When ‘Colorless green ideas’ meet working memory span

1. When ‘Colorless green ideas’ meet working memory span Olga V. Fedorova Ekaterina V. Pechenkova Lomonosov Moscow State University virtualcoglab@fromru.com CML-07 workshop ‘Science of Cognition: Bridging Gaps between Cognitive Linguistics and Experimental Psychology’ July 31, 2007

2. Memory is… encoding, storage and retrieval of information Human memory stores ? Which way does language affect memory? ? Which way does memory affect speech? • motion • emotion • images • logic and linguistic structures

3. REHEARSAL Classical cognitive approach:multiple memory systems SHORT-TERM MEMORY LONG-TERM MEMORY ?

4. CENTRAL EXECUTIVE VISUO- SPATIAL SCETCHPAD EPISODIC BUFFER PHONO- LOGICAL LOOP LONG-TERM MEMORY Alan Baddeley Working memory (2001)

5. PROCESSING COMPONENT STORAGE COMPONENT + Reading span test = Patricia Carpenter Meredith Daneman Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450-466.

6. Reading span in Russian Elaborated by Olga Fedorova and colleagues in 2001 Processing: reading sentences Storage: maintaining the final words of these sentences 70 sentences, 12-15 words each NB!Russian sentences appear to be much longer if we count the number of syllables, since the portion of one or two syllable words in Russian is significantly less than in English Visual or auditory presentation

7. Reading span test(Russian version)Тест на определение объема оперативной памяти аудиовариант (audio)

8. Данный эксперимент тестирует объем Вашей оперативной памяти; информация в ней хранится всего несколько секунд.Вам необходимо будет запоминать и потом воспроизводить последние слова предложений, которые Вы будете слышать, точно в той же форме и в том же порядке, в которой они были произнесены. This is the test of your working memory. The working memory stores information for just a few seconds. You will be listening to sentences, and you will have to memorize the final words of these sentences. Then you will have to recall these words keeping their form and the order of appearance.

9. Количество предложений будет неуклонно возрастать, тем самым Ваше задание будет усложняться.Если Вы не можете вспомнить последнее слово какого-то предложения, переходите к следующему.The number of the sentences in a series will be increased step by step, so the difficulty of the task will grow.If you cannot recall some word, please, skip it and go on to the next one.

10. Эксперимент начинается! Ready? Press the spacebar… нажмитепробел!

11. Слушайте предложение 1 In September, every child, including myself, will go to school. Listen to the sentence 1

12. Слушайте предложение 2 Mike sat down on the bench next to his home and started to look at the people passing. Listen to the sentence 2

13. Пожалуйста, повторите последние слова этих двух предложений Please, recall the final words of these two sentences ?

15. Эксперимент начинается! Ready? Press the spacebar… нажмитепробел!

16. Слушайте предложение 1 I like ice-cream very much, but afterwards I have an ache in my throat. Listen to the sentence 1

17. Слушайте предложение 2 Tomorrow all members of our family will go to the mountains for skiing. Listen to the sentence 2

18. Слушайте предложение 3 In order to get to the restaurant from our house, you should turn to the right and then again to the right. Listen to the sentence 3

19. Слушайте предложение 4 I haven't seen Anton since then because he has moved from our district. Listen to the sentence 4

20. Слушайте предложение 5 As her birthday present, the girl was given a big fancy doll. Listen to the sentence 5

21. Пожалуйста, повторите последние слова этих пяти предложений Please, recall the final words of these five sentences ?

23. Russian version vs. English

24. What does the testreally measure? Why is there a variety of suggestions?

25. Reading span test is a dual task

26. Reading sentences Memorizing final words PROCESSING COMPONENT STORAGE COMPONENT extracting maintaining + Reading span test is a dual task No component is explicitly set as a primary task Which one is the primary task? THERE IS A TRADEOFF, BUT…

27. What does the testreally measure? Our hypothesis: human ability of organizing one’s memory and of using memory aids and semantic schemata

28. Study I:semantically related final words Experimental condition И мне стало грустно, когда я подумал, что они не пойдут завтракать в шикарный ресторан. Содрав с маленьких сухощавых рук перчатки, Нина последний раз в жизни ела моллюски. Увидев маленькое кафе, он юркнул туда, чтобы передохнуть, и заказал еще одну чашкукофе. Вино выдерживали слишком долго, и оно совсем испортилось и потеряло свой цвет и вкус.

29. Study I:semantically related final words Experimental condition And I felt sad when I thought that they wouldn’t go for a breakfast to a fancy restaurant. Nina teared off her gloves from her small lean hands and for the last time in her life was eating shellfish. When he got a sight of a small café, he dropped in to have some rest and ordered another cup of coffee. The vine was aged for too long, so it finally was spoilt and has lost its color and taste.

30. Study I:semantically related final words Control condition – standard test Мы дошли до двери, и я видел, как она быстро переступила порог и пошла по вестибюлю. Надо было достойно вознаградить усилия того, кто достиг совершенства в своем ремесле. Он сидел на скамье и показался мне темной, бесформенной грудой в образе человека. Граф закрыл окно и задернул шторы: сквозняк и электрический свет привлекают молнию.

31. Study I:semantically related final words Control condition – standard test We came up to a door, and I saw her quickly stepping over the doorstep and going along the vestibule. An appropriate reward was needed for the effort of one who reached perfection in his profession. He was sitting on the bench and seemed to me as a dark shapeless pile in appearance of a human. The earl closed the window and drew the draperies since the draught and the electric light attract the lighting.

32. Study I: Results 40 participants, visual presentation, reading aloud Scores: 5 percent for each group reported correctly

33. Study I: Conclusion Accessibility of one’s semantic schemata and memory aids is a factor that influences the working memory span

34. Russian reading span data supports Baddeley’s model • Short final words are better recalled than the long ones • Artificial articulation difficulties decreases the test score • Semantically related words that could be linked to each other by means of visual memory aids are recalled better than a typical random word set • Any other mental load decreases the results Phonolo-gical loop A related subcomponent of Baddeley’s model Visuo-spatial scetchpad Central executive

35. Working memory span correlates with text comprehension EXAMPLE: Comprehension of the text with large reference distances in people with high and low ‘reading span’ Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450-466.

36. Reference distance 2 Reference distance6 It was midnight and the jungle was very still. Suddenly the cry of a wolf pierced the air. This anguished note was followed by a flurry of activity. All the beasts of the jungle recognized that an urgent meeting had been summoned by the lion, their king. Representatives from each species made rapid preparations to get to the river clearing. This was where all such emergency assemblies were held. The elephant and tiger were the first to arrive. Next came the gorilla, panther and snake. They were followed by the owl and the crocodile. The proceedings were delayed because the leopard had not shown up yet. There was much speculation as to the reasons for the midnight alarm. Finally he arrived and the meeting could commence. Question:Who finally arrived? Sitting with Richie, Archie, Walter and the rest of my gang in the Grill yesterday, I began to feel uneasy. Robbie had put a dime in the juke box. It was blaring one of the latest "Rock and Roll" favorites. I was studying, in horror, the reactions of my friends to the music. I was especially perturbed by the expression on my best friend's face. Wayne looked intense and was pounding the table furiously to the beat. Now, I like most of the things other teenage boys like. I like girls with soft blonde hair, girls with dark curly hair, in fact all girls. I like milkshakes, football games and beach parties. I like denim jeans, fancy T-shirts and sneakers. It is not that I dislike rock music but I think it is supposed to be fun and not taken too seriously. And here he was, "all shook up" and serious over the crazy music. Question: Who was "all shook up" and serious overthe music?

37. Comprehension in subjects with low vs. high reading span Reading span

38. Why is the correlation? • There is no correlation of linguistic skills with standard single task working memory test like word or digit span (Turner&Engle, 1989). • The correlation is there even if we substitute the sentences by arithmetic expressions and/or final words by final figures (Turner&Engle, 1989). • Modifications of the processing task (i.e. different types of judgements about the sentence) give correlations at the range 0.52-0.63(Waters & Caplan, 1996) • Test-retest reliability is only moderate: correlations at the range 0,41-0,54 (Kuntsi et al., 2001)

39. Study II: Is the source of interference syntactically specific? Processing component task: informational visual search verbal with high attention demands and low syntactic demands Material: Russian grammatical, but nonsense sentences (like one invented by L.V. Shcherba, 1920th) with real Russian words embedded Глокая куздра штеко будланула бокра и курдячит бокрёнка…

40. Глокая куздра штеко будланула бокра и курдячит бокрёнка… by L.V. Shcherba, 1920th Compare to Colorless green ideas sleep furiously by Noam Chomsky (1957)

41. ИНСТРУКЦИЯПросим Вас: прочитать предложение про себя один раз и запомнить из него все русские слова; когда предложение исчезнет с экрана, назвать все русские слова из этого предложения в той же форме и в том же порядке, в которой они были в предложении.TEST INSTRUCTIONSPlease, read each sentence silently once, and memorize all Russian words that would be there;on disappearance of the sentence, recall all Russian words keeping their word form and order

42. Предложение будет появляться на экране на несколько секунд.Количество русских слов в одном предложении будет постепенно возрастать.Each sentence will appear on the screen for a few second. The number of the Russian words in the sentence will be increased step by step.

43. Йоу, биктя ю рекетя быстро шлемзит худамп хлеб лопатик. Yoou, biktya yu reketya, bystro[rapidly]shlemzit khudamp khleb [the bread] lopatik

44. Нажмите пробел!

45. Брундая куздра, живущая ф трукате хуранта, громко куздряет рядом проходящих бяко людей. Brundaya kuzdra, zhivuzhchaya[living] f trukate khuranta, gromko[loudly] kuzdryaet ryadom [near]prokhodyazhchikh[passing by] byako lyudey[people].

46. Нажмите пробел!

47. Study II: Results 32 participants, visual presentation Scores: 5 percent for each group reported correctly There is a difference (ANOVA F=25.39, p<0.001) There is a medium correlation (Spearman’s rho=0.36, p=0.045

48. Study II: Conclusion each subcomponent of the Daneman-Carpenter task requires both general and specific processing resources

49. Conclusions • Russian version of the standard reading span test fits the classic model of the working memory structure proposed by Alan Baddeley • The test apparently provides a measure of individual verbal processing abilities rather than individual working memory capacity as such

50. Thank youtwas brillig,and the slithy tovesfor your did gyre and gimblekind attentionin the wabe! Спасибо воркалось. Хливкие шорьки пырялись по наве, и хрюкотали за внимание зелюки как мюмзики в мове!