Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Urmia University
2 Urmia University- Iran
Abstract
This paper presented two complex span tasks in Persian as measures of working memory capacity (WMC). Firstly, the construct of working memory (WM) and possible WM measures that could assess this construct efficiently were critically reviewed. Accordingly, as measures of domain-general components of WM, a reading span task and an operation span task which were documented to assess this construct efficiently were chosen and developed. Following this, the developed tasks were conducted on 151 teenage learners in a foreign language institute in West Azerbaijan Province. Then, the administration and scoring of the measures were described step by step. The tasks were validated against each other as well as against a digit span task which assessed the domain-specific aspect of WMC as well. The result showed a strong correlation between the reading span task and the operation span task, and a moderate correlation of either of the functions with the digit span task. Consequently, both of the developed span tasks can be valid indicators of WM capacity for Iranian individuals and can be used in a wide array of research domains in second language acquisition studies.
Keywords
Ardila, A. (2003). Language representation and working memory with bilinguals. Journal of Communication Disorders, 36, 233-240.
Baddeley, A. D. (2012). Working memory: Theories, models, and controversies. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 1-29.
Baddeley, A.D., & Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. In G. H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning & motivation (pp. 47-90). New York: Academic Press.
Barrouillet, P., & Fayol, M. (1998). From algorithmic computing to direct retrieval: Evidence from number and alphabetic arithmetic in children and adults. Memory & Cognition, 26 (2), 355-368.
Carruthers, P. (2013). Evolution of working memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 11 (Supplement 2), pp. 10371-10378.
Case, R., Kurland, D. M., & Goldberg, J. (1982). Operational efficiency and the growth of short-term memory span. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 33(3), 386-404.
Colom, R., Rebollo, I., Abad, F. J., & Shih, P. C. (2006). Complex span tasks, simple span tasks, and cognitive abilities: A reanalysis of key studies. Memory & Cognition, 34 (1), 158-171.
Colom, R., Shih, P. C., Flores-Mendoza, C., & Quiroga, M. A. (2006). The real relationship between short-term memory and working memory. Memory, 14, 804-813.
Conway, A. R. A., Cowan, N., Bunting, M. F., Therriault, D. J., & Minkoff, S. R. (2002). A latent variable analysis of working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, processing speed, and general fluid intelligence. Intelligence, 30, 163-183.
Conway, A.R.A., & Engle, R.W. (1996). Individual differences in WM capacity: More evidence for a general capacity theory. Memory, 4, 577-590.
Conway, A. R. A., Kane, M. J., Bunting, M. F., Hambrick, D., Wilhelm, O. & Engle, R. (2005). Working memory span tasks: A methodological review and user’s guide. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12 (5), 769-786.
Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: a reconsideration of mental storage capacity. The Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 24(1), 87‑114.
Cowan, N. (2013). Working memory underpins cognitive development, learning, and education. Educational Psychology Review, 26(2), 197-223.
Cowan, N. (2015). Second language use, theories of working memory and the Venetian mind. In Z. E. Wen, M. B. Mota, & A. McNeill (Eds.), Working memory in second language acquisition and processing (pp.29-40). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Crowe, S. F. (2000). Does the letter-number sequencing task measure anything more than digit span? Assessment, 7(2), 113-117.
Danahy, K., Windsor, J., & Kohnert, K. (2007). Counting span and the identification of primary language impairment. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 42(3), 349-365.
Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 19, 450-466.
Dehaene, S. (2002). Verbal and nonverbal representations of numbers in the human brain. In M. Galaburda, S. M. Kosslyn, & Y. Christen (eds), The Languages of the brain (pp. 179-190), Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Dollaghan, C., & Campbell, T. F. (1998). Nonword repetition and child language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, & Hearing Research, 41, 1136-1146.
Dufva, M., & Vauras, M. (2002). Promoting at-risk pupils’ foreign language literacy learning. Precursors of Functional Literacy. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 317-337.
Dunn, G., Gaudia, L., Lowenherz, J., & Barnes, M. (1990). Effects of reversing digits forward and digits backward and strategy use on digit span performance. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 8(1), 22-33.
Engle, R. W., Cantor, J., & Carullo, J. J. (1992). Individual differences in working memory and comprehension: A test of four hypotheses. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 18, 972-992
Engle, R. W., Kane, M. J., & Tuholski, S. W. (1999). Individual differences in working memory capacity and what they tell us about controlled attention, general fluid intelligence, and functions of the prefrontal cortex. In A. Miyake, & P. Shah (Eds.), Models of working memory (pp. 102-134). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Friedman, N. P., & Miyake, A. (2004). The reading span test and its predictive power for reading comprehension ability. Journal of Memory & Language, 51(1), 136-158
Friedman, N.P., & Miyake, A. (2005). Comparison of four scoring methods for the reading span test. Behavior Research Methods, 37(4), 581-590.
Gass, S., & Lee, J. (2011) Working memory capacity, inhibitory control, and proficiency in a second language. In M. Schmid. & W. Lowie (Eds.), From structure to chaos: Twenty years of modeling bilingualism: In honor of Kees de Bot (pp. 59–84). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Gathercole, S. E., & Alloway, T. P. (2008). Working memory and classroom learning. In K. Thurman, & K. Fiorello (Eds.), Cognitive development in K-3 classroom learning: Research applications. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Harrington, M. (1992). Working memory capacity as a constraint on L2 development. In R. J. Harris (Ed.), Cognitive processing in bilinguals (pp. 123-135). Amsterdam: North Holland.
Hilbert, S., Nakagawa, T. T., Puci, P., Zech, A., & Bühner, M. (2014). The digit span backward task. Verbal and visual cognitive strategies in working memory assessment. European Journal of Psychological Assessment.
Hitch, G. J., & McAuley, E. (1991). Working memory in children with specific arithmetical learning difficulties. British Journal of Psychology, 82(3), 375-386.
Jaeggi, S. M., Buschkuehl, M., Perrig, W. J., & Meier, B. (2010). The concurrent validity of the n-back task as a working memory measure. Memory, 18, 394-412.
Jones, G., & Macken, B. (2015). Questioning short-term memory and its measurement: Why digit span measures long-term associative learning. Cognition, 144, 1-13.
Juffs, A., & Harrington, M. (2011). Aspects of working memory in L2 learning. Language Teaching, 44(2), 137-166.
Kane, M. J., Conway, A. R., Miura, T. K., & Colflesh, G. J. (2007). Working memory, attention control, and the N-back task: a question of construct validity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 33(3), 615-622.
Kane, M. J., Hambrick, D. Z., Tuholski, S. W., Wilhelm, O., Payne, T. W., & Engle, R. W. (2004). The generality of working memory capacity: A latent-variable approach to verbal and visuospatial memory span and reasoning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 189-217.
Lépine, R., Bernardin, S., & Barrouillet, P. (2005). Attention switching and working memory spans. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 17(3), 329-345.
Linck, J. A., Osthus, P., Koeth, J. T. & Bunting, M.F. (2014). Working memory and second language comprehension and production: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21(4), 861-883.
McLaughlin, B. (1995). Aptitude from an information processing perspective. Language Testing, 11, 364−381.
Mitchell, A. E., Jarvis, S., O’Malley, M. & Konstantinova, I. (2015). Working memory measures and L2 proficiency. In Z. E. Wen, M. B. Mota, & A. McNeill (Eds.), Working memory in second language acquisition and processing (pp. 270-284). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Miyake, A., & Friedman, N. P. (2012). The nature and organization of individual differences in executive functions: Four general conclusions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(1), 8-14.
Montgomery, J. W. (2002). Understanding the language difficulties of children with specific language impairments: Does verbal working memory matter? American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(1), 77-91.
Norman, D., & Shallice, T. (1986). Attention to action: Willed and automatic control of behavior. In R.J. Davidson, G.E. Schwarts, & D. Shapiro (Eds.), Consciousness and self-regulation (Vol. 4; pp. 1-18). New York: Plenum Press.
Oberauer, K., & Süß, H. M. (2000). Working memory and interference: A comment on Jenkins, Myerson, Hale, and Fry (1999). Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 7, 727-733.
Phye, G. D., & Pickering, S. J. (2006). Working memory and education. Academic Press.
Redick, T. S., Broadway, J. M., Meier, M. E., Kuriakose, P. S., Unsworth, N., Kane, M. J., & Engle, R. W. (2012). Measuring working memory capacity with automated complex span tasks. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 28(3), 164-171
Redick, T. S., & Lindsey, D. R. (2013). Complex span and n-back measures of working memory: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20(6), 1102-1113.
Roodenrys, S., & Hinton, M. (2002). Sublexical or lexical effects on serial recall of nonwords? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cognition, 28, 29-33.
Sagarra, N. (2017). Longitudinal effects of working memory on L2 grammar and reading abilities. Second Language Research, 1-23.
Salthouse, T. A., & Babcock, R.L. (1991). Decomposing adult age differences in working memory. Developmental Psychology, 27(5), 763-776.
Sanz, C., Lin, H. J., Lado, B., Stafford, C. A., & Bowden, H. W. (2014). One size fits all? Learning conditions and working memory capacity in Ab initio language development. Applied Linguistics, 37, 1-26.
Sasisekaran, J., Smith, A., Sadagopan, N., & Weber‐Fox, C. (2010). Nonword repetition in children and adults: Effects on movement coordination. Developmental Science, 13(3), 521-532.
Schmiedek, F., Hildebrandt, A., Lövdén, M., Wilhelm, O., & Lindenberger, U. (2009). Complex span versus updating tasks of working memory: The gap is not that deep. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 35, 1089-1096.
Schmiedek, F., Lövdén, M., & Lindenberger, U. (2014). A task is a task is a task: putting complex span, n-back, and other working memory indicators in psychometric context. Frontiers in psychology, 5,1475.
Shahnazari, M. (2013). The development of a Persian reading span test for the measure of L1 Persian EFL learners’ working memory capacity. Applied Research on the English Language, 2(2), 107-116.
Skehan, P. (2015). Working memory and second language performance: A commentary. In Z. E. Wen, M. B. Mota, & A. McNeill (Eds.), Working memory in second language acquisition and processing (pp. 189-204). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
St Clair-Thompson, H. L. (2007). The influence of strategies on relationships between working memory and cognitive skills. Memory, 15(4), 353-365.
Tagarelli, K. M., Mota, M. B. & Rebuscha, P. (2015). Working memory, learning conditions and the acquisition of L2 syntax. In Z. E. Wen, M. B. Mota, & A. McNeill (Eds.), Working memory in second language acquisition and processing (pp.224-247). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Tehan, G., Hendry, L., & Kocinski, D. (2001). Word length and phonological similarity effects in simple, complex, and delayed serial recall tasks: Implications for working memory. Memory, 9, 333-348.
Thorn, A. S., & Gathercole, S. E. (1999). Language-specific knowledge and short-term memory in bilingual and non-bilingual children. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: Section A, 52(2), 303-324
Turner, M. L., & Engle, R. W. (1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent? Journal of Memory & Language, 28, 127-154.
Unsworth, N. (2010). On the division of working memory and long-term memory and their relation to intelligence: A latent variable approach. Acta Psychologica, 134, 16-28.
Unsworth, N., & Engle, R. W. (2007). The nature of individual differences in working memory capacity: Active maintenance in primary memory and controlled search from secondary memory. Psychological Review, 114(1), 104-132.
Unsworth, N., Heitz, R. P., Schrock, J. C., & Engle, R. W. (2005). An automated version of the operation span task. Behavior Research Methods, 37, 498-505.
Van den Noort, M., Bosch, P., Haverkort, M., & Hugdahl, K. (2008). A standard computerized version of the reading span test in different languages. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 24(1), 35-42.
Waters, G. S., & Caplan, D. (1996). The measurement of verbal working memory capacity and its relation to reading comprehension. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Experimental Psychology, 49 (1), 51–79.
Waters, G. S., & Caplan, D. (2003). The reliability and stability of verbal working memory measures. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments & Computers, 35, 550-564.
Wen, Z. E. (2014). Theorizing and measuring working memory in first and second language research. Language Teaching, 47(2), 173-190.
Wen, Z. E. (2015). Working memory in second language acquisition and processing: The phonological/executive model. In Z. E. Wen, M. B. Mota, & A. McNeill (Eds.), Working memory in second language acquisition and processing (pp. 41-62). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Wen, Z. E., Mota, M. B., & McNeill, A. (Eds.). (2015). Working memory in second language acquisition and processing. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Wright, C. (2015). Working memory and L2 development across the lifespan: A commentary. In Z. E. Wen, M. B. Mota, & A. McNeill (Eds.), Working memory in second language acquisition and processing (pp.285-298). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
', './data/jtls/coversheet/cover_en.jpg'))