Verbal Working Memory Task Research Articles

Working Memory in Aphasia: The Role of Temporal Information Processing

Aphasia is an acquired impairment of language functions resulting from a brain lesion. It is usually accompanied by deficits in non-linguistic cognitive processes. This study aimed to investigate in patients with aphasia the complex interrelationships between selected cognitive functions: auditory speech comprehension, working memory (WM), and temporal information processing (TIP) in the millisecond time range. Thirty right-handed subjects (20 males) aged from 27 to 82 years suffering from post-stroke aphasia participated in the study. Verbal working memory (VWM) and spatial working memory (SWM) were assessed with: (1) a receptive verbal test and (2) the Corsi Block-Tapping Test, respectively. Both these WM tests used the forward tasks (mainly engaging maintenance processes, i.e., storing, monitoring, and matching information) and backward tasks (engaging both maintenance and manipulation processes, i.e., reordering and updating information). Auditory comprehension was assessed by receptive language tests, and TIP efficiency was assessed by auditory perception of temporal order in the millisecond time range. We observed better performance of forward WM tasks than backward ones, independently of the type of material used. Furthermore, the severity of auditory comprehension impairment correlated with the efficiency on both forward and backward VWM tasks and the backward SWM task. Further analysis revealed that TIP plays a crucial role only in the latter task. These results indicate the divergent pattern of interactions between WM and TIP depending on the type of WM tasks. Level of verbal competency appeared to play an important role in both VWM tasks, whereas TIP (which is associated with manipulation processes) appeared to be important for SWM, but only on the backward task.

Fronto-striatal changes along the menstrual cycle during working memory: Effect of sex hormones on activation and connectivity patterns

Frontal and striatal areas are the neuroanatomical basis for working memory (WM), as well as targets for sex steroids. However, up to date little is known regarding menstrual cycle (MC) effects on brain activation and connectivity patterns during verbal WM. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal dataset to study dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, putamen and caudate activation and connectivity patterns during a verbal WM task along the natural MC. Thirty-nine naturally cycling healthy women were scanned three times locked to their MC (menses, pre-ovulatory and luteal phase). They performed an N-back task with two trial types, targets and lures, assessing (i) updating and (ii) inhibitory process respectively. Distinct patterns of fronto-striatal activation and connectivity changes were observed for each process. (i) For targets, we observed decreased connectivity between left striatum- and inferior frontal and parietal areas, the circuit underlying phonological WM, in response to elevated progesterone during the luteal phase. Simultaneously, we observed an alleviation of inhibition from fronto-striatal areas on areas related to higher cognitive effort and the salience network. (ii) For lures, negative inter-hemispheric connectivity between fronto-parietal areas during the pre-ovulatory phase, as well as increased connectivity between bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and posteromedial structures during the luteal phase. Overall, we corroborated a hormone mediated inter-hemispheric decoupling, enhanced frontal activity and disinhibition of the salience brain network and striatum during the luteal phase. In summary, we interpret these results in relation to a differential top-down regulation in higher hormone levels phases and hyperactive bottom-up network during the luteal phase, which could explain the vulnerability of this phase to MC associated disorders.

First Trimester DEX Treatment Is Not Associated with Altered Brain Activity During Working Memory Performance in Adults.

ContextPrenatal dexamethasone (DEX) treatment is sometimes used in pregnancies at risk for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) to prevent virilization in female fetuses with CAH. In boys and in fetuses not having CAH, there is no benefit of early DEX treatment and the risks of this therapy must be thoroughly investigated. High doses of prenatal glucocorticoid might alter the developmental trajectory of the brain into adulthood, even for CAH unaffected subjects treated with DEX for a short term during the first trimester.ObjectiveThe present study investigated brain activation during working memory performance in DEX-treated subjects compared with controls.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsWe tested 18 participants who were exposed to DEX during the first trimester of fetal life but did not have CAH (8 females; mean age 20.78 [standard deviation (SD), 2.67] years) and 40 control participants (24 females; mean age 20.53 [SD, 2.64]) from a single research institute. Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging on a 3T scanner during a verbal and visuospatial working memory task.ResultsWe did not observe any differences in brain activity during working memory performance. However, DEX-treated subjects responded faster during the experimental condition of the verbal WM task.ConclusionsFirst trimester DEX treatment did not seem to result in altered working memory–related brain activity at adult age. Our findings contribute to the risk–benefit assessment of prenatal DEX treatment in the context of CAH.

Core music elements: rhythmic, melodic and harmonic musicians show differences in cognitive performance (Elementos básicos de la música: músicos rítmicos, melódicos y armónicos muestran diferencias de desempeño cognitivo)

ABSTRACT This study explores the cognitive profiles of different types of expert musician adults, and suggests a frame of separation to categorize them according to the musical instrument they play. These differences would be based on the core elements of music (rhythm, melody and harmony), which activate the nervous system differently in expert adult musical performers. Several tests were applied, including executive function tasks such as verbal and visual-spatial working memory, cognitive inhibition, go/no-go and cognitive flexibility tasks, as well as tests that measure other cognitive aspects, such as fluid intelligence, divided attention and processing speed. Four groups were established to compare cognitive performance: rhythmic, melodic and harmonic musicians, and a control group (non-musicians). The results show different cognitive performances between the groups of musicians — as well as between musicians and non-musicians: the harmonic group showed the best results, following by the melodic group, the rhythmic group and lastly the control group.

The relation between the intelligibility of irrelevant speech and cognitive performance-A revised model based on laboratory studies.

Irrelevant background speech causes dissatisfaction and impairs cognitive performance in open-plan offices. The model of Hongisto (2005, Indoor Air, 15, 458-468) predicts the relation between cognitive performance and the intelligibility of speech described with an objectively measured quantity, the Speech Transmission Index (STI). The model has impacted research in psychology and room acoustics as well as the acoustic design guidelines of offices. However, the model was based on scarce empirical data. The aim of this study was to revise the model based on a systematic literature review, focusing on laboratory experiments manipulating the STI of speech by wide-band steady-state noise. Fourteen studies reporting altogether 34 tests of the STI-performance relation were included. According to Model 1 that includes all tests, performance begins to decrease approximately above STI=0.21 while the maximum decrease is reached at STI=0.44. Verbal short-term memory tasks were most strongly and very consistently affected by the STI of speech. The model for these tasks showed a deterioration in performance between STI 0.12 and 0.51. Some evidence of an STI-performance relation was found in verbal working memory tasks and limited evidence in complex verbal tasks. Further research is warranted, particularly concerning task-specific effects.

Working Memory and Linguistic Performance of Dual Language Learners With and Without Developmental Language Disorders.

Purpose This research note describes the use of working memory measures as potential indicators of developmental language disorders (DLD) in preschool-age dual language learners from Spanish-speaking backgrounds. This report is an extension of early work, completed by the same authors that described the diagnostic accuracy of a Spanish nonword repetition task. Method One hundred thirty Spanish-speaking families with preschool-age children participated; 37 children had DLD, and 93 were typically developing. Families were recruited from early childhood programs in three states in the western region of the United States. Working memory and linguistic measures were collected from the children; parents completed a vocabulary checklist and reported on their child's longest utterances. Results Nonverbal working memory was not associated with other measures, but verbal working memory was associated with linguistic measures. Although there were no group differences on nonverbal working memory, group differences (DLD vs. typical development) were detected on verbal working memory and linguistic measures. Verbal working memory combined with vocabulary scores resulted in 79% of cases correctly classified. Conclusions Working memory tasks yielded different results depending on the type of task (verbal vs. nonverbal). Outcomes from this study showed that a nonverbal working memory task (hand movement) was not useful in distinguishing preschool-age dual language children with DLD from typical peers, but a verbal working memory task (nonword repetition) may be useful if combined with other more robust linguistic measures.

Visual and verbal working memory loads interfere with scene-viewing.

Working memory is thought to be divided into distinct visual and verbal subsystems. Studies of visual working memory frequently use verbal working memory tasks as control conditions and/or use articulatory suppression to ensure that visual load is not transferred to verbal working memory. Using these verbal tasks relies on the assumption that the verbal working memory load will not interfere with the same processes as visual working memory. In the present study, participants maintained a visual or verbal working memory load as they simultaneously viewed scenes while their eye movements were recorded. Because eye movements and visual working memory are closely linked, we anticipated the visual load would interfere with scene-viewing (and vice versa), while the verbal load would not. Surprisingly, both visual and verbal memory loads interfered with scene-viewing behavior, while eye movements during scene-viewing did not significantly interfere with performance on either memory task. These results suggest that a verbal working memory load can interfere with eye movements in a visual task.

Neural correlates of working memory training: Evidence for plasticity in older adults

Brain activity typically increases with increasing working memory (WM) load, regardless of age, before reaching an apparent ceiling. However, older adults exhibit greater brain activity and reach ceiling at lower loads than younger adults, possibly reflecting compensation at lower loads and dysfunction at higher loads. We hypothesized that WM training would bolster neural efficiency, such that the activation peak would shift towards higher memory loads after training. Pre-training, older adults showed greater recruitment of the WM network than younger adults across all loads, with decline at the highest load. Ten days of adaptive training on a verbal WM task improved performance and led to greater brain responsiveness at higher loads for both groups. For older adults the activation peak shifted rightward towards higher loads. Finally, training increased task-related functional connectivity in older adults, both within the WM network and between this task-positive network and the task-negative/default-mode network. These results provide new evidence for functional plasticity with training in older adults and identify a potential signature of improvement at the neural level.

ALE meta-analysis, its role in node identification and the effects on estimates of local network organization.

Functional connectivity analyses for task-based fMRI data are generally preceded by methods for identification of network nodes. As there is no general canonical approach to identifying network nodes, different identification techniques may exert different effects on inferences drawn regarding functional network properties. Here, we compared the impact of two different node identification techniques on estimates of local node importance (based on Degree Centrality, DC) in two working memory domains: verbal and visual. The two techniques compared were the commonly used Activation Likelihood Estimate (ALE) technique (with node locations based on data aggregation), against a hybrid technique, Experimentally Derived Estimation (EDE). In the latter, ALE was first used to isolate regions of interest; then participant-specific nodes were identified based on individual-participant local maxima. Time series were extracted at each node for each dataset and subsequently used in functional connectivity analysis to: (1) assess the impact of choice of technique on estimates of DC, and (2) assess the difference between the techniques in the ranking of nodes (based on DC) in the networks they produced. In both domains, we found a significant Technique by Node interaction, signifying that the two techniques yielded networks with different DC estimates. Moreover, for the majority of participants, node rankings were uncorrelated between the two techniques (85% for the verbal working memory task and 92% for the visual working memory task). The latter effect is direct evidence that the identification techniques produced different rankings at the level of individual participants. These results indicate that node choice in task-based fMRI data exerts downstream effects that will impact interpretation and reverse inference regarding brain function.

Inhibición y memoria de trabajo: marcadores diferenciales de las dificultades en cálculo y resolución de problemas en Educación Infantil

El objetivo del presente estudio consistió en determinar si las funciones ejecutivas de memoria de trabajo (MT) e inhibición se constituyen como marcadores diferenciales de las dificultades en los dominios de cálculo y resolución de problemas al inicio de la escolaridad. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 208 preescolares de 5 a 6 años (edad media = 70.17 meses; DT = 3.51; 47.6% niñas y 52.4% niños). Se administraron distintas tareas neuropsicológicas de funcionamiento ejecutivo para evaluar la inhibición (visual y auditiva) y la MT (verbal y viso-espacial). Los participantes se categorizaron en 4 grupos en función de su rendimiento en los subtest de cálculo y resolución de problemas de la batería TEDI-MATH (Grégoire, Noël, y Van Nieuwenhoven, 2005): dificultades iniciales en cálculo (DC, n = 17); dificultades iniciales en resolución de problemas (DRP, n = 13); dificultades iniciales en ambos dominios (DC+DRP = 20) y rendimiento medio (RM, n = 158). Los resultados revelaron un peor funcionamiento del grupo con DC+DRP en todas las tareas de inhibición y MT verbal en comparación con el grupo con RM. Se destaca una mayor afectación del grupo con DC en inhibición visual, y del grupo con DRP en MT verbal en comparación con los niños sin problemas. La tarea de inhibición auditiva es la única capaz de discriminar entre niños con DC+DRP y niños con dificultades en único dominio. No se encontraron diferencias en las tareas de MT viso-espacial en ninguno de los casos. Se comentan las implicaciones de estos hallazgos para la investigación y la práctica psicoeducativa.

Verbal Working Memory as Emergent from Language Comprehension and Production.

This article reviews current models of verbal working memory and considers the role of language comprehension and long-term memory in the ability to maintain and order verbal information for short periods of time. While all models of verbal working memory posit some interaction with long-term memory, few have considered the character of these long-term representations or how they might affect performance on verbal working memory tasks. Similarly, few models have considered how comprehension processes and production processes might affect performance in verbal working memory tasks. Modern theories of comprehension emphasize that people learn a vast web of correlated information about the language and the world and must activate that information from long-term memory to cope with the demands of language input. To date, there has been little consideration in theories of verbal working memory for how this rich input from comprehension would affect the nature of temporary memory. There has also been relatively little attention to the degree to which language production processes naturally manage serial order of verbal information. The authors argue for an emergent model of verbal working memory supported by a rich, distributed long-term memory for language. On this view, comprehension processes provide encoding in verbal working memory tasks, and production processes maintenance, serial ordering, and recall. Moreover, the computational capacity to maintain and order information varies with language experience. Implications for theories of working memory, comprehension, and production are considered.

Effect of ageing on verbal and visuo-spatial working memory: Evidence from 880 individuals

It is well-known that ageing is associated with a decrease in working memory abilities. It is not so clear at what age the decline begins and if there are differences in the decline of verbal and visuo-spatial working memory. This study investigates the effect of ageing on verbal and visuo-spatial working memory by comparing the performance of 880 subjects aged between 15- and 80-year old who were subdivided into five groups. The results show that age is negatively correlated with performance on both verbal and visuo-spatial working memory tasks. Specifically, we observed a gradual deterioration in performance with increasing age starting at 36-year old. Comparing the performance of the five groups, it is possible to observe a clear decline in both verbal and visuo-spatial working memory domains in subjects over 66-year old. However, in the next youngest age group, it is possible to notice differences in performance depending on the type of material being processed and the cognitive load required. This variability is discussed by analyzing the factors that may have influenced test performance.

Aversive distractors modulate affective working memory in frontoparietal regions.

Rumination and worry are prominent symptoms of many psychiatric disorders. These symptoms compete for the same working memory (WM) storage space as those required for task-goals, leaving few cognitive resources available for successful goal-directed behavior. Once lodged in WM, negative information reduces cognitive control and further biases cognition toward affective stimuli. However, few studies have examined the neural mechanisms associated with maintaining affectively negative information in WM and the filtering of aversive distractors. Here, subjects completed an affective verbal WM task while distractor-cues that predicted aversive or positive stimuli were presented during the delay period while undergoing functional MRI (fMRI). Results revealed that during aversive distractors, there was a decrease in both dlPFC and PPC activity, but only when maintaining negative affective information in WM. Furthermore, dlPFC and PPC activity predicted behavioral performance. This pattern was not observed when maintaining positive words in WM or when positive distractors were presented. These findings demonstrate that the affective valence of the items stored in WM modulates "top-down" control networks necessary for the execution of cognitive control related to affective distractor interreference. Furthermore, these results provide a neurocognitive framework for understanding how rumination and worry produce negative downstream failures in cognitive control and emotion regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Cerebral cortex activation during the Sternberg verbal working memory task

Несмотря на интенсивное изучение, данные о функциональном значении отдельных областей головного мозга для процессов рабочей памяти (РП) остаются противоречивыми. Целью данного исследования было определить активацию участков коры на разных этапах выполнения задачи на РП (запечатление, удержание и извлечение информации). На 19 здоровых добровольцах была использована функциональная магнитная резонансная томография (фМРТ) с модифицированной задачей Стернберга. Суть задачи — в запоминании и удержании в памяти последовательности из семи букв с последующим сравнением с ней одной буквы. Проанализирована активация в трех периодах задачи по сравнению с периодом покоя, а также динамика изменения интенсивности BOLD-сигнала в зависимости от времени в трех областях: левой дорсолатеральной префронтальной коре (ДЛПФК), левой задней теменной коре и левой затылочной коре. По результатам анализа, на протяжении всех периодов задачи наблюдали статистически значимую активацию участков ПФК и задней теменной коры (р < 0,05), но с изменением их локализации и латерализации. При этом паттерн активации в периоде удержания соответствовал компонентам лобно-теменной сети контроля. По результатам анализа изменения интенсивности BOLD-сигнала наиболее выраженную активацию ДЛПФК и теменной коры наблюдали в конце периода запечатления, периоде удержания и начале периода извлечения, что подтверждает роль данных областей в процессах РП. Пик активации затылочной коры соответствовал периоду запечатления. Данное исследование подтверждает функциональное значение ДЛПФК и задней теменной коры для процессов РП на всех этапах выполнения задачи Стернберга.

Effect of Breakfast Consumption on Verbal Fluency and Verbal Working Memory Performance in Seven-Year-Old Children

Background: Studies have indicated that failure to eat breakfast did not affect children’s performance in general cognitive tests; however, skipping breakfast might have effects on the specific aspects of cognition such as memory. Hypothetically, language as a higher cognitive function may be influenced by breakfast consumption routines. Objectives: This study aimed to compare students’ verbal fluency and working memory according to their breakfast routines. Methods: We selected 60 seven-year-old children from three primary schools in the central regions of Tehran in 2017. Their parents were invited to a structured interview to fill out questionnaires consisting of information related to the child, parent, and breakfast routines. Based on the family's breakfast habits, two groups were identified: Group 1 with a full, regular breakfast routine and Group 2 with no breakfast or incomplete breakfast routine. An experienced speech therapist administered the verbal fluency task (phonemic and semantic fluency) and verbal working memory task (forward and backward digit numbers) for each student. Results: The mean scores of students with a full breakfast routine on verbal fluency tasks were at least three units more than those of students without breakfast. These differences were all significant (P = 0.001). In working memory tasks, students with a full breakfast routine had seven digits and one digit in their responses more than students without breakfast in forward and backward digit tasks, in sequence. These differences were significant (P = 0.001). Conclusions: The findings of the present study provide information on the positive effects of a regular breakfast routine on the specific cognitive functions related to language processing.

Processing of Targets and Non-targets in Verbal Working Memory

In this study we used functional MRI (fMRI) to examine whether defining a stimulus as a target affects brain activation associated with a verbal working memory (WM) task. Seventeen healthy right-handed volunteers performed a Sternberg task with three consonants as memory set. We performed a region of interest based fMRI analysis to examine differences in brain activity patterns between targets and non-targets. Non-target brain activity was subtracted from target activity and hemispheric and fronto-parietal differences were tested by conducting a MANOVA. Participants responded correctly to 97.5% of the stimuli. The fMRI results showed a hemisphere by fronto-parietal location interaction, where targets evoked increased activity in the right frontal regions compared to non-targets, whereas the left frontal task activation did not differ between targets and non-targets. In the parietal regions, targets evoked increased activity compared to non-targets in the lateral anterior, but not the medial posterior part. Our study revealed that defining a stimulus as a target within a verbal WM task evokes an increase in brain activity in right frontal brain regions, compared to non-targets. Our results suggest an important hemispheric differentiation in target processing, in which the right frontal cortex is predominantly involved in processes associated with target stimuli. The left frontal cortex does not differentiate between processing target and non-target stimuli, suggesting involvement in WM processes that are independent of stimulus type. Parietal, the lateral anterior part is predominantly involved in target processing, while the medial posterior part does not differentiate between target and non-target processing.

Dataset of human medial temporal lobe neurons, scalp and intracranial EEG during a verbal working memory task

We present an electrophysiological dataset recorded from nine subjects during a verbal working memory task. Subjects were epilepsy patients undergoing intracranial monitoring for the localization of epileptic seizures. Subjects performed a modified Sternberg task in which the encoding of memory items, maintenance, and recall were temporally separated. The dataset includes simultaneously recorded scalp EEG with the 10–20 system, intracranial EEG (iEEG) recorded with depth electrodes, waveforms and spike times of neurons recorded in the medial temporal lobe, and localization information on the depth electrodes. Subject characteristics and information on each trial (set size, match/mismatch, correct/incorrect, response, and response time) are given. For technical validation of data, we provide spike sorting quality metrics and the spectra of iEEG and scalp EEG signals. This dataset enables the investigation of working memory by providing simultaneous scalp EEG and iEEG recordings, which can be used for connectivity analysis, along with hard-to-obtain neuronal recordings from humans.

Differential tDCS and tACS Effects on Working Memory-Related Neural Activity and Resting-State Connectivity.

Transcranial direct and alternating current stimulation (tDCS and tACS, respectively) entail capability to modulate human brain dynamics and cognition. However, the comparability of these approaches at the level of large-scale functional networks has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, 44 subjects were randomly assigned to receive sham (N = 15), tDCS (N = 15), or tACS (N = 14). The first electrode (anode in tDCS) was positioned over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the target area, and the second electrode (cathode in tDCS) was placed over the right supraorbital region. tDCS was delivered with a constant current of 2 mA. tACS was fixed to 2 mA peak-to-peak with 6 Hz frequency. Stimulation was applied concurrently with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquisitions, both at rest and during the performance of a verbal working memory (WM) task. After stimulation, subjects repeated the fMRI WM task. Our results indicated that at rest, tDCS increased functional connectivity particularly within the default-mode network (DMN), while tACS decreased it. When comparing both fMRI WM tasks, it was observed that tDCS displayed decreased brain activity post-stimulation as compared to online. Conversely, tACS effects were driven by neural increases online as compared to post-stimulation. Interestingly, both effects primarily occurred within DMN-related areas. Regarding the differences in each fMRI WM task, during the online fMRI WM task, tACS engaged distributed neural resources which did not overlap with the WM-dependent activity pattern, but with some posterior DMN regions. In contrast, during the post-stimulation fMRI WM task, tDCS strengthened prefrontal DMN deactivations, being these activity reductions associated with faster responses. Furthermore, it was observed that tDCS neural responses presented certain consistency across distinct fMRI modalities, while tACS did not. In sum, tDCS and tACS modulate fMRI-derived network dynamics differently. However, both effects seem to focus on DMN regions and the WM network-DMN shift, which are highly affected in aging and disease. Thus, albeit exploratory and needing further replication with larger samples, our results might provide a refined understanding of how the DMN functioning can be externally modulated through commonly used non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, which may be of eventual clinical relevance.

Neural correlates of verbal working memory in children with epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes

BackgroundPrevious functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have identified brain systems underlying different components of working memory (WM) in healthy subjects. The aim of this study was to compare the functional integrity of these neural networks in children with self-limited childhood epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes (ECTS) as compared to healthy controls, using a verbal working memory task (WMT). MethodsFunctional MRI of WM in seventeen 6-to-13 year-old children, diagnosed with ECTS, and 17 sex- and age-matched healthy controls were conducted at 3 T. To estimate BOLD responses during the maintenance of low, medium, and high WMT loads, we used a Sternberg verbal WMT. Neuropsychological testing prior to scanning and behavioral data during scanning were also acquired. ResultsBehavioral performances during WMT, in particular accuracy and response time, were poorer in children with ECTS than in controls. Increased WM load was associated with increased BOLD signal in all subjects, with significant clusters detected in frontal and parietal regions, predominantly in the left hemisphere. However, under the high load condition, patients showed reduced activation in the frontal, temporal and parietal regions as compared to controls. In brain regions where WM-triggered BOLD activation differed between groups, this activation correlated with neuropsychological performances in healthy controls but not in patients with ECTS, further suggesting WM network dysfunction in the latter. ConclusionChildren with ECTS differ from healthy controls in how they control WM processes during tasks with increasing difficulty level, notably for high WM load where patients demonstrate both reduced BOLD activation and behavioral performances.

Sensitivity detection in memory recognition: interference control as index of taxonomic memory development?

ABSTRACTWe investigated how long-term memory modulates recognition accuracy performance in typically developing primary school children (aged 7 vs. 9 years). We devised a verbal working memory task where words associations were manipulated to obtain different types of semantic associations (i.e., taxonomic, thematic). Sensitivity detection measures were operationalised as difference between hits and false alarms (for both internal and external intrusions). As our main result, we found sensitivity detection for taxonomic associations was greater in older children than younger. In turn, this showed that taxonomies produce more interference in younger children, and thus, they are not able to take advantage from taxonomic associations, as older children do. These results are helpful in sketching a developmental trend of how semantic memory impacts recognition processes in memory.