Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-mmrw7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-09T04:22:47.047Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Working memory and distributed vocabulary learning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Paul W. B. Atkins  and
Alan D. Baddeley
Paul W. B. Atkins*
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales
Alan D. Baddeley
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
*
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Kensington, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Email: p.atkins@unsw.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study tested the hypothesis that individual differences in immediate verbal memory span would predict success in second language vocabulary acquisition. The subjects learned 56 English–Finnish translations during two sessions using a method in which they were encouraged to distribute their learning and to use semantic encoding strategies where appropriate. Verbal, but not visuo-spatial, memory span was correlated with the rate of vocabulary learning, a result that could not have occurred because of immediate retrieval from a short-term buffer. When tested one week later, the subjects were less likely to remember those words they had had difficulty learning, even though they had studied these items more often. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings for vocabulary learning are discussed.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , October 1998 , pp. 537 - 552
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Allen, G. A., Mahler, W. W., & Estes, W. K. (1969). Effects of recall tests on long-term retention of paired associates. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 8, 463–470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkins, P. W. B. (1995). Models of memory and relearning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar
Baddeley, A. D. (1993). Short-term phonological memory and long-term learning: A single case study. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology; 5, 129–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working memory. In Bower, G. (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 8, pp. 47–90). San Diego, CA: Academic.Google Scholar
Baddeley, A. D., Papagno, C., & Vallar, G. (1988). When long-term learning depends on short-term storage. Journal of Memory and Language, 27, 586–595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, A. D., & Wilson, B. A. (1994). When implicit learning fails: Amnesia and the problem of error elimination. Neuropsychologia, 32, 53–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bjork, R. A. (1975). Retrieval as a memory modifier. In Solso, R. (Ed.), Information processing and cognition: The Loyola Symposium (pp. 123–144). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Brown, G. D. A., & Hulme, C. (1996). Nonword repetition, STM, and word age-of-acquisition: A computational model. In Gathercole, S. E. (Ed.), Models of short-term memory (pp. 129–148). Hove: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Cull, W. L., Shaughnessy, J. J., & Zechmeister, E. B. (1996). Expanding understanding of the expanding-pattem-of-retrieval mnemonic: Toward confidence in applicability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 2, 365–378.Google Scholar
Ellis, N. C. (1994). Implicit and explicit learning of languages. London: Academic.Google Scholar
Ellis, N. C, & Beaton, A. (1993). Factors affecting the learning of foreign language vocabulary: Imagery keyword mediators and phonological short-term memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 46A, 533–558.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, N. C, & Sinclair, S. G. (1996). Working memory in the acquisition of vocabulary and syntax: Putting language in good order. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49A, 234–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardiner, J. M., Craik, F. I. M., & Beasdale, F. A. (1973). Retrieval difficulty and subsequent recall. Memory and Cognition, 7,213–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S. E. (1995). Is nonword repetition a test of phonological memory or long-term knowledge? It all depends on the nonwords. Memory and Cognition, 23, 83–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gathercole, S. E., & Baddeley, A. D. (1989). Evaluation of the role of phonological STM in the development of vocabulary in children: A longitudinal study. Journal of Memory and Language, 28. 200–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S. E., & Baddeley, A. D. (1990a). Phonological memory deficits in language disordered children: Is there a causal connection? Journal of Memory and Language, 29, 336–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S. E., & Baddeley, A. D. (1990b). The role of phonological memory in vocabulary acquisition: A study of young children learning new names. British Journal of Psychology, 81, 439–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S. E., Willis, C. S., Emslie, H., & Baddeley, A. D. (1992). Phonological memory and vocabulary development during the early school years: A longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 28(5), 887–898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gruneberg, M. M. (1992). The new approach to memory improvement: Problems and prospects. In Herrmann, D. J., Weingartner, H., Searleman, A., & McEvoy, C. (Eds.), Memory improvement: Implications for memory theory (pp. 1–7). New York: Springer Verlag.Google Scholar
Hogan, R. M. & Kintsch, W. (1971). Differential effects of study and test trials on long-term recognition and recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 10, 562–567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landauer, T. K., & Bjork, R. A. (1978). Optimal rehearsal patterns and name learning. In Gruneberg, M. M., Morris, P. E., & Sykes, R. N. (Eds.), Practical aspects of memory (pp. 625–632). London: Academic.Google Scholar
Melton, A. W., & Irwin, J. M. (1940). The influence of degree of interpolated learning on retroactive inhibition and the overt transfer of specific responses. American Journal of Psychology, 53, 173–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Papagno, G., Valentine, T., & Baddeley, A. D. (1991). Phonological short-term memory and foreign language vocabulary learning. Journal of Memory and Language, 30, 331–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Papagno, C., & Vallar, G. (1992). Phonological short-term memory and the learning of novel words: The effect of phonological similarity and item length. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 44A, 47–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Papagno, C., & Vallar, G. (1995). Verbal short-term memory and vocabulary learning in polyglots. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 48A, 98–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peterson, L. R. (1966). Short-term verbal memory and learning. Psychological Review, 73, 193–207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Service, E. (1992). Phonology, working memory and foreign-language learning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 45A, 21–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Service, E., & Kohonen, V. (1995). Is the relation between phonological memory and foreign language teaming accounted for by vocabulary acquisition? Applied Psycholinguistics, 16, 155–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Underwood, B. J. (1957). Interference and forgetting. Psychological Review, 64, 49–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, B. A., Baddeley, A. D., Evans, J., & Shiel, A. (1994). Errorless learning in the rehabilitation of memory impaired people. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 4, 307–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J. T. L., Wiedmann, K. D., Hadley, D. M., & Brooks, D. N. (1989). The relationship between visual memory function and lesions detected by magnetic resonance imaging after closed head injury. Neuropsychology, 3, 255–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar