Lynda K. Hall

Processing speed, naming speed, and reading.

With increasing age, children name familiar objects more rapidly, and these naming times are related to reading ability. The aim of this research was to determine if age-related change in naming time reflects (a) automtic access of familiar names due to greater familiarity with the named objects or (b) global change in speed of processing. To distinguish these explanations, 144 8- to 23-year-olds were administered measures of global processing time, naming time, and reading ability

Processing speed, exposure to print, and naming speed

The aim of the present research was to determine the role of reading-related experience and processing speed on the time it took for children to name familiar stimuli. A total of 168 children, aged 7 to 13, were administered measures of global processing speed, title and author recognition, naming time, and reading ability. Naming times were predicted by age-related change in processing time but not by reading experience (as assessed by author and title recognition). The results are discussed in terms of the factors responsible for the relation between naming speed and reading.

Distinguishing short-term memory from working memory

The aim of the present research was to determine whether short-term memory and working memory could be distinguished. In two studies, 7- to 13-year-olds (N = 155,N = 132) were administered tasks thought to assess short-term memory as well as tasks thought to assess working memory. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses distinguished short-term memory tasks from working memory tasks. In addition, performance on working memory tasks was related to word decoding skill but performance on short-term memory tasks was not. Finally, performance on both short-term memory and working memory tasks were associated with age-related increases in processing speed. Results are discussed in relation to models of short-term and working memory.

Accuracy and Distortion in Memory for High School Grades

The relation between accuracy and distortion of autobiographical memory content was examined by verifying 3,220 high school grades recalled by 99 college students Accuracy of recall declined monotonically with letter grade, from 89% for grades of A to 29% for grades of D The positive correlation between achievement and accuracy of recall is attributed to more frequent rehearsals of affectively positive content and to greater accuracy of reconstructive inferences based on homogeneous, generic memories Most errors inflated the verified grade, and the degree of asymmetry of the error distribution is used as an index of the degree of distortion Distortions are attributed to reconstructions in a positive, emotionally gratifying direction Contrary to expectation, the percentage of accurate recall and the degree of asymmetry of the error distribution were uncorrelated This finding indicates that the process of distortion does not cause forgetting of the veridical content Rather, distortion reflects bias in reconstructive inferences that occur after the veridical content has been forgotten for other reasons

Lifetime maintenance of high school mathematics content

An analysis of life span memory identifies those variables that affect losses in recall and recognition of the content of high school algebra and geometry courses.

Sources of developmental change in children's word-problem performance

This study was designed to examine the roles of domain-specific and general information-processing skills in developmental change in childrens performance on arithmetic word problems. In 2 studies, arithmetic knowledge, processing time, memory, reading skill, and word-problem performance were measured in 8- to 12-year-olds (N = 120 in Study 1 and N = 155 in Study 2). Word-problem performance was predicted by arithmetic knowledge (times and errors in solving simple addition and subtraction problems) and by general information-processing skills (reading and processing time and, to a lesser extent and less consistently, memory). Results are discussed in relation to the factors that contribute to word-problem skill.

Fifty years of language maintenance and language dominance in bilingual Hispanic immigrants.

Spanish language tests of 801 Cuban and Mexican immigrants showed no evidence of language loss during 50 years of U.S. residence; a few years after immigration, their English vocabulary approximated that of English monolinguals. The critical-age hypothesis was not supported for the acquisition of English vocabulary when English schooling and language usage were controlled by multiple regression. Most Ss continued to speak about as much Spanish as English; but read, wrote, and heard (on television and radio) far more English than Spanish. Under these conditions, Ss maintained Spanish dominance on tests of vocabulary recognition, lexical decision, and oral comprehension. Dominance was task specific and shifted to English on a category generation task about 12 years after immigration. No evidence of bilingual language interference was found; this is attributed to the strong Spanish foundation of the participants.

Fifty Years of Memory of College Grades: Accuracy and Distortions

One to 54 years after graduating, 276 alumni correctly recalled 3,025 of 3,967 college grades. Omission errors increased with the retention interval, and better students made fewer errors. Accuracy of recall increased with confidence in recall. Eighty-one percent of commission errors inflated the actual grade. Distortions occur soon after graduation, remain constant during the retention interval, and are greater for better students and for courses students enjoyed most. Confidence in recall is unrelated to distortion. Courses that were not freely recalled, but had to be cued, were recalled less accurately and with less distortion. The data support a supplementary theory of memory distortion. The theory assumes that forgetting and distorting memory content are relatively independent processes, that relevant generic memories are used to fill in gaps after episodic memory fails, that systematic distortions affect autobiographical content that is emotionally and motivationally valenced, and that most individuals supplement with content that is emotionally more gratifying than the veridical content. The data conflict with dynamic displacement theories according to which screen memories actively block access to unpleasant veridical content.