Language differences in verbal short-term memory do not exclusively originate in the process of subvocal rehearsal

Thorn, Annabel S. C.; Gathercole, Susan E.

doi:10.3758/bf03196173

Cited by 59 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These findings are consistent with claims from non-word repetition studies that long-term language knowledge supports short-term memory performance (Thorn & Gathercole, 2001). Signing Deaf children have acquired a large repertoire of handshapes and movements that they use in their everyday signs, which allows them to analyse the nonsense signs within a phonological system.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

The Acquisition of Sign Language: The Impact of Phonetic Complexity on Phonology

Mann

Marshall

Mason

et al. 2010

Language Learning and Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This is the unspecified version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link AbstractResearch into the effect of phonetic complexity on phonological acquisition has a long history in spoken languages. This paper considers the effect of phonetics on phonological development in a signed language. We report on an experiment in which non-word-repetition methodology was adapted so as to examine in a systematic way how phonetic complexity in two phonological parameters of signed languages -handshape and movement -affects the perception and articulation of signs. 91 Deaf children aged 3-11 years acquiring British Sign Language (BSL), and 46 hearing non-signers aged 6-11, were tested. For Deaf children, repetition accuracy improved with age, correlated with wider BSL abilities, and was lowest for signs that were phonetically complex. Repetition accuracy was correlated with fine motor skills for the youngest children. Despite their lower repetition accuracy, the hearing group were similarly affected by phonetic complexity, suggesting that common visual and motoric factors are at play when processing linguistic information in the visuo-gestural modality.Nonsense sign repetition 3

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

The Acquisition of Sign Language: The Impact of Phonetic Complexity on Phonology

Mann

Marshall

Mason

et al. 2010

Language Learning and Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Research on digit-span performance in bilinguals has shown that familiarity with the language plays an important role in digit-span performance, with participants generally achieving higher span scores in their mother tongue than in their non-dominant language(s) (Chincotta & Hoosain, 1995;Chincotta & Underwood, 1997b;Da Costa Pinto, 1991;Thorn & Gathercole, 2001). This is in spite of the fact that digits can be considered to be relatively overlearnt stimuli in any language and are usually among the very first words taught in foreign-language education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual and auditory digit-span performance in native and non-native speakers

Olsthoorn

Andringa

Hulstijn

2012

International Journal of Bilingualism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We compared 121 native and 114 non-native speakers of Dutch (with 35 different first languages) on four digit-span tasks, varying modality (visual/auditory) and direction (forward/ backward). An interaction was observed between nativeness and modality, such that, while natives performed better than the non-natives on the auditory tasks (which were performed in the non-natives' second language), performance on the visual tasks (which was performed in participants' dominant language) did not significantly differ between natives and non-natives. The interaction between nativeness and modality disappeared when the data were corrected for Dutch proficiency. Correction for Dutch proficiency elevated non-native speakers' scores on the auditory tasks, without altering the non-natives' digit-span rank order. Despite considerable differences in mean length of the digit names zero to nine in the non-natives' first languages, these differences were not significantly correlated with their visual digit-span scores. While further research is needed on the sources of variation in digit-span performance, we recommend the use of the visual digit-span task (forward or backward) for cross-linguistic research and advise researchers to be aware of the association between language proficiency and verbal workingmemory performance. KeywordsBilingual digit span, visual digit span, auditory digit span, forward digit span, backward digit span, verbal working memory

show abstract

“…Possible sources of this language-familiarity effect on immediate verbal memory have been intensively examined by Thorn and colleagues (Thorn & Gathercole, 1999, 2001; Thorn et al, 2002), who found that this effect was present in immediate serial-recall tasks even under articulatory suppression, which requires participants to utter taskirrelevant words repeatedly and is assumed to prevent participants from engaging in articulatory rehearsal (Thorn & Gathercole, 2001). They also reported that the effects were present in a probed-recall task, but not in a serial recognition task (Thorn et al, 2002).…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

“…One of the most prominent features of the cross-linguistic differences has been found in the language-familiarity effect, a phenomenon in which better immediate memory is displayed in response to linguistic materials that are familiar to participants than to those that are unfamiliar (e.g., Chincotta & Hoosain, 1995;Chincotta & Underwood, 1996da Costa Pinto, 1991;Thorn & Gathercole, 1999, 2001; Thorn, Gathercole, & Frankish, 2002). For example, Thorn and Gathercole (1999) reported that English-speaking children performed better in aural memory-span tasks with English than with French digits.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This article reports on an experiment that tested the children with three digit-span tests in English and Japanese administered on three occasions over the course of the 3-year program. Digits were employed as stimulus materials for testing memory span because they seem to be acquired rather early during language development (see, Thorn & Gathercole, 2001). Therefore the digit materials would be appropriate for testing children who just started learning a certain language.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Positive Influence of English-Language Activities on English Digit-Span Performance Among Japanese Elementary School Children: A Three-Year Cross-Sequential Study

Sakuma

Saito

2012

PSYCHOLOGIA -An International Journal of Psychological Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We conducted an experimental study of an English-experience program in which children regularly engaged in English-language activities in a Japanese elementary school over the course of 3 years. Three groups of children (first, third, and fifth graders upon joining the project) participated. The children engaged in Japanese and English aural digit-span tests in the first, second, and third years of the program. Results showed that the children's digit-span performance in English improved dramatically during their 3-year participation and that the increase was larger than that in Japanese. This finding was most pronounced in children in the middle group, and was discussed in terms of total exposure time to spoken English, the amount of after-school English activities, and the sensitive period hypothesis of a second language acquisition. We concluded that the English-activities program employed in this study was effective in facilitating the acquisition of phonological forms of English among Japanese students in elementary school.Key words: Short-term memory, working memory, digit span, language-familiarity effectIt has been widely accepted that large cross-language differences exist in verbal short-term memory performance, which is typically measured by the immediate serial recall of words or digits. One of the most prominent features of the cross-linguistic differences has been found in the language-familiarity effect, a phenomenon in which better immediate memory is displayed in response to linguistic materials that are familiar to participants than to those that are unfamiliar (e.g

show abstract

Language differences in verbal short-term memory do not exclusively originate in the process of subvocal rehearsal

Cited by 59 publications

References 32 publications

The Acquisition of Sign Language: The Impact of Phonetic Complexity on Phonology

The Acquisition of Sign Language: The Impact of Phonetic Complexity on Phonology

Visual and auditory digit-span performance in native and non-native speakers

The Positive Influence of English-Language Activities on English Digit-Span Performance Among Japanese Elementary School Children: A Three-Year Cross-Sequential Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About