and two languages (L1-Portuguese and L2-English). Two WM tests were used, one in the L1 and another in the L2, both in the speaking mode. Sixty adult learners of English as a foreign language participated in the study: 19 elementary, 19 intermediate and 22 advanced learners. Results of Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests corroborate Finardi and Weissheimer (2009) and Prebianca (2010) suggesting that WMC measured with a speaking span test in L2 seems to conflate the relationship between speech proficiency levels and WMC.

Download Full-text

Differences in Attainment and Performance in a Foreign Language: The Role of Working Memory Capacity

International Journal of English Studies ◽

10.6018/ijes/2010/1/113961 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 19 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Roger Gilabert ◽

Carmen Muñoz

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Structural Complexity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Advanced Learners ◽

Oral Production ◽

Lexical Complexity ◽

And Performance

The goal of this study is to investigate the role of working memory capacity in L2 attainment and performance. The study uses an L1 reading span task to measure working memory of a group of 59 high- intermediate/advanced learners of English, and a film retelling task to measure their oral production. The analysis first showed a moderate to high correlation between proficiency measured by a general proficiency test and learners’ fluency, lexical complexity, and accuracy but not structural complexity on the retelling task. Secondly, no correlation was found between overall proficiency and working memory. Thirdly, a weak correlation was found between fluency and lexical complexity, and working memory. When the group was split into top and bottom levels of proficiency, moderate correlations were found between lexical complexity and working memory only for the high-proficiency group. The results are discussed in the light of previous research.

Download Full-text

The visual arrays task…visual storage capacity or attention control?

10.31234/osf.io/u92cm ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jessie Martin ◽

Jason S. Tsukahara ◽

Christopher Draheim ◽

Zach Shipstead ◽

Cody Mashburn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Storage Capacity ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Attention Control ◽

Data Sets ◽

Independent Data ◽

Visual Storage ◽

Design Selection ◽

The Relationship

**The uploaded manuscript is still in preparation** In this study, we tested the relationship between visual arrays tasks and working memory capacity and attention control. Specifically, we tested whether task design (selection or non-selection demands) impacted the relationship between visual arrays measures and constructs of working memory capacity and attention control. Using analyses from 4 independent data sets we showed that the degree to which visual arrays measures rely on selection influences the degree to which they reflect domain-general attention control.

Download Full-text

Individual differences in working memory capacity are unrelated to the magnitudes of retrocue benefits

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-86515-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Chaoxiong Ye ◽

Qianru Xu ◽

Xinyang Liu ◽

Piia Astikainen ◽

Yongjie Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Significant Positive Correlation ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Capacity Measurement ◽

Object Based ◽

Feature Dimension ◽

The Relationship ◽

Internal Attention

AbstractPrevious studies have associated visual working memory (VWM) capacity with the use of internal attention. Retrocues, which direct internal attention to a particular object or feature dimension, can improve VWM performance (i.e., retrocue benefit, RCB). However, so far, no study has investigated the relationship between VWM capacity and the magnitudes of RCBs obtained from object-based and dimension-based retrocues. The present study explored individual differences in the magnitudes of object- and dimension-based RCBs and their relationships with VWM capacity. Participants completed a VWM capacity measurement, an object-based cue task, and a dimension-based cue task. We confirmed that both object- and dimension-based retrocues could improve VWM performance. We also found a significant positive correlation between the magnitudes of object- and dimension-based RCB indexes, suggesting a partly overlapping mechanism between the use of object- and dimension-based retrocues. However, our results provided no evidence for a correlation between VWM capacity and the magnitudes of the object- or dimension-based RCBs. Although inadequate attention control is usually assumed to be associated with VWM capacity, the results suggest that the internal attention mechanism for using retrocues in VWM retention is independent of VWM capacity.

Download Full-text

Working memory as a factor mediating explicit and implicit knowledge of English grammar

Annual Review of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1017/s0267190521000052 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Mirosław Pawlak ◽

Adriana Biedroń

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Target Language ◽

Short Term ◽

Passive Voice ◽

English Grammar ◽

Explicit And Implicit Knowledge ◽

The Relationship

Abstract This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated the relationship between phonological short-term memory (PSTM), working memory capacity (WMC), and the level of mastery of L2 grammar. Grammatical mastery was operationalized as the ability to produce and comprehend English passive voice with reference to explicit and implicit (or highly automatized) knowledge. Correlational analysis showed that PSTM was related to implicit productive knowledge while WMC was linked to explicit productive knowledge. However, regression analysis showed that those relationships were weak and mediated by overall mastery of target language grammar, operationalized as final grades in a grammar course.

Download Full-text

The relationship between working memory capacity and broad measures of cognitive ability in healthy adults and people with schizophrenia.

Neuropsychology ◽

10.1037/a0032060 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 220-229 ◽

Cited By ~ 86

Author(s):

Melissa K. Johnson ◽

Robert P. McMahon ◽

Benjamin M. Robinson ◽

Alexander N. Harvey ◽

Britta Hahn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Ability ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Healthy Adults ◽

The Relationship

Download Full-text

A study on the relationship between working memory capacity, L2 vocabulary size, and L2 listening proficiency

İlköğretim Online ◽

10.17051/ilkonline.2021.03.104 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Vocabulary Size ◽

Listening Proficiency ◽

L2 Listening ◽

L2 Listening Proficiency ◽

L2 Vocabulary ◽

The Relationship

Download Full-text

Understanding the Relationship Between Rationality and Intelligence: A Latent-Variable Approach

10.31234/osf.io/ns9ky ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alexander P. Burgoyne ◽

Cody Mashburn ◽

Jason S. Tsukahara ◽

Zach Hambrick ◽

Randall W Engle

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Latent Variable ◽

Fluid Intelligence ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Attention Control ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

General Intelligence ◽

Variable Approach ◽

The Relationship

A hallmark of intelligent behavior is rationality—the disposition and ability to think analytically to make decisions that maximize expected utility or follow the laws of probability, and therefore align with normative principles of decision making. However, the question remains as to whether rationality and intelligence are empirically distinct, as does the question of what cognitive mechanisms underlie individual differences in rationality. In a large sample of participants (N = 331), we used latent variable analyses to assess the relationship between rationality and intelligence. The results indicated that there was a common ability underpinning performance on some, but not all, rationality tests. Latent factors representing rationality and general intelligence were strongly correlated (r = .54), but their correlation fell well short of unity. Indeed, after accounting for variance in performance attributable to general intelligence, rationality measures still cohered on a latent factor. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that rationality correlated significantly with fluid intelligence (r = .56), working memory capacity (r = .44), and attention control (r = .49). Structural equation modeling revealed that attention control fully accounted for the relationship between working memory capacity and rationality, and partially accounted for the relationship between fluid intelligence and rationality. Results are interpreted in light of the executive attention framework, which holds that attention control supports information maintenance and disengagement in service of complex cognition. We conclude by speculating about factors rationality tests may tap that other cognitive ability tests miss, and outline directions for further research.

Download Full-text

The Relationship between Executive Functions and Language Production in 5–6-Year-Old Children: Insights from Working Memory and Storytelling

Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.3390/bs10020052 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 52

Author(s):

Aleksander Veraksa ◽

Daria Bukhalenkova ◽

Natalia Kartushina ◽

Ekaterina Oshchepkova

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Language Production ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Narrative Structure ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Story Retelling ◽

Grammatical Accuracy ◽

The Relationship ◽

Global Indicators

This study examined the relationship between working memory capacity and narrative abilities in 5–6-year-old children. 269 children were assessed on their visual and verbal working memory and performed in a story retelling and a story creation (based on a single picture and on a series of pictures) tasks. The stories were evaluated on their macrostructure and microstructure. The results revealed a significant relationship between both components (verbal and visual) of working memory and the global indicators of a story’s macrostructure—such as semantic completeness, semantic adequacy, programming and narrative structure—and with the indicators of a story’s microstructure, such as grammatical accuracy and number of syntagmas. Yet, this relationship was systematically stronger for verbal working memory, as compared to visual working memory, suggesting that a well-developed verbal working memory leads to lexically and grammatically more accurate language production in preschool children.

Download Full-text