Second language vocabulary level is related to benefits for second language listening comprehension under lower reverberation time conditions

The acoustic qualities of a room can have a deleterious effect on the quality of speech signals. The acoustic measurement of reverberation time (RT) has shown to impact second language (L2) speech comprehension positively when lower due to release from spectral and temporal masking effects as well as top-down processing factors. This auralization experiment investigated the benefits of better L2 vocabulary and executive function (updating) skills during L2 listening comprehension tests under shorter versus longer RT conditions (0.3 and 0.9?s). 57 bilingual university students undertook L2 vocabulary, number updating and L2 listening comprehension tests. After splitting groups into high/low vocabulary and updating groups, a mixed ANOVA was conducted. The high number updating group showed no significant differences or interactions in L2 listening comprehension than the lower number updating group across RT conditions. The high vocabulary group had 22% better L2 listening comprehension than the low vocabulary group in long RT, and 9% better in short RT. A significant benefit in L2 listening comprehension due to release from reverberation was only evident in the high vocabulary group. Results indicate that the benefit of good room acoustics for listening comprehension is greatest for those with better language (vocabulary) ability.     

第二语言阅读“熔断”假说的认知心理证据:在线篇章处理的范式

本研究以认知心理学的结构建造理论为实验框架,模拟学习者母语及外语在线篇章处理的过程,从而获取第二语言阅读"熔断"假说以及"门槛"效应的认知心理证据。英语水平差别显著的高低两组共60名被试参加了英、汉语故事理解加工实验,考察他们如何对故事的人物角色进行持续跟踪,以厘清故事内的"因果链"。结果发现:(1)高水平组成功地把他们的母语故事理解加工能力迁移到第二语言的故事理解加工,而低水平组则迁移失败;(2)理解加工能力的迁移与被试心理表征建构能力以及抑制机制的效率紧密关联,高水平组被试能有效地利用抑制机制来管理他们第二语言的结构建造过程,从而建立对故事的连贯心理表征,而低水平组则不能。在分析上述结果的基础上,文章提出第二语言阅读"熔断"假说的认知心理证据就是第二语言心理表征建构与抑制机制的作用问题;要成功地进行第二语言篇章理解,读者必须要使其二语潜在的能力(如词汇效率等)发展到某个点上,使得与抑制(结构建造的关键)相关的许多无意识的决定过程能够高度自动化。     

How prior knowledge,WMC, and relevance of information affect eye fixations in expository text

This study examined how prior knowledge and working memory capacity (WMC) influence the effect of a reading perspective on online text processing. In Experiment 1, 47 participants read and recalled 2 texts of different familiarity from a given perspective while their eye movements were recorded. The participants' WMC was assessed with the reading span test. The results suggest that if the reader has prior knowledge related to text contents and a high WMC, relevant text information can be encoded into memory without extra processing time. In Experiment 2, baseline processing times showed whether readers slow down their processing of relevant information or read faster through their relevant information. The results are discussed in the light of different working memory theories.     

Why does working memory capacity predict variation in reading comprehension? On the influence of mind wandering and executive attention

Some people are better readers than others, and this variation in comprehension ability is predicted by measures of working memory capacity (WMC). The primary goal of this study was to investigate the mediating role of mind-wandering experiences in the association between WMC and normal individual differences in reading comprehension, as predicted by the executive-attention theory of WMC (e.g., Engle & Kane, 2004). We used a latent-variable, structural-equation-model approach, testing skilled adult readers on 3 WMC span tasks, 7 varied reading-comprehension tasks, and 3 attention-control tasks. Mind wandering was assessed using experimenter-scheduled thought probes during 4 different tasks (2 reading, 2 attention-control). The results support the executive-attention theory of WMC. Mind wandering across the 4 tasks loaded onto a single latent factor, reflecting a stable individual difference. Most important, mind wandering was a significant mediator in the relationship between WMC and reading comprehension, suggesting that the WMC-comprehension correlation is driven, in part, by attention control over intruding thoughts. We discuss implications for theories of WMC, attention control, and reading comprehension.     

汉、英句法结构相似性与第二语言的熟练度对第二语言句法加工的影响

采用事件相关电位（ERP）技术,考察了汉、英句法结构相似性与第二语言（英语）熟练度对第二语言句法加工的影响。实验材料包含与汉语句法结构相似和不同的两种英语句法结构违反的句子。结果发现：与正确句子相比,相似句法违反句在高熟练组被试中,引发正向的ERP波形偏转（150-800ms）,而在低熟练组被试中,只引发了降低的N400（300-550ms）效应;对于不同句法违反句,无论高低熟悉程度的被试,均未出现显著的ERP效应。研究结果表明,第二语言句法与母语的相似性越高,加工起来更容易;第二语言熟练度水平对第二语言句法加工具有一定的促进作用,但受到两种语言句法结构相似性的影响,相似性越高,熟练度的促进作用越大。     

Split‐Attention and Coherence Principles in Multimedia Instruction Can Rescue Performance for Learners with Lower Working Memory Capacity

This study examined the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and the principles of Split‐Attention (Experiment 1) and Coherence (Experiment 2) in multimedia learning. Split‐Attention refers to reduced comprehension when learners must divide their attention between images and text, and Coherence refers to reduced comprehension when learners must process irrelevant information. In Experiment 1, those with lower WMC performed worse compared with those with higher WMC when learning from the Split‐Attention condition (audio + on‐screen text + images), but not when learning from the Complementary condition (audio + images). In Experiment 2, those with lower WMC performed worse compared with those with higher WMC when learning from the Incongruent condition (audio + irrelevant images), but not when learning from the Congruent condition (audio + relevant images). Findings reinforce the importance of pedagogically sound instructional design, as it may especially benefit those with lower WMC and equate learning across working memory abilities. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The interactive effect of working memory and text difficulty on metacomprehension accuracy

We investigated how working memory capacity (WMC) and text difficulty affect metacomprehension accuracy. Participants completed the operation-span test to measure WMC and ability to read expository texts. Under the easy-text condition, participants read 4 texts with increasing local cohesion, whereas under the difficult-text condition, participants read 4 original texts. Participants assigned a comprehension rating to each text and then completed a comprehension test. The results revealed a significant interactive effect of WMC and text difficulty on metacomprehension accuracy in Experiments 1 and 2. Under the easy-text condition, higher-WMC readers monitored their comprehension less accurately than did lower-WMC readers. In contrast, higher-WMC readers monitored their comprehension more accurately than did lower-WMC readers under the difficult-text condition. These results suggest that text difficulty may affect allocation of attentional resources.     

Individual differences in susceptibility to the effects of speech on reading comprehension

Individuals with high working memory capacity (WMC) are less distracted by task‐irrelevant speech than others. The mechanism behind this relationship, however, is not well understood, and it has only been found in a few paradigms. We used a Number updating task to measure WMC and two suppression mechanisms (immediate and delayed), and tested how they were associated with individual differences in susceptibility to the effects of speech on reading comprehension. The results revealed a negative relationship between WMC and susceptibility to speech distraction. Of the two suppression mechanisms, only immediate suppression was associated with speech distraction, suggesting that susceptibility to distraction is determined by the ability to immediately suppress the irrelevant speech. Furthermore, the relationship between WMC and speech distraction was mediated by the immediate suppression mechanism. The implications of these results and possible explanations of similar results found in other paradigms are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Speech vs. reading comprehension: an explorative study of gender representations in Norwegian

As research on the construction of a mental representation of referent gender in speech comprehension is scarce, this study examined whether factors identified in reading comprehension exert similar influence in speech comprehension. Conceptually replicating previous research, a sentence continuation evaluation task was set up in two modalities, as a listening task and as a time-confined reading task (i.e. to correspond to the time constraint when listening). In line with previous findings from self-paced reading paradigms we found gender representations in language comprehension to be grounded in the interaction between textual (grammatical) and background (stereotypical) information. Extending previous research, the effect of stereotypical information was however modulated by presentation modality. In all, although speech and reading comprehension share higher-level processes of comprehension, this study provides first evidence that differences in comprehension might occur due to differences such as orthographic access or attention allocation.     

Positive Interpretation Bias Predicts Longitudinal Decreases in Social Anxiety

Theoretical models of social anxiety suggest that distorted interpretation processes contribute to its development and maintenance, although the pathways through which this occurs are not well understood. Therefore, the present longitudinal study sought to determine whether negative interpretation bias, positive interpretation bias, and interpretation inflexibility (the degree to which participants correctly revise initial interpretations) predict changes in social anxiety over time. In an important advance over prior studies, individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) were accounted for, as WMC is thought to play a crucial role in the generation and maintenance of interpretation biases. Following a baseline assessment of social anxiety, interpretation biases, and WMC, participants completed follow-up assessments of social anxiety both 2 weeks (n = 106) and 4 weeks (n = 96) later. After controlling for baseline social anxiety and WMC, greater positive interpretation bias was found to predict lower social anxiety at both follow-ups. Neither negative interpretation bias nor interpretation inflexibility was significantly associated with follow-up social anxiety. These results provide support for greater positive interpretation bias as a facilitator of decreases in social anxiety and a potential target for clinical intervention.     

Can reading accuracy and comprehension be separated in the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability?

Background: The Neale Analysis of Reading Ability (NARA) (Neale, 1997) is widely used in education and research. It provides measures of reading accuracy (decoding) and comprehension, which are frequently interpreted separately. Aims: Three studies were conducted to investigate the degree to which the NARA measures could be separated. Samples: British 7‐ and 8‐year‐olds participated in Study 1 (N=114) and Study 2 (N=212). In Study 3, 16 skilled and less‐skilled comprehenders were identified from the Study 2 sample. Methods: Study 1: By investigating their contribution to silent reading comprehension, the independence of NARA decoding and comprehension scores was determined. Study 2: Decoding groups matched for listening comprehension were compared on the NARA comprehension measure, and population performance was compared across listening comprehension and NARA reading comprehension. Study 3: Comprehension groups were compared on ability to answer open‐ended and forcedchoice questions. Results: Firstly, NARA comprehension performance depended on decoding, to the extent that children with high listening comprehension ability but low decoding ability attained low NARA comprehension scores. Secondly, 32% of children who attained low NARA comprehension scores exhibited high listening comprehension. Thirdly, comprehension groups differed when assessed with open‐ended questions but not when assessed with forced‐choice questions. Conclusions: The NARA can underestimate the comprehension ability of children with weak decoding skills and children who have some difficulty with open‐ended questions. The decoding and comprehension measures of the NARA cannot be separated. These findings have important implications for the interpretation of the measures provided by the NARA, in education and research.     

A Longitudinal Study of English as Foreign Language Learning: L1 Predictors in Italian Students

The present paper reports findings from a longitudinal study examining the development of English as foreign language learning in a sample of 86 Italian students tested at Grade 6 (mean age 11:3) and Grade 8 (mean age 13:3) . Two measures were examined: one relating to sustained learning ( i.e., English learning attainment), and one to short period development,(i.e., change in English proficiency). Different pattern of predictors were identified among L1 reading (speed and comprehension) and mathematics skills. The main findings indicated that calculation components of mathematics skills and reading comprehension predicted English learning attainments at Grade 8, whilst L1 reading speed at Grade 6 strongly predicted changes in English learning proficiency. The theoretical and empirical implications of the results are discussed in the specificity of a learning direction from a transparent L1 to a non‐transparent L2. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling differentiation of cognitive abilities within the higher-order factor model using moderated factor analysis

Receptive foreign language proficiency is usually measured with reading and listening comprehension tasks. A novel approach to assess such proficiencies – viewing comprehension – is based on the presentation of short instructional videos followed by one or more comprehension questions concerning the preceding video stimulus. In order to evaluate a newly developed viewing comprehension test 485 German high school students completed reading, listening, and viewing comprehension tests, all measuring the receptive proficiency in English as a foreign language. Fluid and crystallized intelligence were measured as predictors of performance. Relative to traditional comprehension tasks, the viewing comprehension task has similar psychometric qualities. The three comprehension tests are very highly but not perfectly correlated with each other. Relations with fluid and crystallized intelligence show systematic differences between the three comprehension tasks. The high overlap between foreign language comprehension measures and between crystallized intelligence and language comprehension ability can be taken as support for a uni-dimensional interpretation. Implications for the assessment of language proficiency are discussed.     

A sub-process view of working memory capacity: Evidence from effects of speech on prose memory

In this article we outline a “sub-process view” of working memory capacity (WMC). This view suggests that any relationship between WMC and another construct (e.g., reading comprehension) is actually a relationship with a specific part of the WMC construct. The parts, called sub-processes, are functionally distinct and can be measured by intrusion errors in WMC tasks. Since the sub-processes are functionally distinct, some sub-process may be related to a certain phenomenon, whereas another sub-process is related to other phenomena. In two experiments we show that a sub-process (measured by immediate/current-list intrusions) is related to the effects of speech on prose memory (semantic auditory distraction), whereas another sub-process (measured by delayed/prior-list intrusions), known for its contribution to reading comprehension, is not. In Experiment 2 we developed a new WMC task called “size-comparison span” and found that the relationship between WMC and semantic auditory distraction is actually a relationship with a sub-process measured by current-list intrusions in our new task.     

Influence of affective distractors on working memory capacity in relation to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder

Symptoms evoked in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when processing trauma‐relevant material arguably impair higher order cognitive functions. An example is working memory capacity (WMC), which has been shown to be disrupted by affective distractors. However, it is unknown whether this association varies across different types of PTSD symptoms. This study explored the association between WMC performed in affective (relative to neutral) contexts in relation to different symptoms of PTSD (avoidance, re‐experiencing, hyperarousal). Motor vehicle accident survivors with PTSD and without PTSD completed a delayed‐match‐to‐sample task including trauma‐related, neutral, and scrambled distractors in the interval between the presentation of the memoranda and the recognition target. The results showed that there was support for an indirect pathway between PTSD diagnosis and WMC performed in affective (versus neutral) contexts through re‐experiencing and avoidance symptoms. The findings suggest that avoidance symptoms in particular may benefit from interventions directed at improving WMC.     

Working memory capacity modulates habituation rate: Evidence from a cross-modal auditory distraction paradigm

Habituation of the orienting response is a pivotal part of selective attention, and previous research has related working memory capacity (WMC) to attention control. Against this background, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether individual differences in WMC contribute to habituation rate. The participants categorized visual targets across six blocks of trials. Each target was preceded either by a standard sound or, on rare trials, by a deviant. The magnitude of the deviation effect (i.e., prolonged response time when the deviant was presented) was relatively large in the beginning but attenuated toward the end. There was no relationship between WMC and the deviation effect at the beginning, but there was at the end, and greater WMC was associated with greater habituation. These results indicate that high memory ability increases habituation rate, and they support theories proposing a role for cognitive control in habituation and in some forms of auditory distraction.     

工作记忆广度与自我损耗的关系

以往研究表明,工作记忆能力高的个体在自我控制方面也表现得更好,通过考察工作记忆广度（working memory span, WMS）与自我损耗的关系,有助于揭示这种现象的内在机制。66名被试随机分为损耗组和控制组,采用自动化操作广度测验测量WMS。双任务实验中,任务一为情绪抑制任务,任务二为Stroop任务。结果发现,损耗组的Stroop效应明显高于控制组。进一步分析显示,损耗组中高WMS被试的自我损耗效应要强于低WMS被试,此结果表明：高WMS个体在自我控制任务中表现得更好并不是因为固有的自我控制能量水平更高,而是因为他们倾向于在自我控制过程中投入更多能量。     

Individual differences in working memory capacity and divided attention in dichotic listening

The controlled attention theory of working memory suggests that individuals with greater working memory capacity (WMC) are better able to control or focus their attention than individuals with lesser WMC. This relationship has been observed in a number of selective attention paradigms including a dichotic listening task (Conway, Cowan, & Bunting, 2001) in which participants were required to shadow words presented to one ear and ignore words presented to the other ear. Conway et al. found that when the participant’s name was presented to the ignored ear, 65% of participants with low WMC reported hearing their name, compared to only 20% of participants with high WMC, suggesting greater selective attention on the part of high WMC participants. In the present study, individual differences in divided attention were examined in a dichotic listening task, in which participants shadowed one message and listened for their own name in the other message. Here we find that 66.7% of high WMC and 34.5% of low WMC participants detected their name. These results suggest that as WMC capacity increases, so does the ability to control the focus of attention, with high WMC participants being able to flexibly “zoom in” or “zoom out” depending on task demands.     

Overlap and Uniqueness: Linguistic Componential Traits Contributing to Expressive Skills in English as a Foreign Language

This study identified robust predictors of expressive skills in academic English as a foreign language. The participants were 92 Korean-speaking learners of English. The field test of the Pearson Test of English Academic was used as a secondary data analysis. Four communicative skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) and six enabling linguistic traits (written discourse, oral fluency, grammar, pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary) were analyzed using writing and speaking skills as dependent variables. The greatest overlapping variance was found in the relationship between reading and writing. When listening and speaking skills were controlled, the unique variance accounted by reading in the prediction of writing became marginal. The results of this study demonstrated that L2 oral language skills became increasingly important to L2 writing outcomes as language proficiency improved over time.