The role of verbal and nonverbal memory in the Family Pictures Subtest: Data from children with specific language impairment

This study examined the contribution of verbal and visual memory to performance on the Family Pictures subtest of the Children’s Memory Scale. This subtest purports to assess declarative memory functioning in the visual/nonverbal domain. A total of 115 nine-year-old children participated in this study. Fifty-eight had specific language impairment (SLI), whilst the remaining 57 were typically developing (TD), with no history of language difficulties. Results showed that the children with SLI, who had intact declarative memory for visual but not verbal information, obtained significantly lower scores on the Family Pictures subtest when compared to the TD group. Regression analyses revealed that across the entire sample, individual differences on the Family Pictures subtest was best predicted by a measure of verbal working memory. These results question whether the Family Pictures subtest can be considered a measure of visual memory in pediatric populations. These results have implications for the interpretation of scores on this subtest regarding the nature of the types of neurocognitive difficulties children may exhibit.     

Verbal learning and memory as measured by the Rey-Auditory Verbal Learning Test: ADHD with and without learning disabilities

The primary purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of attention deficits, learning disability, and the combined effects of both on the learning and memory processes, as measured by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT). Thirty children (age range 12–17) diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 18 children (age range 11–17) diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD), and 64 children (age range 12–17) diagnosed with ADHD as well as with LD, and 28, 18, and 62 matched controls, respectively, participated in this study. It was found that the children diagnosed with ADHD did not differ in any of the verbal learning and memory measures derived from the Rey AVLT. The group with LD was impaired in the overall number of words recalled across the learning phase. Performance of the children diagnosed with ADHD +LD showed a similar impairment as the group with LD (i.e., overall amount of words learned) and, in addition, their retrieval efficiency was also impaired. In conclusion, this study indicates that verbal memory is preserved in children with ADHD if they have no LD and their intelligence is in the normal range or above. LD by itself leads to difficulties in acquisition, but the combination of ADHD+LD leads to additional impairment in retrieval processes.     

Créativité verbale et valence émotionnelle : « Je deviens plus créatif quand je vois un mot positif ! »

IntroductionThe modulating effect of emotion on creativity is one of the most current topics in cognitive research. Emotion, and particularly positive emotion, is supposed to be conducive of creativity and to enhance the processes of creative thinking.ObjectiveThis work aimed to study the modulating effect of emotional valence of the task material (words-stimuli) as well as the emotional valence of the task instructions on verbal creativity performance.MethodAn experiment was conducted on a set of 27 stimuli-words and six instructions-phrases selected on the basis of pretest valence ratings. The valence of the stimuli-words (negative, neutral and positive) was crossed with the valence of the instructions-phrases (negative, neutral and positive) in a 3 × 3 factorial design. However, only five experimental conditions were considered relevant and used in the Experiment. Three components of verbal creativity identified in the literature were measured: fluidity, flexibility and originality.ResultsResults showed that positive instructions and words increased verbal creativity, especially the originality of the responses, which is considered as a basic component of creativity. Conversely, negative valence had an inhibitory and obstructive effect on verbal creativity.ConclusionThis study supports previous research showing the existence of a significant influence of emotional valence of words on cognitive functioning, and adds to the very little (or absent) research on the modulating effect of the valence of instructions and on the relationship between verbal creativity and emotional valence, a relationship that can be fostered in education.     

Flexibility over automaticity: Separable representations for colours and words

This study demonstrates that associations between colour words and the colours they denote are not mandatory. Experiments 1–3 used a go/no-go task in which participants responded to one print colour and one word and withheld response from another print colour and another word. In Experiment 1, the content of the words denoted noncolour entities. In Experiment 2 the two words denoted two colours that were different from the target print colours. In Experiment 3, the words denoted the same colours as the target print colours but each response set included incompatible print colour and word (e.g., one response to the print colour blue and the word “green” and another response to the print colour green and the word “blue”). Participants performed equally well in all the experiments. Experiment 4a used Arabic digits and words denoting numbers, two formats that are known to have shared representations. Here, participants had difficulties separating their responses to the digits and words. These results suggest that representations of words are distinct from the content that they represent, supporting the existence of distinct verbal and colour modules.     

Can membership-functions capture the directionality of verbal probabilities?

Verbal probabilities are a common mean for communicating risk and uncertainties in many decision-making settings (e.g., finance, medicine, military). They are considered directional because they elicit a focus on either the outcome occurrence (e.g., there is a chance) or on its non-occurrence (e.g., it is unlikely). According to a quantitative perspective, directionality is dependent on the vague probabilistic meaning conveyed by verbal probabilities—e.g., p(outcome) > .50 = > focus on outcome occurrence. In contrast a more qualitative perspective suggests that directionality depends on contextual factors. The present study tested whether the directionality of verbal probabilities was determined by their vague probabilistic meaning, by contextually manipulated variables (i.e., representativeness and base rate), or by a combination of both. Participants provided their own expressions to describe the guilt of a suspect and then assessed the vague probabilistic meaning and directionality associated with those expressions. Results showed that directionality was mainly determined by the vague probabilistic meaning but also by the base rate of guilt. Although attention focus on the occurrence or the non-occurrence of the target outcome is dependent on vague probabilistic meaning, it cannot be fully accounted for by it.     

Attributions for Memory Performance in Adulthood: Age Differences and Mediation Effects

We examined age differences in attributions to internal (controllable and uncontrollable), external (uncontrollable), and unstable factors for performance on a free recall memory task in 149 young, middle-aged, and older adults. Attributions varied by age and by level of memory performance. Middle-aged and older adults rated internal, uncontrollable factors (ability and genes) as more influential for high performance than for low performance, and they were less likely than young adults to attribute low performance to these factors. Within age groups, only the older adults rated memory ability as more influential than strategy use, even though they were as likely as the other age groups to use a categorization strategy. Attributions to both internal controllable (strategy use) and uncontrollable (ability) factors as well as to health were associated with better memory performance. These attributions partially mediated the relationship between age and memory performance. Thus, attributions may provide some insight into sources of age differences in memory performance.     

Age-related differences in word-retrieval but not in meaning generation

ABSTRACT

This study examines age-associated changes in retrieval on a picture-naming task, phonemic and semantic fluency tasks, and the Homophone Meaning Generation Test (HMGT). The sample included 152 Hebrew-speaking adults, half young (mean age 22.75) and half old (mean age 76.05). Groups differed on the picture-naming task and on both verbal fluency tasks, but not on the HMGT. Age explained a greater share of the variance than did education level on these three tests, whereas the opposite pattern of results was seen on the HMGT. We suggest that age-related word finding difficulties are attenuated when performance allows for semantic rather than phonological access.     

Age-related changes in the appreciation of novel metaphoric semantic relations

ABSTRACT

In the present study we tested the possibility that older adults differ from younger adults in their appreciation of metaphoric semantic relations, and that age-related changes occur due to the perception of novel metaphors. In the first experiment 35 younger (mean age?=?23.1) and 35 older adults (mean age?=?75.3) were asked to rate the plausibility of metaphoric, literal, and unrelated word pairs. Relative to young participants, older participants rated fewer expressions as metaphorically plausible. The second experiment was conducted to examine whether the findings of the first experiment could be accounted for by an age-associated difference in the appreciation of metaphors with different levels of familiarity. In the second experiment, 25 younger (mean age?=?24.4) and 25 older adults (mean age?=?77.5) were asked to rate the familiarity level of the plausible metaphoric expressions. Relative to young participants, older participants rated fewer expressions as novel and more expressions as familiar. The results suggest that novelty plays an important role in appreciating the plausibility of semantic relationships, and age-related changes are associated with the appreciation of the novelty of expressions.     

Working memory and vocabulary development in Greek preschool and primary school children

The present research investigated the relative contributions of verbal short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WM) to vocabulary development in the early years among Greek-speaking children. Participants were 5.5-, 7.5-, 8.5- and 9.5-year-old (N = 216) native speakers of Greek, a language differing from English in which most investigations have been conducted. Children were assessed with a receptive vocabulary task, four verbal STM measures (word, digit, and non-word list recall, as well as word list matching), and three verbal WM tasks (listening, counting, and backward digit recall). Results offer support to the view that both STM and WM influence vocabulary development in early stages. Vocabulary was associated with verbal STM at 7.5 and 8.5 years, but only with verbal WM at 5.5 years. Associations declined with age (by 9.5 years), earlier than in English-speaking children. Findings are discussed in relation to Greek language characteristics, demonstrating the importance of cross-cultural investigations.     

Lexical coherence in short-term memory: Strategic reconstruction or “semantic glue”?

This study explores the foundation of lexical/semantic phoneme binding effects in verbal short-term memory (STM). The immediate serial recall of pure lists of words and nonwords was compared with the recall of mixed lists that had either a predictable, alternating structure (e.g., wnwnwn) or an unpredictable structure (i.e., the serial positions of the words/nonwords could not be known in advance). The study provides evidence for two separate mechanisms by which long-term linguistic knowledge contributes to STM. First, there was evidence for automatic lexical/semantic binding effects that were independent of knowledge of lexical status. The nonwords in both types of mixed list damaged word recall and encouraged the phonological elements of words to migrate. In both alternating and unpredictable mixed lists, the phonemes of words were more likely than the phonemes of nonwords to be recalled together as a coherent item, suggesting that lexical/semantic knowledge encourages the phonological elements of words to emerge together in immediate serial recall, even when lexical status is unknown. Secondly, there was evidence for “strategic redintegration”, which was dependent on prior knowledge of the lexical status of the items in mixed lists. When participants recalled items that they knew to be words in advance, they were able to use this knowledge to constrain their responses so that they were more likely to be lexically appropriate. These findings motivate modifications to current theories of the interaction between linguistic knowledge and verbal short-term memory.