Investigation of functional working memory in the reading span test.

Two issues were investigated in 2 experiments: (1) the validity of a reading span test that combined a knowledge verification task with a secondary task of word memorization and (2) the hypothesis that word recall reflects the amount of working memory that is functional in reading. In Exp 1, the validity and reliability of the reading span measure were determined. In Exp 2, it was reasoned that if word recall reflected functional working memory in reading, then 2 results should be observed. The 1st predicted result was that prior exposure to sentences used in the reading span test would release working memory resources and improve word recall. The 2nd was that word recall, though correlated with general working memory and verbal knowledge measures, would add to these scores in predicting comprehension. Both sets of results were obtained, supporting the hypothesis that the reading span test measures functional working memory in reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in schema utilization during discourse processing.

Discourse processing involves an interaction of text-based and knowledge-based processes. It was hypothesized that college students (N?=?112) would differ in their relative employment of knowledge-based processes, and that Ss would tend to be more "text bound" when they were more "stimulus bound" in another task with analogous processing demands (i.e., an embedded figures test; EFT). Extent of knowledge-based processing (or schema utilization) was assessed by comparing recall of food items from a narrative about a trip to a fancy restaurant with that from a parallel narrative about a trip to a supermarket. Previous research has demonstrated that since the "foods purchased" component of the restaurant schema is more highly constrained than the equivalent component of the supermarket schema, the former supports greater food item recall. As predicted, food item recall was significantly positively correlated with EFT residuals (after predicting EFT from vocabulary test scores) for the restaurant condition, with no correlation for the supermarket control. Other dependent measures yielded the same pattern of positive correlation with EFT or no correlation with EFT as a function of whether performance would be enhanced by schema utilization or not, respectively. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)