Multilab Direct Replication of Flavell, Beach, and Chinsky (1966): Spontaneous Verbal Rehearsal in a Memory Task as a Function of Age

Work by Flavell, Beach, and Chinsky indicated a change in the spontaneous production of overt verbalization behaviors when comparing young children (age 5) with older children (age 10). Despite the critical role that this evidence of a change in verbalization behaviors plays in modern theories of cognitive development and working memory, there has been only one other published near replication of this work. In this Registered Replication Report, we relied on researchers from 17 labs who contributed their results to a larger and more comprehensive sample of children. We assessed memory performance and the presence or absence of verbalization behaviors of young children at different ages and determined that the original pattern of findings was largely upheld: Older children were more likely to verbalize, and their memory spans improved. We confirmed that 5- and 6-year-old children who verbalized recalled more than children who did not verbalize. However, unlike Flavell et al., substantial proportions of our 5- and 6-year-old samples overtly verbalized at least sometimes during the picture memory task. In addition, continuous increase in overt verbalization from 7 to 10 years old was not consistently evident in our samples. These robust findings should be weighed when considering theories of cognitive development, particularly theories concerning when verbal rehearsal emerges and relations between speech and memory.

Interhemispheric Connectivity Supports Load-Dependent Working Memory Maintenance for Complex Visual Stimuli

An open question in the working memory (WM) field is how information is kept online during the WM delay period. Maintenance of simple stimuli in WM is supported by connectivity between frontal and parietal brain regions. How does delay period activity and connectivity support WM of complex stimuli? Twenty-two participants completed a modified Sternberg WM task with complex stimuli and were told to remember either 2 (low-load) or 5 (high-load) scenes while 32- channel scalp EEG was recorded. During the 6-sec delay period 6 phase-scrambled scenes were presented, which served as interference. While increasing the WM load, particularly with complex stimuli, places a greater demand on attentional resources, interfering stimuli may hijack the available resources. This was confirmed in the examination of theta and alpha amplitude, as amplitude was reduced for the high WM load as compared with the low WM load across frontal, central, and parietal regions. Delay period connectivity was assessed with phase-locking value (PLV). We identified 3 supporting networks that facilitated performance for the low-load condition: 1) increased PLV between left frontal and right posterior temporal in the theta and alpha bands; 2) increased PLV between right anterior temporal and left central in the alpha and lower beta bands; and 3) increased PLV between left anterior temporal and left posterior temporal in theta, alpha, and lower beta bands for the low-load condition. These results suggest that these brain networks facilitated the low-load WM by filtering of interference and the use of verbal rehearsal during the delay period.Impact StatementAlthough, studies of working memory maintenance with simple stimuli have suggested a role of frontal-parietal networks in supporting maintenance, the current study suggests that maintenance of complex visual stimuli with interference present is supported by interhemispheric frontal-posterior temporal and intrahemispheric left temporal region connectivity. These networks support maintenance by filtering of the interfering stimuli, which facilitates the use of verbal rehearsal strategies during the delay period.

Speaking like a scientist: A multiple case study on sketch and speak intervention to improve expository discourse

Purpose This descriptive multiple case study examined the effects of a contextualized expository strategy intervention on supported and independent note-taking, verbal rehearsal, and reporting skills for three elementary students with language disorders. Method Two 9-year-old fourth grade students and one 11-year-old sixth grade student with language disorders participated. The intervention was delivered as sixteen individual 20-minute sessions across nine weeks by the school speech-language pathologist. Students learned to take written and pictographic notes from expository texts and use verbal formulation and rehearsal of individual sentences and whole reports in varied learning contexts. To explore both emergent and independent accomplishments, performance was examined in final intervention session presentations and pre/post intervention testing. Results Following the intervention, all three students effectively used notes and verbal rehearsal to prepare and present fluent, organized, accurate, confident oral reports to an audience. From pre- to post-test, the students showed a range of improvements in the quality of notes, use of verbal rehearsal, holistic quality of oral and written reporting, and strategy awareness. Conclusions Sketch and Speak shows potential as an expository intervention for students who struggle with academic language learning. The results support further examination of this intervention for supported strategy use by younger students and independent use by older students.

The Influence of Explicit and Implicit Memory Processes on the Spoken–Written Language Learning of Children with Cochlear Implants

Recent improvements in cochlear implants (CIs) and hearing aid technology are providing deaf children better access to sounds, yet many children with CIs and digital hearing aids continue to experience significant difficulties in verbal language learning, reading, and writing. It has been shown that explicit and intentional memory processes, like verbal rehearsal or semantic organizational strategies, can explain the language and literacy outcomes of CI and hearing aid users. More recently, however, researchers have suggested also an involvement of implicit memory, and particularly implicit sequence learning (SL), in the language and literacy delay of these children. This chapter reviews and discusses studies bringing evidence of the involvement of inefficient explicit memory processes and implicit SL in the language and literacy development of children with CIs. It is argued that the interaction between explicit and implicit memory processes (verbal rehearsal and implicit SL) can better account for CI users’ problems with language and literacy acquisition.

Assessing Higher Order Language Processing in Long-Term Cochlear Implant Users

Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe and explain individual differences in complex/higher order language processing in long-term cochlear implant (CI) users relative to normal-hearing (NH) peers. Method Measures of complex/higher order language processing indexed by the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals–Fourth Edition (CELF-4) Core Language subtests were obtained from 53 long-term (≥ 7 years) CI users aged 9–29 years and 60 NH controls who did not differ in age, gender, or nonverbal IQ. Vocabulary knowledge and fast, automatic language processing (rapid phonological coding, verbal rehearsal speed, and speech intelligibility) were also assessed. Results CI users showed weaker performance than NH controls on all CELF-4 Core Language subtests. These differences remained for Formulated Sentences and Recalling Sentences even when vocabulary knowledge was statistically controlled. About 50% of the CI sample scored within the range of the NH sample on Formulated Sentences and Recalling Sentences, while the remaining 50% scored well below the NH sample on these subtests. Vocabulary knowledge, rapid phonological coding, verbal rehearsal speed, and speech intelligibility were more strongly correlated with CELF-4 subtest scores in the CI sample than in the NH sample. Conclusions Weaknesses in complex, higher order language processing shown by a subgroup of CI users compared to NH peers may result from delays in fast, automatic processing of language. These at-risk domains of language functioning could serve as targets for novel interventions for deaf children who experience suboptimal spoken language outcomes following cochlear implantation.

Forgetting Is a Feature, Not a Bug: Intentionally Forgetting Some Things Helps Us Remember Others by Freeing Up Working Memory Resources

In the present study, we used an item-method directed-forgetting paradigm to test whether instructions to forget or remember one item affect memory for subsequently studied items. In two experiments ( Ns = 138 and 33, respectively), recall was higher when a word pair was preceded during study by a to-be-forgotten word pair. This effect was cumulative: Performance increased when more preceding study items were to be forgotten. The effect decreased when memory was conditioned on instructions for items appearing farther back in the study list. Experiment 2 used a dual-task paradigm that suppressed, during encoding, verbal rehearsal or attentional refreshing. Neither task removed the effect, ruling out that rehearsal or attentional borrowing is responsible for the advantage conferred from previous to-be-forgotten items. We propose that memory formation depletes a limited resource that recovers over time and that to-be-forgotten items consume fewer resources, leaving more resources available for storing subsequent items. A computational model implementing the theory provided excellent fits to the data.