Working memory and updating processes in reading comprehension

Abstract

In this study, we examine the relation between reading comprehension ability and success in working memory updating tasks. Groups of poor and good comprehenders, matched for logical reasoning ability, but different in reading comprehension ability, were administered various updating tasks in a series of experiments. In the first experiment, the participants were presented with lists of words, the length of which (4–10 words) was unknown beforehand, and were required to remember the last 4 words in each series. In this task, we found a decrease in performance that was related to longer series and poor reading ability. In the second experiment, we presented lists of nouns referring to items of different sizes, in a task that simulated the selection and updating of relevant information that occurs in the on-line comprehension process. The participants were required to remember a limited, predefined number of the smallestitems presented.We found that poor comprehenders not only had a poorer memory, but also made a greater number of intrusion errors. In the third and fourth experiments, memory load (number of items to be selected) and suppression request (number of potentially relevant items) were manipulated within subjects. Increasesin both memory load and suppression requests impaired performance. Furthermore, we found that poor comprehenders produced a greater number of intrusion errors, particularly when the suppression request was increased. Finally, in a fifth experiment, a request to specify the size of presented items was introduced. Poor comprehenders were able to select the appropriate items, although their recall was poorer. Altogether, the data show that working memory abilities, based on selecting and updating relevant information and avoiding intrusion errors, are related to reading comprehension

A influência da memória operacional nas habilidades de compreensão de leitura em escolares de 4ª série

“…A compreensão de leitura mostrou uma correlação positiva e significante com o vocabulário, o tempo de realização do texto cloze e a memória operacional verbal, resultados também encontrados em vários trabalhos em outros idiomas e com sujeitos de idades diversas (9)(10)(11)(12)(20)(21)(22) . Esses achados, no entanto, discordam de outro estudo (21) , em que não houve correlação estatisticamente significante entre compreensão, memória e vocabulário.…”

“…A relação entre compreensão de leitura e memória operacional é demonstrada em vários estudos (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14) . No entanto, a natureza e modos de avaliação da memória são bastante diversos e deve-se ter clareza da natureza da memória e dos estímulos empregados nesta avaliação.…”

Intentional inhibition in memory and hallucinations: Directed forgetting and updating.

“…In Experiment 2 we aimed to explore inhibitory function in WM in patients with schizophrenia by introducing an updating WM task (Palladino et al, 2001). Participants were presented lists of 12 words to study and then asked to recall only the smaller objects or animals from the list (three or five depending on the condition).…”

The components of working memory updating: An experimental decomposition and individual differences.

“…Conversely, many previous studies that reported correlations between updating and other indicators of cognitive performance (Carretti et al, 2005;Chen & Li, 2007;Friedman et al, 2006;Palladino et al, 2001) utilized updating measures that drew heavily upon retrieval. In fact, in those four studies, WMU was measured almost exclusively with running memory and keep-track tasks.…”

“…Indeed, the "updating" factor has been found to be the only executive function that predicts fluid intelligence (Chen & Li, 2007;Friedman et al, 2006). Accordingly, difficulties in WM updating-especially the inability to inhibit information that is no longer relevant-have been proffered as the cause of poor comprehension skills (Carretti, Cornoldi, De Beni, & Romano, 2005;Palladino, Cornoldi, De Beni, & Pazzaglia, 2001). In the neurosciences, Donchin and Coles (1988) proposed that one of the most prominent event-related potential components, the P300, reflects updating of WM.…”