Reading Span Research Articles

Teaching Spanish with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Background: My personal journey to developing fluency in Spanish was through gaming, and so I felt strongly that this popular pastime would help my students, too. Ocarina of Time was a natural choice, as it is not only my favorite game, it is also dialogue-heavy and mimics real life speech, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play it with my students! Aim: My main objective was to improve students’ Spanish reading comprehension. Other objectives included: developing an understanding of the difference between equivalent and literal translation, developing a more comprehensive understanding of Spanish sentence structure, learning the 100 most used Spanish verbs, and being able to understand perfect verbs and object pronouns when encountered in text. Methods: Engaging learners through play, student collaboration, ungraded practice, semantic and syntactic reading comprehension, spiraling curriculum, and gamification of rote memorization. Results: Students’ Spanish reading comprehension improved rapidly, and so did their confidence in performing this skill. Students also learned 90%+ of the 100 top used Spanish verbs, as well as a large variety of other vocabulary. Conclusion: Video games are a viable resource for teaching a foreign language.

The relationships between individual differences in working memory and language analytical ability and the effectiveness of different types of corrective feedback

Abstract This study examined the relationships between individual differences in the executive component of working memory, and language analytical ability and the effectiveness of recasts, explicit correction and, metalinguistic prompts on the second-language (L2) development of the English past progressive. Participants were 155 Japanese learners of English, who were divided into recast, explicit correction, metalinguistic prompt, and task-only groups. The treatment groups completed tasks that required past progressive usage and received feedback. The executive component of working memory and language analytical ability were measured by the reading span test and LLAMA F. The outcome measures were an untimed grammaticality judgment test (UGJT) and elicited imitation test (EIT), which measured the participants’ declarative and procedural knowledge, respectively. The participants performed the pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest. Multiple regression analyses showed that the executive component of working memory was significantly associated with the gain scores of the UGJT for the recast group and with the gain scores of the EIT for the metalinguistic prompt group. Language analytical ability was not associated with gain scores regardless of the test type for all groups.

Interplay between attention, working memory, and cognition to speech understanding in noise

Speech understanding in noisy environments depends not only on hearing acuity but also on a host of other cognitive skills including attention, working memory, and executive function that support listeners’ ability to segregate, track and attend to a “target” signal while tuning out other unwanted signals. Identifying the cognitive aspects that affect listening outcomes in complex listening environment is critical for interpreting individual variability and understanding the challenges listeners with different cognitive profiles might face during listening in such environments. The latter is important for characterizing the listening deficits in older adults who, in addition to impaired peripheral auditory processing, also tend to exhibit a decline in various cognitive abilities that might affect listening. Here, we present data from a large cohort of younger listeners on various working memory (Reading Span Test), attention (auditory and visual single and dual task), processing (trail making task), executive control (flanker task), inhibition (Stroop task), and speech in noise tests (spatial release from masking using coordinate Response Measure sentences). The relationship between these various attention, working memory, and cognitive components to speech understanding in complex listening environments will be discussed.

Does collaboration help or hurt recall? The answer depends on working memory capacity.

Collaborative inhibition (reduced recall in collaborative vs. nominal groups) is a robust phenomenon. However, it is possible that not everyone is as susceptible to collaborative inhibition, such as those higher in working memory capacity (WMC). In the current study, we examined the relationship between WMC and collaborative inhibition. Participants completed three shortened span tasks (automated operation span, automated reading span, symmetry span). They then viewed categorized word lists individually and then recalled the word lists alone or with a partner (Test 1), followed by an individual recall (Test 2). For correct recall, collaborative inhibition was greater among lower WMC individuals, and they showed no post collaborative benefits. Only higher WMC individuals benefited from prior collaboration. For false recall, higher WMC individuals had less false recall on Tests 1 and 2, and collaboration reduced errors on Test 1 for both lower- and higher WMC individuals. There were no lasting effects of collaboration on Test 2 errors. Furthermore, partner WMC appeared to influence recall, although this tentative finding is based on a smaller sample size. Specifically, on Test 2, participants had less false recall when their partner was higher in WMC and greater correct recall when both they and their partner were higher in WMC. We conclude that collaboration is relatively more harmful for lower WMC individuals and more beneficial for higher WMC individuals. These results inform theories of collaborative inhibition by identifying attentional control and WMC as mechanisms that moderate the magnitude of the effect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Reduction of vowel space in Alzheimer's disease.

Reduced vowel space area (VSA) is a known effect of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Using large publicly available corpuses, two experiments were conducted comparing the vowel space of speakers with and without Alzheimer's disease (AD) during spontaneous and read speech. First, a comparison of vowel distance found reduced distance in AD for English spontaneous speech, but not Spanish read speech. Findings were then verified using an unsupervised learning approach to quantify VSA through cluster center detection. These results corroborate observations for PD that VSA reduction is task-dependent, but further experiments are necessary to quantify the effect of language.

Cognitive functions in episodic vestibular disorders: Meniere's disease and vestibular migraine.

Cognitive deficits have been defined in patients with bilateral and unilateral vestibular loss. To investigate cognitive functions in patients with episodic vestibular disorders. Nineteen patients with Meniere's disease (MD), 19 patients with vestibular migraine (VM) and 21 age and education matched healthy controls were studied. Mini Mental State Examination assessing global mental status, Reading Span Test and the Stroop Test evaluating working memory, cognitive processing, reading comprehension and attention, Trail Making Test and Benton's Judgment of Line Orientation Test investigating visual processing, visuospatial skills, processing speed were used. Beck depression and anxiety inventories were given to evaluate the emotional status. Cognitive test results of the MD and VM patients were not significantly different from the healthy controls (p > 0.05) as well as Beck depression scores (p = 0.14). Beck anxiety scores showed significant difference (p = 0.003). VM patients had significantly higher scores than the healthy controls (p = 0.002) on pairwise comparisons. The scores of the MD patients did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.15). Episodic vestibular disorders like MD and VM without inter-ictal vestibular deficits do not seem to be associated with cognitive impairment. Patients with VM have significantly higher anxiety scores than the healthy controls and MD patients.

Bilingual children’s vocabulary skills at 5 years predict reading comprehension development within, not across, languages

ABSTRACT Extensive evidence indicates that early vocabulary skills predict later reading development among monolingually developing children. Some evidence suggests that a relationship between vocabulary and later reading also holds across languages among children whose home language differs from the school language. However, these findings have been mixed and it remains unclear if, and under what circumstances, vocabulary in one language supports reading comprehension development in another. The present study followed 84 Spanish-English bilingual children, assessing their vocabulary skills at 5 years and their reading comprehension at 6, 7, 8, and 9 years. Longitudinal multilevel models revealed significant within-language relations between early vocabulary knowledge and subsequent reading comprehension in both English and Spanish and no across-language relations. There were significant concurrent across-language relations between English and Spanish reading comprehension skills. These findings suggest that the contribution of vocabulary knowledge to reading comprehension is language specific but that there are also language general components to reading comprehension, which result in significant concurrent relations between reading comprehension skill across languages.

The effects of structured input and working memory on the acquisition of English causative forms

Experimental research measuring the effectiveness of structured input have shown that L2 learners receiving the structured input treatment process forms affected by processing principles more accurately. The effects of structured input have been investigated using both offline (e.g., interpretation and production tests) and online tests (e.g., self-paced reading and eye-tracking tests). However, no previous research has investigated the possible role of working memory in the results generated by structured input. The current study investigates the effects of structured input on the acquisition of English causative forms. Adult L1 Chinese Mandarin learning English at university participated to this study. A reading span test was used to classify each participant as having a high or low working memory capacity. Two groups receiving structured input were formed: one with high working memory capacity (n = 21); and another one with low working memory capacity (n = 23). A third group, receiving no instruction, was used as a control group (n = 17). A sentence-level interpretation test and a production discourse-level task were used to measure the possible effects of the instructional treatment (structured input). Results from this study indicated that both structured input groups equally improved from pre-tests to post-tests on both assessment measures. The control group made no gains. There was no difference between the low and high working memory capacity groups, and structured input was proved to be equally effective on L2 learner's ability to process input (interpret sentence containing the target feature) and to produce the target form accurately. The effects of structured input were retained over a four-week period.

Supplemental Material for Differential Nonlinear Relations of Language Proficiencies to Reading and Math Achievement in Spanish or English

Supplemental Material for Differential Nonlinear Relations of Language Proficiencies to Reading and Math Achievement in Spanish or English

Recommended Reading for Good Governors: Utopia de Thomas Moro (1637)

Gerónimo de Medinilla translated Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) into Spanish in 1637, more than a century after the text was printed in Leuven. The paratexts of the translation imply that Medinilla might have published his translation with a practical and political intention, which is reminiscent of the first interpretations of the humanist’s work by sixteenth-century Spanish readers. This paper analyzes two textual references from the translation to discuss the hypothesis that it was offered as a manual for governors. It also proposes an original biography of Gerónimo de Medinilla. This will serve to contextualize the translator and the potential final purpose of the edition.

Aging Effects on Perceptual Reading Span: Evidence from an Eye-Tracking Study

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate how aging influences the perceptual span and reading through online reading measurement variables using an eye-tracking paradigm. Methods: This study had a total of 38 participants including 20 normal younger and 18 older adults. Offline (reading comprehension accuracy) and online (words per second, mean fixation duration) measurement variables were analyzed through sentence comprehension questions and perceptual span measurement tasks. Results: 1) There were not significant differences between the older adults and younger adults in reading comprehension accuracy. There was no cognitive demand due to the low difficulty of the task, and it did not affect the reading comprehension accuracy of each group. 2) There were significant differences between the older adults and younger adults in both words per second and mean fixation duration. The older group showed a decrease in encoding ability due to the normal aging process. Additionally, the performance of words per second and mean fixation duration was significantly lower under the one fixated word condition (1W) in both groups. 3) In the case of mean fixation duration, the older group fixed their gaze longer than the younger. The older group showed greater difficulty under the 1W condition when the cognitive load was increased by presenting limited language information. Conclusion: This study was intended to examine the perceptual span of older adults and the level which shows the aging-effect concretely. It was possible to predict that the perceptual span of the younger group was between one or two words to the right of the fixated word (W+1 and W+2), and that of the elderly was W+1.

Reading Argumentative Texts: Effects of the Presence-Absence of Connectives in Reading Comprehension and Cognitive Effort

Recent studies prove a strong association between reading and eye movements. Few investigations report the role of connectors and prior knowledge during reading in Spanish, as well as their association with eye movements. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of the presenceabsence of connectors in two argumentative texts on cognitive effort and reading comprehension.Forty-one psychology undergraduate students participated in a reading comprehension task, while their eye movements were recorded. The condition with connectors was related to prior knowledge, the slide time fixation, the slide number fixations, and the slide return fixations. The condition without connectors was related to the return fixations, the time fixation, and the number of fixations. Prior knowledge was correlated with the total time fixation, the total return fixations, and comprehension. This suggests that during reading without connectors more cognitive effort is required, observed in the return fixations; moreover, prior knowledge has an important role in the visual strategies required to process and obtain a representation of text. But participant performance was still good as observed in the scores of the reading comprehension task.

Who Was King Arthur’s Sir Modred?

Sir Modred was nephew to the King Arthur of legend; Medrawd was loyal comrade to the Arthur of history. In legend, Modred is a traitor and rebel who kills his uncle. In history, Medrawd was a warrior who fell (with Arthur) in 537 CE at «Camlan» (identified as the fort of Castlesteads, near Carlisle, northern England). Welsh bards long remembered Medrawd as a hero; Spanish readers have known Modred as a traitor since the Middle Ages. So this paper has three purposes. First, to reveal Medrawd as a historical character, a sixthcentury hero of North Britain, like Arthur himself. Second, to show how Medrawd’s reputation was permanently blackened in the twelfth century by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Third, to provide an etymology for Medrawd, a British form unrelated to the Cornish ‘Modred’ clamped upon the warrior by Geoffrey, with his usual cavalier attitude to history.

The effects of simulated hemianopia on eye movements during text reading

Vision loss is a common, devastating complication of cerebral strokes. In some cases the complete contra-lesional visual field is affected, leading to problems with routine tasks and, notably, the ability to read. Although visual information crucial for reading is imaged on the foveal region, readers often extract useful parafoveal information from the next word or two in the text. In hemianopic field loss, parafoveal processing is compromised, shrinking the visual span and resulting in slower reading speeds. Recent approaches to rehabilitation using perceptual training have been able to demonstrate some recovery of useful visual capacity. As gains in visual sensitivity were most pronounced at the border of the scotoma, it may be possible to use training to restore some of the lost visual span for reading. As restitutive approaches often involve prolonged training sessions, it would be beneficial to know how much recovery is required to restore reading ability. To address this issue, we employed a gaze-contingent paradigm using a low-pass filter to blur one side of the text, functionally simulating a visual field defect. The degree of blurring acts as a proxy for visual function recovery that could arise from restitutive strategies, and allows us to evaluate and quantify the degree of visual recovery required to support normal reading fluency in patients. Because reading ability changes with age, we recruited a group of younger participants, and another with older participants who are closer in age to risk groups for ischaemic strokes. Our results show that changes in patterns of eye movement observed in hemianopic loss can be captured using this simulated reading environment. This opens up the possibility of using participants with normal visual function to help identify the most promising strategies for ameliorating hemianopic loss, before translation to patient groups.

Brain Controllability of Cognitive Control Networks is Associated with Executive Functions in Older Adults

AbstractBackgroundExecutive functions encompass effortful top‐down cognitive processes crucial for daily functioning. They are particularly vulnerable to aging in older adults and are often affected early in the course of Alzheimer’s disease. However, the neural mechanisms underlying aging‐related decline in executive functions are not well understood. Modal controllability is a structural metric quantifying the ease at which brain regions can move the brain into difficult‐to‐reach states with substantial effort to support diverse cognitive processes. The emphasis on effortful state transitions bears strong similarity to the definition of executive functions as effortful cognitive processes, rendering modal controllability as a putative neural substrate of executive function. Controllability has been associated with cognitive performance in younger populations, but no studies have examined controllability in older adults or its association with executive function over time.MethodWe used diffusion MRI (dMRI) data from community‐dwelling men ages 56‐70 (N=264 Time 2, N=104 Both Time 1 & 2) in the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA).We performed whole‐brain deterministic fiber tracking on dMRI data to reconstruct white matter streamlines, which were then used to build structural connectivity matrices. Network‐level modal controllability of two cognitive control networks (multiple demand system and control network) were computed from connectivity matrices. An executive function factor score was computed based on six well‐established neuropsychological tasks: Stroop, Trail Making Test, Category Switching, Letter‐Number Sequencing, Reading Span, and Digit Span.ResultsIn cross‐sectional analyses controlling for age, health status, ethnicity, and young adult general cognitive ability, modal controllability of cognitive control networks was positively associated with executive function at Time 2. Change in controllability from Time 1 to Time 2 (∼6 years) was positively associated with change in executive function over the same period.ConclusionFindings suggest that a putative mechanism of cognitive aging may involve the controllability of structural networks in supporting brain functional dynamics necessary for cognition. In particular, the longitudinal association suggests that structural network changes in controllability may be a key mechanism underlying aging‐related decline in executive function. A next step will be to how such changes are related to risk for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s dementia.

Does Working Memory Capacity Predict Literal and Inferential Comprehension of Bilinguals’ Digital Reading in a Multitasking Setting?

The ubiquity of multitasking has led researchers to investigate its potential costs for reading and learning (Clinton‐Lisell, 2021). While some studies have not shown detrimental effects of multitasking for reading comprehension (Bowman et al., 2010; Cho et al., 2015; Pashler et al., 2013), one particular study has found a benefit of multitasking (Tran et al., 2013). These results, nevertheless, do not converge with the findings of recent meta-analyses, which have suggested both a negative effect of multitasking for reading comprehension (Clinton‐Lisell, 2021), as well as the disruptive effects of listening to lyrical music while reading for comprehension (Vasilev et al., 2018). Previous research seems to converge with the theories of how working memory copes with the complexity of reading as a process, since several subprocesses must be orchestrated so that the ultimate goal of reading – the construction of a mental representation – is fully achieved (Tomitch, 2020). In addition to that, no previous study has investigated reading as a multilevel construct in which both literal and inferential comprehension (Alptekin & Erçetin, 2010; Kintsch, 1998) is assessed in a multitasking setting. With that in mind, we investigated whether working memory capacity, measured by the Self-Administrable Reading Span Test (Oliveira et al., 2021), predicts proficient bilinguals’ performance in literal and inferential comprehension, by means of comprehension questions (Pearson & Johnson, 1978) and reading times, under a multitasking setting in two conditions – listening to lyrical music (experimental) as opposed to listening to non-lyrical music (control). Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that working memory capacity significantly predicted inferential, but not literal comprehension nor reading times, and only when participants were listening to lyrical music. Results are discussed both in terms of the effects of multitasking on reading comprehension as well as the role of working memory in language comprehension.

The Effects of Processing Instruction and Output-Based Activities on Grammar Learning: The Mediating Role of Working Memory

Processing instruction (PI) is an input-based approach to grammar education based on input processing theory, and output is another element needed for second-language acquisition to be successful. This study sought to examine the impact of PI and output-based activities with the mediating role of working memory (WM) capacity on learning English future tense. To this end, 99 subjects with preintermediate command of English based on an Oxford Placement Test were recruited for the study, and they were divided into three groups: PI, output, and control, with 33 learners in each group. Using a reading-span test, it was revealed that 14 subjects in the PI group, 15 participants in the output group, and 13 learners in the comparison group had low WM, while the rest individuals had high WM capacity. Then, a two-way between-group analysis of variance and a Bonferroni adjustment post hoc test were performed. The results of the analyses showed that both PI and output groups outperformed the control group. Additionally, there was no difference in grammar gain between PI and output groups. Besides, learners with high WM outperformed low WM individuals. The pedagogical implication of this research is that PI and output-based activities can assist teachers in implementing effective strategies to raise L2 learners’ knowledge and consciousness.

Cognitive Resources in Working Memory: Domain-Specific or General?

An experiment in the dual-task paradigm was carried out to explore the nature of domain-specific and domain-general resource distribution in working memory. The subjects (N = 32) performed symmetry span and letter reading span tasks under visuospatial (tapping) and verbal (articulatory suppression) cognitive load. The effects of task type and cognitive load modality were analyzed. The results are described within the concentric model framework: significant distinctions in relative accuracy under visuospatial and verbal cognitive load in visuospatial and verbal tasks were observed when N elements in the set exceeded the region of direct access capacity, while no such effect was observed for 2-3 element sets. This is attributed to domain-general resources in the region of direct access, and domain-specific resources in the activated long-term memory. We also found evidence for the asymmetric distribution of visuospatial and verbal working memory resources in that the verbal component is more susceptible to cognitive load.

The role of working memory in speech recognition by hearing-impaired older listeners: does the task matter?

Objective Working memory refers to a cognitive system that holds a limited amount of information in a temporarily heightened state of availability, for use in ongoing cognitive tasks. Research suggests a link between working memory and speech recognition. In this study, we investigated this relationship using two working memory tests that differed in regard to the operationalisation of the link between working memory and attention: the auditory visual divided attention test (AVDAT) and the widely used reading span test. Design The relationship between speech-in-noise recognition and working memory was examined for two different working memory tests that varied in methodological and theoretical aspects, using a within-subject design. Study sample Nineteen hearing-impaired older listeners participated. Results We found a strong link between the reading span test and speech-in-noise recognition and a less robust link between the AVDAT and speech-in-noise recognition. There was evidence for the role of selective attention in speech-in-noise recognition, shown via the new AVDAT measure. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the strength of the relationship between speech-in-noise recognition and working memory may be influenced by the match between the demands and the stimuli of the speech-in-noise task and those of the working memory test.

소리 내어 읽기를 활용한 스페인어 강독 수업 사례 연구

In the course of this study, the parts lacking in previous studies related to reading aloud were supplemented so that a sufficient reading aloud experience could be achieved. First, texts that have already been understood were targeted so that learners'' working memory could focus on reading aloud, and audio files were provided to listen to the accent and intonation of a native speaker. In order for learners to experience reading aloud, 12 recording assignments were submitted during one semester, and feedback sessions were held with the instructor every week to ensure that reading aloud was repeated enough to make sense. According to the results of the post-survey on the number of repetitions of reading and the required time after submitting the reading aloud assignment for one semester, it can be said that sufficient repetition of reading aloud has been learned, and the results of the reading aloud experience are generally positive. First of all, we were able to recognize the Spanish pronunciation characteristics of learners that we did not know before, and the characteristic answer to the question asking about the merits of the Spanish reading class using reading aloud was that they gained confidence in improving their overall Spanish skills. In the questionnaire on the recognition of reading aloud as a learning method and the effectiveness of reading aloud related to language functions such as speaking and listening, it can be said that the learning goals of improving overall language ability and speaking ability were achieved to some extent, and reading aloud was recognized as a useful self-directed learning method