scholarly journals Whether and how semantic similarity impairs short-term memory: A test with a new index of semantic similarity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sho Ishiguro ◽  
Satoru Saito
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Similarity ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Visual Similarity ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Confounding Factors ◽  
Short Term ◽  
General Process ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Similarity Effect

Semantic similarity appears to have a facilitative effect on short-term memory (STM), which contrasts with the detrimental effects of phonological and visual similarity on STM. Given that STM theories generally posit detrimental effects of similarity, it is theoretically and empirically important to test the semantic similarity effect. Recently, a review study proposed that semantic similarity per se would have a detrimental effect while semantic association and additional retrieval cues, which are facilitative of STM, would work as confounding factors for the semantic similarity effect. The present study tested this view by minimizing the influence of these possible confounding factors in the experiment and by utilizing a new index of semantic similarity in the analysis. The results of the present study indicated that the semantic similarity indeed had a detrimental effect on immediate serial recall correct-in-position scores. An examination based on two other scoring methods (i.e., item correct and absolute order errors) further suggested that the locus of the detrimental effect of semantic similarity is in order memory. In addition, other semantico-lexical variables (e.g., word length, frequency, and imageability) were also analyzed. Patterns of these variables’ effects on item memory were complementary to the effect of semantic similarity on order memory. From a theoretical point of view, as the detrimental effect of semantic similarity demonstrated by the present study is comparable to phonological and visual similarity effects, this finding implies a store based on semantic information or a general process for various types of information.

Short-term Memory for Word Sequences as a Function of Acoustic, Semantic and Formal Similarity

1966 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 362-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Baddeley
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Similarity ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Auditory Presentation ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Formal Similarity ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Reliable Effect ◽  
Similar Letter ◽  
Similarity Effect

Experiment I studied short-term memory (STM) for auditorily presented five word sequences as a function of acoustic and semantic similarity. There was a large adverse effect of acoustic similarity on STM (72·5 per cent.) which was significantly greater (p < 0·001) than the small (6·3 per cent.) but reliable effect (p < 0·05) of semantic similarity. Experiment II compared STM for sequences of words which had a similar letter structure (formal similarity) but were pronounced differently, with acoustically similar but formally dissimilar words and with control sequences. There was a significant effect of acoustic but not of formal similarity. Experiment III replicated the acoustic similarity effect found in Experiment I using visual instead of auditory presentation. Again a large and significant effect of acoustic similarity was shown.

The Effect of Visual and Acoustic Similarity on Short-Term Memory for Chinese Words

1978 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wai Fong Yik
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Visual Similarity ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Basic Process ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Verbal Stimuli ◽  
Visual Encoding ◽  
Memory Experiment ◽  
Similarity Effect

Four lists of Chinese words in a 2 × 2 factorial design of visual and acoustic similarity were used in a short-term memory experiment. In addition to a strong acoustic similarity effect, a highly significant visual similarity effect was also obtained. This was particularly pronounced in the absence of acoustic similarity in the words used. The results not only confirm acoustic encoding to be a basic process in short-term recall of verbal stimuli in a language other than English but also lend support to the growing evidence of visual encoding in short-term memory as the situation demands.

Phonological and visual similarity effects in Chinese and English language users: Implications for the use of cognitive resources in short-term memory

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
RACHEL L. COLE ◽  
SUSAN J. PICKERING
Keyword(s):  
Visual Memory ◽  
English Language ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Visual Similarity ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Articulation Rate ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Chinese And English

This study investigated the encoding strategies employed by Chinese and English language users when recalling sequences of pictured objects. The working memory performance of native English participants (n = 14) and Chinese speakers of English as a second language (Chinese ESL; n = 14) was compared using serial recall of visually-presented pictures of familiar objects with three conditions: (i) phonologically and visually distinct, (ii) phonologically similar and visually distinct, and (iii) phonologically distinct and visually similar. Digit span, visual pattern span and articulation rate were also measured. Results indicated that whilst English participants were affected by the phonological but not the visual similarity of items, the performance of Chinese ESL participants was comparable across all three conditions. No significant differences in digit span, visual memory or articulation rate were found between groups. These results are discussed in the light of our understanding of the use of cognitive resources in short-term memory in users of diverse orthographies.

scholarly journals Rate of presentation and the acoustic similarity effect in short-term memory

1966 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 233-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Conrad ◽  
A. D. Baddeley ◽  
A. J. Hull
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Similarity Effect

How Does Acoustic Similarity Influence Short-Term Memory?

1968 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Baddeley
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Listening Test ◽  
Impaired Performance ◽  
Retrieval Cues ◽  
Similarity Effect ◽  
And Control

This study attempts to discover why items which are similar in sound are hard to recall in a short-term memory situation. The input, storage, and retrieval stages of the memory system are examined separately. Experiments I, II and III use a modification of the Peterson and Peterson technique to plot short-term forgetting curves for sequences of acoustically similar and control words. If acoustically similar sequences are stored less efficiently, they should be forgotten more rapidly. All three experiments show a parallel rate of forgetting for acoustically similar and control sequences, suggesting that the acoustic similarity effect does not occur during storage. Two input hypotheses are then examined, one involving a simple sensory trace, the other an overloading of a system which must both discriminate and memorize at the same time. Both predict that short-term memory for spoken word sequences should deteriorate when the level of background noise is increased. Subjects performed both a listening test and a memory test in which they attempted to recall sequences of five words. Noise impaired performance on the listening test but had no significant effect on retention, thus supporting neither of the input hypotheses. The final experiments studied two retrieval hypotheses. The first of these, Wickelgren's phonemic-associative hypotheses attributes the acoustic similarity effect to inter-item associations. It predicts that, when sequences comprising a mixture of similar and dissimilar items are recalled, errors should follow acoustically similar items. The second hypothesis attributes the effect to the overloading of retrieval cues which consequently do not discriminate adequately among available responses. It predicts maximum error rate on, not following, similar items. Two experiments were performed, one involving recall of visually presented letter sequences, the other of auditorily presented word sequences. Both showed a marked tendency for errors to coincide with acoustically similar items, as the second hypothesis would predict. It is suggested that the acoustic similarity effect occurs at retrieval and is due to the overloading of retrieval cues.

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