Effects of Working Memory Capacity and Content Familiarity on Literal and Inferential Comprehension in L2 Reading

2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cem Alptekin ◽  
Gülcan Erçetin
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Content Familiarity ◽  
Inferential Comprehension

scholarly journals Working memory capacity, content familiarity, and university EFL students’ reading comprehension

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dwi Fita Heriyawati ◽  
Ali Saukah ◽  
Utami Widiati
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Private University ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Moderator Variable ◽  
Content Familiarity ◽  
Main Independent Variable ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Senior Students

This study explores the effect of working memory capacity (WMC) and content familiarity (CF) on EFL reading comprehension. Seventy senior students from a private university in Malang, Indonesia, were involved in the study, having been selected based on their English proficiency of at least pre-advanced level. These students were required to complete a reading span test for the WMC and a multiple-choice reading test based on CF. The findings of this study show that there is no interaction effect between WMC as the main independent variable and CF as the moderator variable; this implies that the students with higher WMC comprehend texts better than those with lower WMC, regardless of whether they are familiar or not with the texts.

Inserted adjuncts, working memory capacity, and L2 reading

System ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 69-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almitra Medina ◽  
Aimee A. Callender ◽  
Cindy Brantmeier ◽  
Lyndsie Schultz
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
L2 Reading

scholarly journals Question Formation and Working Memory Capacity on L2 Reading Comprehension

Signo ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (77) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Luciane Baretta ◽  
Maria Da Glória Guará Tavares
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Question Formation ◽  
L2 Reading Comprehension

A avaliação da compreensão leitora é um tema que tem motivado um número considerável de pesquisas. Muitos estudos mostram que as variáveis relativas às características dos leitores, tipos textuais, tarefa subsequente à compreensão e a língua do texto influenciam a maneira que os leitores abordam o material sendo lido. Neste artigo, é investigada a relação entre a habilidade do leitor de formular perguntas sobre um texto e a sua capacidade de memória de trabalho. Onze estudantes de pós-graduação em inglês como língua estrangeira/segunda língua/língua adicional realizaram um Teste de Alcance em Leitura e leram dois textos expositivos para formular uma pergunta ao final de cada parágrafo de cada um dos textos. Os resultados indicaram que, apesar de não haver uma correlação estatisticamente significativa entre as perguntas do tipo textual implícito e implícito no script, esses tipos de perguntas foram mais frequentemente formulados pelos participantes com maior capacidade de memória de trabalho, sugerindo que eles geraram maior número de inferências ao ler os textos.

L2 Working Memory Capacity and L2 Reading Skill

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Harrington ◽  
Mark Sawyer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
First Language ◽  
Reading Skill ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Span Test ◽  
Reading Measures ◽  
Processing And Storage

Working memory capacity refers to the ability to store and process information simultaneously in real time and has been shown to correlate highly with first language (L1) reading skill. This study examines the sensitivity of second language (L2) working memory capacity to differences in reading skill among advanced L2 learners. The index of working memory capacity used was the reading span test (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980). Subjects with larger working memory capacities scored higher on measures of reading skill, in contrast with the lack of strong correlations between measures of passive short-term storage (memory for strings of random words or digits) and the same reading measures. This result is consistent with an interpretation of the reading span test as an index of working memory capacity, in which capacity is defined functionally in terms of a trade-off between active processing and storage. Issues involved in investigating working memory capacity are discussed and the role of capacity limitations in models of L2 comprehension is considered.

Differential Effects of Executive Processes on Working Memory

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-249
Author(s):  
Xuezhu Ren ◽  
Tengfei Wang ◽  
Karl Schweizer ◽  
Jing Guo
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Executive Processes ◽  
Differential Effects ◽  
Prepotent Response ◽  
Two Measures

Abstract. Although attention control accounts for a unique portion of the variance in working memory capacity (WMC), the way in which attention control contributes to WMC has not been thoroughly specified. The current work focused on fractionating attention control into distinctly different executive processes and examined to what extent key processes of attention control including updating, shifting, and prepotent response inhibition were related to WMC and whether these relations were different. A number of 216 university students completed experimental tasks of attention control and two measures of WMC. Latent variable analyses were employed for separating and modeling each process and their effects on WMC. The results showed that both the accuracy of updating and shifting were substantially related to WMC while the link from the accuracy of inhibition to WMC was insignificant; on the other hand, only the speed of shifting had a moderate effect on WMC while neither the speed of updating nor the speed of inhibition showed significant effect on WMC. The results suggest that these key processes of attention control exhibit differential effects on individual differences in WMC. The approach that combined experimental manipulations and statistical modeling constitutes a promising way of investigating cognitive processes.

Working Memory Capacity and a Notorious Brain Teaser

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim De Neys ◽  
Niki Verschueren
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Task Load ◽  
Normative Reasoning ◽  
Monty Hall Dilemma ◽  
Monty Hall ◽  
Memory Resources

Abstract. The Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD) is an intriguing example of the discrepancy between people’s intuitions and normative reasoning. This study examines whether the notorious difficulty of the MHD is associated with limitations in working memory resources. Experiment 1 and 2 examined the link between MHD reasoning and working memory capacity. Experiment 3 tested the role of working memory experimentally by burdening the executive resources with a secondary task. Results showed that participants who solved the MHD correctly had a significantly higher working memory capacity than erroneous responders. Correct responding also decreased under secondary task load. Findings indicate that working memory capacity plays a key role in overcoming salient intuitions and selecting the correct switching response during MHD reasoning.

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