Judit Castellà

Automatic semantic encoding in verbal short-term memory: Evidence from the concreteness effect

The concreteness effect in verbal short-term memory (STM) tasks is assumed to be a consequence of semantic encoding in STM, with immediate recall of concrete words benefiting from richer semantic representations. We used the concreteness effect to test the hypothesis that semantic encoding in standard verbal STM tasks is a consequence of controlled, attention-demanding mechanisms of strategic semantic retrieval and encoding. Experiment 1 analysed the effect of presentation rate, with slow presentations being assumed to benefit strategic, time-dependent semantic encoding. Experiments 2 and 3 provided a more direct test of the strategic hypothesis by introducing three different concurrent attention-demanding tasks. Although Experiment 1 showed a larger concreteness effect with slow presentations, the following two experiments yielded strong evidence against the strategic hypothesis. Limiting available attention resources by concurrent tasks reduced global memory performance, but the concreteness effect was equivalent to that found in control conditions. We conclude that semantic effects in STM result from automatic semantic encoding and provide tentative explanations for the interaction between the concreteness effect and the presentation rate.

The (lack of) effect of dynamic visual noise on the concreteness effect in short-term memory

ABSTRACT It has been suggested that the concreteness effect in short-term memory (STM) is a consequence of concrete words having more distinctive and richer semantic representations. The generation and storage of visual codes in STM could also play a crucial role on the effect because concrete words are more imaginable than abstract words. If this were the case, the introduction of a visual interference task would be expected to disrupt recall of concrete words. A Dynamic Visual Noise (DVN) display, which has been proven to eliminate the concreteness effect on long-term memory (LTM), was presented along encoding of concrete and abstract words in a STM serial recall task. Results showed a main effect of word type, with more item errors in abstract words, a main effect of DVN, which impaired global performance due to more order errors, but no interaction, suggesting that DVN did not have any impact on the concreteness effect. These findings are discussed in terms of LTM participation through redintegration processes and in terms of the language-based models of verbal STM.

Development of Literacy and Notational Knowledge. Prediction of Literacy Development Difficulties Through Graphomotor Measures in Grade 1

This exploratory study aimed to evaluate the predictive power of graphomotor measures of handwriting taken in Grade 1 of Primary School. The study was developed in two phases. In the first phase, 17 first graders (8 boys, 9 girls, right-handed) copied a list words on a piece of paper attached to a digitiser, in order to collect graphomotor information during handwriting execution. We collected data in three different moments throughout the academic course. We measured Time (Execution time, Writing time, InAir time, in seconds); Trajectory (cm); Disfluency (number of velocity peaks per word); Pressure; and Gazelifts (number of gazes to the stimuli).

‘What Should I Say?’ Tentative Criteria to Prioritize Information in the Audio Description of Film Characters

In an attempt to study memory operation in audio description, Fresno, Castella and Soler-Vilageliu present a reception study designed to explore which physical features of audio described characters are more frequently recalled and recognized by blind and visually impaired audiences. The results of this study indicate that age is the trait which shows a better recall and recognition by receivers, and that more physical features of characters are recalled and recognized when their descriptions are segmented. The findings of this research could provide tentative criteria for presenting and prioritizing information in professional audio description scripts.