Phonological Short-term Memory Research Articles

Young beginning learners’ vocabulary learning via input and output tasks: The role of working memory

Working memory (WM) is essential to vocabulary learning. However, limited attention has been paid to young beginner learners’ vocabulary development under various task conditions from the perspective of WM. This study investigates how two types of WM – complex WM and phonological short-term memory – may influence two instructional approaches (i.e., input and output tasks) on picking up new words. 93 young learners studying English as a foreign language (EFL) participated in input and output tasks and four vocabulary assessments. These assessments functioned as a pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest. The participants also took two WM tests: an operation span test for complex WM and a word repetition test for phonological short-term memory. The results demonstrated that: (1) both input and output tasks significantly influenced the learning and retention of new words, (2) complex WM did not substantially predict task effects on the learning and retention of new words, and (3) phonological WM had a notable impact on learning and retaining new words under the input and output task conditions. The findings emphasize the role of WM for EFL young learners’ vocabulary learning through tasks.

Verbal short term memory contribution to sentence comprehension decreases with increasing syntactic complexity in people with aphasia

Sentence comprehension requires the integration of linguistic units presented in a temporal sequence based on a non-linear underlying syntactic structure. While it is uncontroversial that storage is mandatory for this process, there are opposing views regarding the relevance of general short-term-/working-memory capacities (STM/WM) versus language specific resources. Here we report results from 43 participants with an acquired brain lesion in the extended left hemispheric language network and resulting language deficits, who performed a sentence-to-picture matching task and an experimental task assessing phonological short-term memory. The sentence task systematically varied syntactic complexity (embedding depth and argument order) while lengths, number of propositions and plausibility were kept constant. Clinical data including digit-/ block-spans and lesion size and site were additionally used in the analyses. Correlational analyses confirm that performance on STM/WM-tasks (experimental task and digit-span) are the only two relevant predictors for correct sentence-picture-matching, while reaction times only depended on age and lesion size. Notably increasing syntactic complexity reduced the correlational strength speaking for the additional recruitment of language specific resources independent of more general verbal STM/WM capacities, when resolving complex syntactic structure. The complementary lesion-behaviour analysis yielded different lesion volumes correlating with either the sentence-task or the STM-task. Factoring out STM measures lesions in the anterior temporal lobe correlated with a larger decrease in accuracy with increasing syntactic complexity. We conclude that overall sentence comprehension depends on STM/WM capacity, while increases in syntactic complexity tax another independent cognitive resource.

Multimedia enhanced vocabulary learning: The role of input condition and learner-related factors

This study explored the effects of different types of input (verbal-only vs. verbal plus content-related nonverbal vs. verbal plus paralinguistic-related nonverbal) on vocabulary learning from multimedia. It also investigated how learning was moderated by three learner-related factors (prior vocabulary size, phonological short-term memory (PSTM) capacity, and comprehension of the input). Forty-three English learners of French first completed a French vocabulary size test, a vocabulary pre-test, and a PSTM test online. They then viewed three sets of multimodal teaching materials, each with a different type of input condition, followed by a vocabulary post-test and a comprehension test. Findings indicated that multimodal input including additional nonverbal information was more beneficial than traditional verbal-only input for productive vocabulary knowledge gains. Additionally, comprehension of the input was the most important moderator for the learning gains, especially when the input included paralinguistic-related nonverbal information. The findings provide novel insights into theories of multimedia learning and have pedagogical implications for the design of multimodal language learning materials.

Discrimination of Second Language Vowel Contrasts and the Role of Phonological Short-Term Memory and Nonverbal Intelligence

Although extensive research has focused on the perceptual abilities of second language (L2) learners, a significant gap persists in understanding how cognitive functions like phonological short-term memory (PSTM) and nonverbal intelligence (IQ) impact L2 speech perception. This study sets out to investigate the discrimination of L2 English monophthongal vowel contrasts and to assess the effect of PSTM and nonverbal IQ on L2 speech perception. The participants consisted of adult monolingually-raised Greek speakers, who completed an AX discrimination test, a digit span test, and a nonverbal intelligence test. A control group of English speakers also completed the AX test. Data were analyzed using Bayesian regression models. The results revealed that Greek speakers exhibited below chance discrimination for the majority of L2 vowel contrasts, consistently underperforming in comparison to the control group. Intriguingly, the study did not provide substantial evidence in favor of more accurate discrimination of L2 contrasts by Greek participants with high PSTM compared to those with low PSTM. However, the study yielded compelling evidence indicating that Greek participants with higher IQ demonstrated superior accuracy in discriminating most L2 contrasts compared to their lower IQ counterparts. The limited influence of PSTM on speech perception suggests the need for further exploration, considering the potential impact of test methodologies and the intricate interplay of other confounding factors. Furthermore, the study uncovers a noteworthy relationship between nonverbal IQ and L2 speech perception, likely linked with the association of high IQ with enhanced attentional capacities, information processing abilities, and learning skills—all of which are pivotal for accurate speech perception.

What makes an excellent reader? Short-term memory contrasts between two groups of children

PurposeResearch on the association of short-term memory (STM) and reading expertise are dominated by studies with typically developing children and children with reading impairment. Many studies confirmed the role of short-term memory in reading development and reading, especially in the case of verbal and phonological STM. The current study takes an unusual perspective by contrasting age-appropriate readers with excellent readers (reading performance with at least 1 SD above average) on three different short-term memory skills: phonological STM, verbal STM and visuospatial STM.MethodsWe identified and recruited six groups of children. Three groups performed at least one SD above average in two standardized reading tasks (excellent readers), the three control groups performed within the domain of ±0.5 SD on reading (age-appropriate readers). One group of excellent readers and one group of age-appropriate readers participated in a Phonological Short-Term Memory (STM) task, one pair of groups participated in a Verbal STM task, whereas the last pair participated in a Visuospatial STM task.ResultsPairwise comparisons demonstrated that excellent readers outperformed age-appropriate readers in Visuospatial STM. Phonological STM only differed across the groups after controlling for age. No group difference was observed in Verbal STM.ConclusionOur results confirm the role of short-term memory in reading expertise. However, data highlights that visuospatial and phonological information becomes more relevant in above-average readers. Results are discussed along grain-size theory, and whether and how focused educational programs can build on visuospatial short-term memory training to achieve better reading.

Working memory and math skills in children with and without ADHD.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently demonstrate deficits in working memory and in multiple domains of math skills, including underdeveloped problem-solving and computation skills. The Baddeley model of working memory posits a multicomponent system, including a domain-general central executive and two domain-specific subsystems-phonological short-term memory and visuospatial short-term memory. Extant literature indicates a strong link between neurocognitive deficits in working/short-term memory and math skills; however, the extent to which each component of working/short-term memory may account for this relation is unclear. The present study was the first to use bifactor (S·I-1) modeling to examine relations between each working/short-term memory subcomponent (i.e., central executive, phonological short-term memory, and visuospatial short-term memory), ADHD symptoms, and math skills in a clinically evaluated sample of 186 children ages 8-13 (Myears = 10.40, SD = 1.49; 62 girls; 69% White/non-Hispanic). Structural equation modeling indicated that all three working/short-term memory components exert a significant and approximately equal effect on latent math skills (β = .29-.50, all p < .05) and together explain 56% of the variance in children's math achievement (R² = .56). Exploratory analyses indicated that teacher-reported ADHD inattentive symptoms provided a small but significant contribution to predicting latent math skills (ΔR² = .07) and accounted for 24% of the central executive/math association. These findings suggest that math difficulties in children with ADHD and clinically evaluated children without ADHD are associated, in large part, with their neurocognitive vulnerabilities in working/short-term memory and, to a lesser extent, overt ADHD symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Can speech perception deficits cause phonological impairments? Evidence from short-term memory for ambiguous speech.

Poor performance on phonological tasks is characteristic of neurodevelopmental language disorders (dyslexia and/or developmental language disorder). Perceptual deficit accounts attribute phonological dysfunction to lower-level deficits in speech-sound processing. However, a causal pathway from speech perception to phonological performance has not been established. We assessed this relationship in typical adults by experimentally disrupting speech-sound discrimination in a phonological short-term memory (pSTM) task. We used an automated audio-morphing method (Rogers & Davis, 2017) to create ambiguous intermediate syllables between 16 letter name-letter name ("B"-"P") and letter name-word ("B"-"we") pairs. High- and low-ambiguity syllables were used in a pSTM task in which participants (N = 36) recalled six- and eight-letter name sequences. Low-ambiguity sequences were better recalled than high-ambiguity sequences, for letter name-letter name but not letter name-word morphed syllables. A further experiment replicated this ambiguity cost (N = 26), but failed to show retroactive or prospective effects for mixed high- and low-ambiguity sequences, in contrast to pSTM findings for speech-in-noise (SiN; Guang et al., 2020; Rabbitt, 1968). These experiments show that ambiguous speech sounds impair pSTM, via a different mechanism to SiN recall. We further show that the effect of ambiguous speech on recall is context-specific, limited, and does not transfer to recall of nonconfusable items. This indicates that speech perception deficits are not a plausible cause of pSTM difficulties in language disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Disentangling the Impact of Bilingualism and SES in Literacy Skills of Language-Minority Bilingual Children and Monolingual Peers Exposed to French

In the present study, we aimed to disentangle the impact of bilingualism and socioeconomic status (SES) on literacy in language-minority bilingual children (LMBC) and monolinguals exposed to French. We also wanted to explore the role of these two factors on cognitive and language skills, i.e., verbal knowledge (VK), morphosyntactic comprehension (MC), and phonological short-term memory (PSTM), well known to be important predictors of literacy acquisition. We compared LMBC with low and medium-high SES, and monolinguals with low and medium-high SES. All the children attended Grades 3, 4, and 5. We found that LMBC underperformed monolinguals on VK and MC. Low SES children showed lower scores compared to medium-high SES children on VK, MC, and PSTM. With regard to literacy, LMBC underperformed monolinguals on text and irregular word reading. Low SES children underperformed medium-high SES children only in regular word reading and pseudoword spelling. As a whole, bilingualism had an effect on measures involving lexical components, while SES had a more widespread effect on cognitive and language skills. The results are discussed considering implications for research, clinical, and educational settings.

Reading Disabilities in Children with Cerebral Palsy: associations with Working Memory

Little is known about the relationship between working memory (WM) abilities and reading in children with cerebral palsy (CP) who have age-appropriate communication and language. The aim of this group case study is to analyze the WM abilities and their relationship to reading in children with CP and age-appropriate communication and language. Fifteen children with CP (6:9 to 11:6 years) and age-appropriate communication and language were identified. They were given tests of communication and language, reading (decoding), and three aspects of WM: phonological short-term memory (PSTM); visuospatial short-term memory (VSTM); and the central executive (CE). The children were divided into two groups; five who had age-appropriate reading (Age-appropriate Readers), and ten with very low reading abilities (Developing Readers). The results showed that PSTM was mostly age appropriate in both reading groups and their scores mostly correlated with their reading abilities. VSTM scores were very poor in both groups and not related to reading group membership or reading. CE abilities were mostly as would be expected for the Age-appropriate Readers, but low for the Developing Readers; CE scores correlated with reading abilities. The findings suggest that there are variations in the working memory abilities in this group of children and that the CE may be an important contributor to their reading development.

Defining the Characteristics of Story Production of Autistic Children: A Multilevel Analysis.

Several studies suggest that a valuable tool to examine linguistic skills in communication disorders is offered by procedures of narrative discourse assessment. Following this line of research, we present an exploratory study aimed to investigate storytelling abilities of autistic children to better define the characteristics of their story production. Participants included 41 autistic children and 41 children with typical development aged between 7.02 and 11.03years matched on age, gender, level of formal education, intelligence quotient, working memory, attention skills, theory of mind, and phonological short-term memory. Narrative production was assessed by analysing the language samples obtained through the "Nest Story" description task. A multilevel analysis including micro- and macro-linguistic variables was adopted for narrative assessment. Group differences emerged on both micro- and macro-linguistic dimensions: autistic children produced narratives with more phonological errors and semantic paraphasias (microlinguistic variables) as well as more errors of global coherence and a fewer number of visible events and inferred events (macrolinguistic variables) than the control group.This study shows that even autistic children with adequate cognitive skills display several limitations in their narrative competence and that such weaknesses affect both micro- and macrolinguistic aspects of story production.

The impact of phonological short-term memory impairment on verbal repetition in the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia

ABSTRACT The logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA) is characterized mainly by anomia, production of phonological errors, and impairment in repetition of sentences. The functional origin of these language impairments is mainly attributed to the breakdown of phonological short-term memory. The present study examined the effects of phonological short-term memory impairment on language processing in lvPPA. In two studies, 11 participants with lvPPA and 11 healthy control participants were presented with repetition tasks in which the type and length of stimuli and the mode of administration were manipulated. Study 1 aimed to examine the influence of length and lexicality (words vs. pseudowords) on immediate and delayed repetition, whereas Study 2 aimed to examine the influence of length, syntactic complexity (nominalized vs. pronominalized sentences), and serial position on immediate sentence repetition. Study 1 showed that participants’ performance with lvPPA was impaired only on immediate repetition of five-syllable pseudowords and on delayed repetition of words and pseudowords. Study 2 showed that participants’ performance with lvPPA was impaired in the repetition of nominalized sentences where a recency effect was observed. Repetition of pronominalized sentences was also impaired in the lvPPA group. This study provides additional support for arguments regarding phonological short-term memory as a cause of language impairment in lvPPA. Clinically, the results of the study suggest that instruments for assessing repetition ability in lvPPA should include not only lists of short or long nominalized sentences, but also delayed repetition of words and pseudowords and pronominalized sentences.

Expressive recall and recognition as complementary measures to assess novel word learning ability in aphasia

Novel word learning ability has been associated with language treatment outcomes in people with aphasia (PWA), and its assessment could inform prognosis and rehabilitation. We used a brief experimental task to examine novel word learning in PWA, determine the value of phonological cueing in assessing learning outcomes, and identify factors that modulate learning ability. Twelve PWA and nineteen healthy controls completed the task, and recall and recognition tests of learning ability. Most PWA showed comparable learning outcomes to those of the healthy controls. Learning assessed via expressive recall was more clearly evidenced with phonological cues. Better single word processing abilities and phonological short-term memory and higher integrity of the left inferior frontal gyrus were related to better learning performance. Brief learning tasks like this one are clinically feasible and hold promise as screening tools of verbal learning in PWA once validated and evaluated for their capacity to predict treatment outcomes.

The Role of Working Memory and Short-Term Memory in Sentence Comprehension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in Probable Alzheimer's Disease.

The role of either short-term memory (STM) or working memory (WM) in sentence comprehension is a matter of debate. Although it is commonly accepted that memory resources are necessary for sentence comprehension, there is no agreement regarding the nature of their role. The aim of this review is to investigate and synthesize assessment tools and correlation data between STM or WM and sentence comprehension in probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). To this aim, a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycInfo, and LLBA databases were searched. Two independent authors selected peer-reviewed articles published in English and focused on the relationship between STM or WM and sentence comprehension in probable AD. A total of 11 case-control studies were included at the end of the selection process. Most studies adopted offline tasks to evaluate sentence comprehension, while a small number of authors applied online experimental tasks. The digit span forward and backward were the most employed standardized tests to evaluate phonological STM and WM, respectively. The meta-analysis results supported the association between performance on STM and WM and comprehension tasks. However, moderate heterogeneity was found, mainly due to the small number of included studies, especially for STM, and the substantial variability of the adopted tasks. Therefore, in order to clarify the specific source of language comprehension deficits, new and sophisticated experiments should be conducted using adequate material.

Immediate and Delayed Recall for Words and Non-Words in Native and Non-Native Speakers

Memory is an important aspect of cognition. Recall and recognition can be used as experimental tasks for assessing memory. Non-Word Recall taps phonological short term memory. The non-word recall is language sensitive hence there is a need to investigate this ability in native and on-native speakers. The current study aimed to study immediate and delayed recall in native and non-native speakers. A total of 30 participants (15 native and 15 non-native speakers) in the age range of 18-30 years participated in the study. 15 words and 15 non-words were presented in Malayalam and the participants were asked to recall the stimulus immediately after the stimulus presentation and 2 days post stimulus presentation. The results of the showed that the performance on recall varied for words and non-words. Performance on Recall was better for native compared to non-native speakers.

The growth trajectories of morphological awareness and its predictors

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine the early growth of morphological awareness and its predictors. We followed 172 English-speaking Canadian children (82 girls, 90 boys, Mage = 75.56 months at the first assessment point) from Grade 1 to Grade 3 and assessed them on nonverbal IQ, phonological short-term memory, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and vocabulary at the beginning of Grade 1 and on morphological awareness at the end of Grade 1, beginning and end of Grade 2, and beginning of Grade 3. Results of growth curve modeling showed different growth patterns for Word Analogy and Sentence Analogy. In addition, vocabulary and phonological awareness were associated with the initial status of morphological awareness, and phonological awareness and letter knowledge predicted the growth rate of morphological awareness. These findings suggest that code-related skills drive the development of morphological awareness during the early years of literacy instruction.

Working memory and second language writing: A systematic review

AbstractThis article reports on a comprehensive synthesis of the literature on the role of working memory in second language (L2) writing. It starts with an overview and clarification of the construct and measurement of working memory, followed by an elaboration of major theoretical models informing the synthesized research. The article then presents a synthesis of the methods and results of the 16 studies that have been conducted on the associations between working memory and L2 writing. The methodological synthesis encompasses research design, methods of working memory, measurement of writing performance, methods of data elicitation for writing processes, and data analysis and reporting. The results of the synthesized studies demonstrate that (1) working memory is largely unrelated to overall writing proficiency; (2) it is predictive of specific aspects of L2 composition such as complexity, accuracy, and fluency; (3) the role of working memory varies as a function of genre, proficiency, target structure, instruction type, and task demands; and (4) verbal working memory, phonological short-term memory, visual-spatial working memory, and executive functions (inhibiting, shifting, and updating) have differential associations with the process and product aspects of L2 writing. The methods and results are discussed by identifying trends, accounting for disparities, clarifying confusion, recommending solutions, and proposing new directions.

The right uncinate fasciculus supports verbal short-term memory in aphasia

Verbal short-term memory (STM) deficits are associated with language processing impairments in people with aphasia. Importantly, the integrity of STM can predict word learning ability and anomia therapy gains in aphasia. While the recruitment of perilesional and contralesional homologous brain regions has been proposed as a possible mechanism for aphasia recovery, little is known about the white-matter pathways that support verbal STM in post-stroke aphasia. Here, we investigated the relationships between the language-related white matter tracts and verbal STM ability in aphasia. Nineteen participants with post-stroke chronic aphasia completed a subset of verbal STM subtests of the TALSA battery including nonword repetition (phonological STM), pointing span (lexical-semantic STM without language output) and repetition span tasks (lexical-semantic STM with language output). Using a manual deterministic tractography approach, we investigated the micro- and macrostructural properties of the structural language network. Next, we assessed the relationships between individually extracted tract values and verbal STM scores. We found significant correlations between volume measures of the right Uncinate Fasciculus and all three verbal STM scores, with the association between the right UF volume and nonword repetition being the strongest one. These findings suggest that the integrity of the right UF is associated with phonological and lexical-semantic verbal STM ability in aphasia and highlight the potential compensatory role of right-sided ventral white matter language tracts in supporting verbal STM after aphasia-inducing left hemisphere insult.

The Contribution of Music Abilities and Phonetic Aptitude to L2 Accent Faking Ability

This study examined how second language (L2) speakers’ individual differences in music perception abilities, singing abilities and phonetic aptitude relate to their L2 phonological awareness. To measure participants’ L2 phonological awareness, we used an accent faking paradigm, where participants were asked to speak in their native language (German) while imitating a strong L2 accent (English). We measured their musical abilities with the AMMA test and their singing abilities with two singing tasks and a self-report questionnaire. Their phonetic aptitude was assessed with a combination of phonological short-term memory tasks (forward and backward digit span tasks), and language perception and production tasks, in which participants needed to process and imitate sounds from unfamiliar languages. A regression analysis revealed that singing abilities and phonetic aptitude could predict participants’ English faking abilities. This suggests that being able to sing could help learners produce and memorise highly accurate L2 sounds, although their performance could also partly be explained by innate learning capacities such as phonetic aptitude. This study also proposes a new combination of tests to obtain a well-rounded assessment of individual differences in phonetic aptitude.

Assessing phonological short-term memory in Greek: Reliability and validity of a non-word repetition test.

This study explores the reliability and validity of a NWR task in a large cohort of 387 TD Greek-speaking children aged 7-13 years attending elementary (Grades 2-6) and secondary school (Grade 1), divided into six age groups. Further, the relationship between NWR and reading fluency skills as well as the predictive value of the NWR on reading fluency skills in TD children are examined. To investigate the external reliability of the NWR task, test-retest reliability was performed, and excellent test-retest reliability was found. Internal reliability was explored with Cronbach's alpha coefficient and good reliability was found. To explore convergent validity, correlation analysis between NWR and reading fluency was conducted and significant and strong correlations were found for all age groups excepted 2 (ages 9-10 and 12-13). To examine predictive validity, regression analysis was conducted between these two variables and showed that performance on NWR contributed significantly to reading fluency skills, suggesting that NWR skills are a good predictor of reading skills. Finally, it was explored whether the relevant scores increase as a function of age and found significant differences between groups that differed in 2 years or more, while this difference was no longer significant after 10 years. This finding suggests that phonological STM increases in capacity along with age, but only until the age of 10, where it seems to reach a ceiling. In addition, linear regression analysis showed that age contributed significantly to performance on NWR test. To sum up, the present study provides normative data of a NWR test for a wide age range, which does not exist in the Greek language (particularly for ages over 9 years) and it can be concluded that the present NWR test can be successfully used as a reliable and valid measure of phonological STM in the age range that was examined in this study.

The role of verbal short-term memory in complex sentence comprehension: An observational study on aphasia.

The comprehension profile of people with agrammatism is a debated topic. Syntactic complexity and cognitive resources, in particular phonological short-term memory (pSTM), are considered as crucial components by different interpretative accounts. To investigate the interaction of syntactic complexity and of pSTM in sentence comprehension in a group of persons with aphasia with and without agrammatism. A cohort of 30 participants presenting with aphasia was assessed for syntactic comprehension and for pSTM. A total of 15 presented with agrammatism and 15 had fluent aphasia. Linear nested mixed-model analyses revealed a significant interaction between sentence type and pSTM. In particular, participants with lower pSTM scores showed a reduced comprehension of centre-embedded object relatives and long coordinated sentences. Moreover, a significant interaction was found between sentence type and agrammatism, with a lower performance for passives within the agrammatic group. These results confirm that pSTM is involved in the comprehension of complex structures with an important computational load, in particular coordinated sentences, and long-distance filler gap dependencies. On the contrary, the specific deficit of the agrammatic group with passives is a pure syntactic deficit, with no involvement of pSTM.