Long-term associative learning predicts verbal short-term memory performance

Jones, Gary and Macken, William ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2928-656X 2018. Long-term associative learning predicts verbal short-term memory performance. Memory and Cognition 46 (2) , pp. 216-229. 10.3758/s13421-017-0759-3

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Abstract

Studies using tests such as digit span and nonword repetition have implicated short-term memory across a range of developmental domains. Such tests ostensibly assess specialized processes for the short-term manipulation and maintenance of information that are often argued to enable long-term learning. However, there is considerable evidence for an influence of long-term linguistic learning on performance in short-term memory tasks that brings into question the role of a specialized short-term memory system separate from long-term knowledge. Using natural language corpora, we show experimentally and computationally that performance on three widely used measures of short-term memory (digit span, nonword repetition, and sentence recall) can be predicted from simple associative learning operating on the linguistic environment to which a typical child may have been exposed. The findings support the broad view that short-term verbal memory performance reflects the application of long-term language knowledge to the experimental setting.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Publisher:	Psychonomic Society
ISSN:	0090-502X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	19 September 2017
Date of Acceptance:	18 September 2017
Last Modified:	06 May 2023 07:24
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/104769

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