Synergies between processing and memory in children’s reading span

Towse, John N.; Hitch, Graham J.; Horton, Neil; Harvey, Katarina · 2009 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00929.x

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Summary

This study investigates the relationship between processing and memory in children’s working memory, specifically challenging the prevailing view that these components compete for limited cognitive resources. The authors address three theoretical issues: the functional relationship between processing duration and recall accuracy, the role of reconstructive processes during recall, and the impact of stimulus similarity. The research aims to determine whether processing and memory can exhibit synergistic, cooperative relationships rather than purely competitive ones, and whether these dynamics differ between children and adults. The study involved 108 children aged 7 to 11 years, divided into three age groups. Participants performed a reading span task where they read incomplete sentences aloud and recalled associated target words. The experiment manipulated the semantic connection between the processing requirement (sentence completion) and the memoranda. In the "integrated" condition, the target word was the sentence completion word, allowing semantic reconstruction. In the "independent" condition, the target word was unrelated to the sentence. The researchers measured recall accuracy (number of words recalled in serial order) and the chronometry of recall, including interword pauses, to assess reconstructive strategies. Results demonstrated that recall accuracy was significantly higher in the integrated condition than in the independent condition, and performance improved with age. A consistent negative correlation was found between processing speed and recall accuracy; children with slower processing times recalled fewer items. However, the strength and shape of this relationship varied by condition. The slope of the regression line linking processing time to recall was steeper in the integrated condition, indicating that processing duration was a stronger predictor of recall when semantic links existed. Furthermore, children in the integrated condition exhibited significantly longer interword pauses during recall compared to the independent condition. These longer pauses were associated with higher recall accuracy, suggesting that children used the time to reconstruct memory traces using semantic information from the sentences. The findings argue against the "single slope" assumption of time-based resource-sharing models, which posit a uniform relationship between processing time and memory loss across tasks. Instead, the data support a model where processing and memory can be cooperative. When memoranda are semantically linked to processing content, slower processing during the maintenance phase allows for better preservation of representations, and slower recall reflects beneficial reconstructive efforts. This challenges the notion that complex span tasks merely measure competition between activities, highlighting the importance of task configuration and reconstructive influences in understanding children’s working memory capacity.

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• working memory