Does learning to read shape verbal working memory?

Abstract

Many experimental studies have investigated the relationship between the acquisition of reading and working memory in a unidirectional way, attempting to determine to what extent individual differences in working memory can predict reading achievement. In contrast, very little attention has been dedicated to the converse possibility that learning to read shapes the development of verbal memory processes. In this paper, we present available evidence that advocates a more prominent role for reading acquisition on verbal working memory and then discuss the potential mechanisms of such literacy effects. First, the early decoding activities might bolster the development of subvocal rehearsal, which, in turn, would enhance serial order performance in immediate memory tasks. In addition, learning to read and write in an alphabetical system allows the emergence of phonemic awareness and finely tuned phonological representations, as well as of orthographic representations. This could improve the quality, strength, and precision of lexical representations, and hence offer better support for the temporary encoding of memory items and/or for their retrieval.

Learning to read facilitates the retrieval of phonological representations in rapid automatized naming: Evidence from unschooled illiterate, ex‐illiterate, and schooled literate adults

“…Our findings suggest that, as a consequence of literacy, an increasingly efficient access to phonological representations results in better word‐form retrieval during RAN tasks, which underlies the observed relationship between reading skills and RAN. This may also explain the better performance of readers than nonreaders in phonological working‐memory and pseudoword repetition tasks (Demoulin & Kolinsky, ; Kosmidis, Kyrana, & Folia, ; Kosmidis, Zafiri, & Politimou, ; Reis & Castro‐Caldas, ; Reis, Guerreiro, & Peterson, ).…”

Distinguishing cause from effect – many deficits associated with developmental dyslexia may be a consequence of reduced and suboptimal reading experience

“…These results are most compatible with the notion that verbal memory deficits both in illiterates and individuals with dyslexia are at least partly a secondary consequence of reading practice leading to the development of more fine-grained phonological representations (cf. Demoulin & Kolinsky, 2016;Smith et al, 2014;Ziegler & Goswami, 2005). Moreover, it is also conceivable that reading practice trains our shortterm memory for verbal material (a notion that has been little explored experimentally so far).…”

“…Here, we review the most important research findings with regard to their relevance for dyslexia research. We will draw on evidence from studies with illiterate and low literate participants (see Dehaene, Cohen, Morais, & Kolinsky, 2015;Dehaene et al, 2010;Demoulin & Kolinsky, 2016;Huettig & Mishra, 2014), studies with pre-literate children, literate children, and adults as well as evidence from children and adults with dyslexia. We discuss experimental evidence from behavioural studies involving categorical perception, phonological awareness, verbal short-term memory, pseudoword repetition, rapid automatised naming (RAN), prediction in spoken language processing, and mirror invariance.…”

The worries of wearing literate glasses

“…Finally, it is worth mentioning the fact that literacy does not only impact oral language processing, but also verbal memory (for a review and discussion on possible mechanisms, see Demoulin & Kolinsky, 2016). As a matter of fact, illiterate adults present poorer auditory verbal memory than ex-illiterates (e.g., Kosmidis, Zafiri, & Politimou, 2011;Morais et al, 1986) and, in literate people, orthographic representations support precise memory of spoken words (Pattamadilok, Lafontaine, Morais, & Kolinsky, 2010).…”