Effect of subvocalization on memory for speech sounds.

Subjects in two groups were presented with sequences of 6 consonant-vowel syllables for ordered recall. Subjects in both groups were trained to suppress subvocalization. Only subjects in the feedback group were asked to suppress subvocalization during the experiment, while subjects in the no-feedback group were allowed to subvocalize during the memory task. Analysis of the electromyographic records showed a large decrease in subvocalization in the feedback condition, and results of the memory task revealed an increase in errors for this group. However, a comparison of errors within each group revealed an identical pattern of overall errors and intrusion errors on subvocalization and nonsubvocalization trials, and these results were identical in both groups. The results suggest that requiring subjects to simultaneously suppress subvocalization and remember syllables depresses performance slightly, but encoding of speech sounds in short-term memory occurs independently of subvocal activity during the memory task.     

Memory and intelligence: Age and ability differences in strategies and organization of recall

Proficiency at organizing information for recall is one aspect of memory functioning which could be expected to be related to intelligence, or general ability. Comparisons of children of average and of superior ability (Kuhlmann-Anderson scores) in a multitrial free-recall learning task confirmed this prediction: Both level of recall and amount of sequential organization were significantly higher for the superior ability groups. Mental age definitions of intelligence imply that equivalent performance by children of different chronological ages will be based on qualitatively similar cognitive processes. This assumption was not confirmed. Age-related changes in mnemonic strategies were not associated with ability-related differences in recall or organization. Some features of memory development are more dependent on age, whereas others are more dependent on ability. The latter may be best explained in terms of production inefficiency (Flavell, 1970).     

Everyday memory performance across the life span: effects of age and noncognitive individual differences.

Gerontologists have long been concerned with the impact of individual-difference factors on memory. This study used a large sample (N = 2,495) of adult volunteers aged 18 to 90 years to determine if a set of individual-difference variables--vocabulary, education, depression, gender, marital status, and employment status--mediates the effects of aging on a wide range of laboratory-analogue tests of everyday memory. The data indicated that age was consistently the most significant predictor of memory performance, followed by vocabulary and gender. Vocabulary totally mediated age effects on a prose memory measure, and partial mediation of aging effects--primarily by vocabulary and gender--was observed on 5 other memory tests. These data suggest that when health samples of volunteers serve as research subjects, these individual differences can affect some memory test scores, but age remains the best overall predictor of memory performance.     

Sensorimotor and working memory systems jointly support development of perceptual rhythm processing

We studied the role of sensorimotor and working memory systems in supporting development of perceptual rhythm processing with 119 participants aged 7–12 years. Children were assessed for their abilities in sensorimotor synchronization (SMS; beat tapping), auditory working memory (AWM; digit span), and rhythm discrimination (RD; same/different judgment on a pair of musical rhythm sequences). Multiple regression analysis revealed that children's RD performance was independently predicted by higher beat tapping consistency and greater digit span score, with all other demographic variables (age, sex, socioeconomic status, music training) controlled. The association between RD and SMS was more robust in the slower tempos (60 and 100 beats-per-minute (BPM)) than faster ones (120 and 180 BPM). Critically, the relation of SMS to RD was moderated by age in that RD performance was predicted by beat tapping consistency in younger children (age: 7–9 years), but not in older children (age: 10–12 years). AWM was the only predictor of RD in older children. Together, the current findings demonstrate that the sensorimotor and working memory systems jointly support RD processing during middle-to-late childhood and that the degree of association between the two systems and perceptual rhythm processing is shifted before entering into early adolescence.     

Working Memory,Fluid Intelligence,and Attention Are Predictors of Multitasking Performance,but Polychronicity and Extraversion Are Not

This study explored predictors of multitasking performance. Based on cognitive psychology research, attention and working memory were assumed to be predictors. Fluid intelligence, polychronicity (as the preference for multitasking and the belief that their preference is the best way to handle things), and Extraversion were argued to be additional predictors. Multitasking performance was measured with the scenario "Simultaneous capacity/Multi-tasking (SIMKAP)" (n = 122). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that working memory was the most important predictor in addition to attention and fluid intelligence. The latter two constructs contributed significantly to the explained variance, but to a lesser extent. Polychronicity was not a significant predictor, nor was Extraversion. Implications for personnel selection and for time management are discussed.     

Developmental relationships among metamemory,elaborative strategy use,and associative memory

Two experiments examined the relationships among metamemory knowledge, the use of associative memory strategies like elaboration, and cued-recall memory. In Experiment 1, 5th and 12th graders verbalized their strategies while studying noun pairs; their cued-recall memory of those pairs was then tested. Metamemory knowledge was assessed before or after this task. ANOVAs revealed developmental increases in associative strategies, cued recall, and metamemory. Multiple regression indicated the increase in associative strategies predicted all but 4% of the increase in cued recall; metamemory development in turn predicted all but 4% of the increase in associative strategies. Metamemory was a better predictor than a nonverbal measure of intelligence. The strong relationships were due partly to methodological refinements, including a counterbalanced design, a direct strategy measure, a reliable composite rather than single-item metamemory measure, ordinal rather than dichotomous scoring of metamemory items, and regression rather than χ² analyses. The results of Experiment 1 were replicated in Experiment 2. Metamemory development also predicted most of the grade difference in cued recall that remained after study strategies were equated by elaboration instructions, suggesting it may explain improvements in retrieval strategies as well.     

Executive functioning and processing speed in age-related differences in memory: Contribution of a coding task

The aim of the present study was to examine executive dysfunctioning and decreased processing speed as potential mediators of age-related differences in episodic memory. We compared the performances of young and elderly adults in a free-recall task. Participants were also given tests to measure executive functions and perceptual processing speed and a coding task (the Digit Symbol Substitution Test, DSST). More precisely, we tested the hypothesis that executive functions would mediate the age-related differences observed in the free-recall task better than perceptual speed. We also tested the assumption that a coding task, assumed to involve both executive processes and perceptual speed, would be the best mediator of age-related differences in memory. Findings first confirmed that the DSST combines executive processes and perceptual speed. Secondly, they showed that executive functions are a significant mediator of age-related differences in memory, and that DSST performance is the best predictor.     

Kindergarten predictors of three aspects of reading achievement

Kindergarten measures of intelligence, auditory perception, visual perception, and associative learning were used to predict three aspects of reading achievement (word attack, word recognition, and comprehension) at the end of Grades 1,2, and 3 for 79 subjects. The predictability of each measure was a function not only of grade, but also of the aspect of reading achievement being predicted. Multiple correlations of the predictors tended to increase across grade levels and were highest for the comprehension aspect of reading. The Number Facility subtest of the PMA was the over-all best predictor or reading achievement. Possible reasons for this and other findings are discussed.     

A factorial study of auditory function

Tests of auditory function in the fields of pitch, loudness, quality (timbre), and time, auditory analysis, synthesis, and memory, together with age, intelligence, and four tests of visual memory, were studied factorially. The subjects were 200 high-school students. The intercorrelations were factored to nine factors by a modification of the centroid technique and rotated to an oblique simple structure. No general auditory factor appeared. Instead there appeared group factors tentatively identified as pitch-quality discrimination, loudness discrimination, auditory integral for perceptual mass, auditory resistance (synthesis and analysis), speed of closure, auditory span formation, memory span (auditory and visual), memory or incidental closure and an unidentifiable residual plane. The average intercorrelation among the primary vectors was low, only one intercorrelation being greater than .34. A number of queries are answered by the interpretation of the results.     

Internalising symptoms and verbal working memory in school‐age children: A processing efficiency analysis

The current study investigated differential contributions of internalising symptoms (state anxiety, trait anxiety, depression) to school‐age children's verbal short‐term (STM) and working memory (WM) span accuracy and efficiency (microanalysis of response times). Children's (N = 125, M_age = 11.44 years) STM/WM was assessed with simple/complex span tasks. Our analyses revealed that: (a) children with high levels of state anxiety displayed reduced simple span accuracy (on Word span) and poorer efficiency on both simple (preparatory intervals, interword pauses) and complex span (preparatory intervals) response time segments; (b) trait anxiety was a negative predictor of children's complex span accuracy, as well as their efficiency on both simple (word durations) and complex span (interword pauses) response time measures; (3) depressive symptoms predicted longer simple span interword pauses. Findings indicate that while all internalising symptoms were predictive of children's poorer memory search efficiency, especially during the “silent”, executive intervals (interword pauses), anxiety symptoms were specifically predictive of children's impaired span accuracy and other efficiency indicators (preparatory intervals, word durations). The study highlights the differential contributions of state, trait anxiety, and depressive symptoms to STM/WM in children, emphasising the need to measure both accuracy and efficiency to assess the role that such symptoms play in children's performance.     

The Measurement of Verbal Working Memory Capacity and Its Relation to Reading Comprehension

Ninety-four subjects were tested on the Daneman and Carpenter (1980) reading span task, four versions of a related sentence span task in which reaction times and accuracy on sentence processing were measured along with sentence-final word recall, two number generation tasks designed to test working memory, digit span, and two shape-generation tasks designed to measure visual-spatial working memory. Forty-four subjects were retested on a subset of these measures at a 3-month interval. All subjects were tested on standard vocabulary and reading tests. Correlational analyses showed better internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the sentence span tasks than of the Daneman-Carpenter reading span task. Factor analysis showed no factor that could be related to a central verbal working memory; rotated factors suggested groupings of tests into factors that correspond to digitrelated tasks, spatial tasks, sentence processing in sentence span tasks, and recall in sentence span tasks. Correlational analyses and regression analyses showed that the sentence processing component of the sentence span tasks was the best predictor of performance on the reading test, with a small independent contribution of the recall component. The results suggest that sentence span tasks are unreliable unless measurements are made of both their sentence processing and recall components, and that the predictive value of these tasks for reading comprehension abilities lies in the overlap of operations rather than in limitations in verbal working memory that apply to both.     

Lower back pain in nurses working in home care: linked to work–family conflict,emotional dissonance,and appreciation?

In industrial countries home care services for elderly people living in the community are growing rapidly. Home care nursing is intensive and the nurses often suffer from musculoskeletal pain. Time pressure and job control are job-related factors linked to the risk of experiencing lower back pain (LBP) and LBP-related work impairment. This survey investigated whether work-family conflict (WFC), emotional dissonance and being appreciated at work have incremental predictive value. Responses were obtained from 125 home care nurses (63% response rate). Multiple linear regression showed that emotional dissonance and being appreciated at work predicted LBP intensity and LBP-related disability independently of time pressure and job control. WFC was not a predictor of LBP-related disability in multiple regression analyses despite a zero-order correlation with it. Redesigning the working pattern of home care nurses to reduce the emotional demands and improve appreciation of their work might reduce the incidence of LBP in this group.     

Having shaved a kiwi fruit: Memory of unfamiliar subject-performed actions

Summary In an experiment with young and elderly adults, memory of unfamiliar actions performed by the subjects was compared with memory of actions low and high in familiarity, in order further to assess the role of a knowledge base as regards memory material encoded by enacting. Memory of similar actions encoded verbally was also assessed. The findings showed that the type of encoding, as well as familiarity, determined free-recall memory performance. The highest free-recall scores were found for familiar actions encoded by performance, in both an immediate and a delayed free-recall test. Recognition memory was also enhanced by enacting, whereas the influence of familiarity with an item upon recognition performance was limited to actions encoded verbally. The role of familiarity in recognition performance of actions encoded verbally was reversed compared with that in free recall, in that recognition of unfamiliar actions was most effective. Moreover, age-related memory deficits were found in this study. Elderly adults showed a consistently lower level of performance than younger subjects in both types of free-recall test and in the recognition test. This effect of age was found regardless of the type of encoding, demonstrating that age-related memory differences are not compensated by motor encoding. The age effect was also found regardless of familiarity with the items, and was most significant for unfamiliar actions. This demonstrates that elderly adults have particular difficulty in processing unfamiliar memory material.The experiment was conducted as part of the fulfillment of the requirements for obtaining the diploma degree of Maria Schumacher. Portions of this paper were presented at the 32nd Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen, Regensburg, April 1990.     

Spatial and visuospatial working memory tests predict performance in classic multiple-object tracking in young adults, but nonspatial measures of the executive do not

An individual-differences approach was used to investigate the roles of visuospatial working memory and the executive in multiple-object tracking. The Corsi Blocks and Visual Patterns Tests were used to assess visuospatial working memory. Two relatively nonspatial measures of the executive were used: operation span (OSPAN) and reading span (RSPAN). For purposes of comparison, the digit span test was also included (a measure not expected to correlate with tracking). The tests predicted substantial amounts of variance (R (2) = .33), and the visuospatial measures accounted for the majority (R (2) = .30), with each making a significant contribution. Although the executive measures correlated with each other, the RSPAN did not correlate with tracking. The correlation between OSPAN and tracking was similar in magnitude to that between digit span and tracking (p < .05 for both), and when regression was used to partial out shared variance between the two tests, the remaining variance predicted by the OSPAN was minimal (sr ( 2 ) = .029). When measures of spatial memory were included in the regression, the unique variance predicted by the OSPAN became negligible (sr ( 2 ) = .000004). This suggests that the executive, as measured by tests such as the OSPAN, plays little role in explaining individual differences in multiple-object tracking.     

Personality and Intelligence: Gender,the Big Five,Self‐Estimated and Psychometric Intelligence

This paper reports on two studies that investigated the relationship between the Big Five personality traits, self‐estimates of intelligence (SEI), and scores on two psychometrically validated intelligence tests. In study 1 a total of 100 participants completed the NEO‐PI‐R, the Wonderlic Personnel Test and the Baddeley Reasoning Test, and estimated their own intelligence on a normal distribution curve. Multiple regression showed that psychometric intelligence was predicted by Conscientiousness and SEI, while SEI was predicted by gender, Neuroticism (notably anxiety) and Agreeableness (notably modesty). Personality was a better predictor of SEI than of psychometric intelligence itself. Study 2 attempted to explore the relationship between SEI and psychometric intelligence. A total of 130 participants completed the NEO‐PI‐R, the Baddeley Reasoning Test, and the S & M Spatial intelligence test. In addition, SEI and participants conceptions of intelligence were also examined. In combination with gender and previous IQ test experience, these variables were found to predict about 11% of the variance in SEI. SEI was the only significant predictor of psychometrically measured intelligence. Inconsistencies between results of the two studies, theoretical and applied implications, and limitations of this work are discussed.     

“Enacted” auditory images are ambiguous; “pure” auditory images are not

Previous research indicates that visual images are inherently unambiguous. The present study extends this argument to auditory imagery. In Experiment 1, subjects were able to reinterpret an imaged ambiguous auditory figure, but covert subvocalization apparently aided this reinterpretation. When subvocalization was blocked, reinterpretations were eliminated. Experiments 2 and 3 generalize this finding to different procedures and stimuli. Experiment 4 explores further the role of subvocalization, by showing that the likelihood of reinterpreting an imaged stimulus is directly proportional to the degree of enactment allowed. We argue that subvocalization or enactment provides an internal stimulus that is subject to reinterpretation. Without enactment, the “pure” auditory image is as unambiguous as a visual image. Thus, in both visual and auditory modalities, images come into being as representations and so are inherently meaningful.     

Individual differences in cognition: Some relationships between personality and memory

Individual differences in cognition were studied in the form of the hypothesis that arousal, as indexed by personality measures of extraversion and neuroticism, affects the way in which verbal material is organized in memory. Subjects pretested on measures of these personality variables participated in either a paired-associates learning or a free-recall experiment. On the paired-associates task, subjects who were thought to be high on arousal made fewer errors when response terms were semantically similar than low arousal subjects. On the other hand, subjects thought low on arousal made fewer errors when response words were phonetically similar than high arousal subjects. On the free-recall task, low arousal subjects were found to cluster words together on the basis of semantic category at a higher rate than high arousal subjects. These results were taken to support the view that high arousal (as indexed by personality measures) leads to a focus on the physical aspects of verbal material, whereas low arousal leads to a memory organized around semantic aspects. The implications of these findings for other views of memory are discussed.     

Timing of Stressful Life Events Affects Stability and Change of Neuroticism

Neuroticism is a predictor of many health problems. To study the determinants of within‐subject change in neuroticism, three hypotheses were tested: (i) subjects who experienced stressful life events (SLEs) show an increase in neuroticism; (ii) high baseline neuroticism moderated this effect; and (iii) recent SLEs had a greater impact on neuroticism than distant SLEs. Data came from the Finnish Twin Cohort. Neuroticism data were collected in 1975 and 1981 and SLEs data in 1981 (n = 21 085). By entering baseline neuroticism as a predictor for neuroticism at follow‐up, the outcome measure was change in neuroticism. Changes in neuroticism were predicted from SLE indices or their interaction with baseline neuroticism. Timing of SLEs was taken into account by distinguishing recent from distant SLEs. To control for confounding by shared genes and environments, both within‐twin pair and between‐twin pair effects were tested for monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs separately. Neuroticism's six‐year stability was high (r = .58, p < .001). Exposure to SLEs modestly increased neuroticism (βs > .55, ps < .001), unconfounded by shared genes. This effect was not moderated by high baseline neuroticism. Recent SLEs (.09 < βs < .15) had more impact than distant SLEs (.03 < βs < .11; ps < .01). In conclusion, the findings strongly supported a model of environmentally driven SLEs causing dynamic fluctuations around a person's set point of neuroticism. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does easily learned mean easily remembered?: it depends on your beliefs about intelligence

Because numerous studies have shown that feelings of encoding fluency are positively correlated with judgments of learning, a single dominant heuristic, easily learned = easily remembered (ELER), has been posited to explain how people interpret encoding fluency when assessing their own memory. However, the inferences people draw from feelings of encoding fluency may vary with their beliefs about why information is easy or effortful to encode. We conducted two experiments in which participants studied word lists and then predicted their future recall of those items. Results revealed that subjects who viewed intelligence as fixed, and who tended to interpret effortful encoding as indicating that they had reached the limits of their ability, used the ELER heuristic to make judgments of learning. However, subjects who viewed intelligence as malleable, and who tended to interpret effortful encoding as indicating greater engagement in learning, did not use the ELER heuristic and at times predicted greater memory for items that they found more effortful to learn.     

Listening comprehension in preschoolers: The role of memory

The current study analyzed the relationship between text comprehension and memory skills in preschoolers. We were interested in verifying the hypothesis that memory is a specific contributor to listening comprehension in preschool children after controlling for verbal abilities. We were also interested in analyzing the developmental path of the relationship between memory skills and listening comprehension in the age range considered. Forty‐four, 4‐year‐olds (mean age = 4 years and 6 months, SD =4 months) and 40, 5‐year‐olds (mean age = 5 years and 4 months, SD =5 months) participated in the study. The children were administered measures to evaluate listening comprehension ability (story comprehension), short‐term and working memory skills (forward and backward word span), verbal intelligence and receptive vocabulary. Results showed that both short‐term and working memory predicted unique and independent variance in listening comprehension after controlling for verbal abilities, with working memory explaining additional variance over and above short‐term memory. The predictive power of memory skills was stable in the age range considered. Results also confirm a strong relation between verbal abilities and listening comprehension in 4‐ and 5‐year‐old children.