Short-Term Memory Encoding and Memory Search in the Word Recognition of Learning-Disabled Children

Abstract

Two aspects of the information processing involved in word recognition-encoding and memory search-were investigated in learning-disabled children. A short-term memory recognition paradigm was employed which allowed for the separation of reaction time into separate processing stages. Subjects were 16 learning-disabled children with particular deficiencies in word recognition and 16 control children equated for age, grade and intelligence. Input modalities of both stimulus array words to be encoded and stored in short-term memory, and target words for recognition were manipulated, resulting in three experimental conditions: (1) Visual/Visual, (2) Auditory/Auditory and (3) Auditory/Visual. Three hypotheses were tested each involving inferences about internal operations based on reaction time. While LD subjects did not differ from control subjects at the encoding stage of word recognition, LD subjects required significantly more processing time for memory search.A n increasing number of investigators have suggested that information processing models developed in the area of cognitive psychology may be useful in providing a more comprehensive theoretical approach to understanding learning disabilities (Farnham-Diggory, 1975;1980; Senf, 1972). Out of this work, various models of word recognition have been proposed in an effort to elucidate the complex processes believed to occur in reading (Massaro, 1975; Rumelhart, 1977). Such models typically view reading as involving a series of complex processes. Initial stages of perception and memory encoding are thought to be primarily involved in word recognition, while linguistic and semantic memory networks are believed to be involved in comprehension.Much past research in learning disabilities has focused on short-term memory operations and their relationship to reading. However, as Torgesen (1979) has pointed out, the specific role of such psychological processes as perception and memory in complex tasks such as reading is still largely unclear. Much past research into the relationship between short-term memory and reading has focused on the more global aspects of memory span and sequential memory (Torgesen, 1978). To date, sparse research attention has been devoted to studying the process of encoding sensory input into a memory representation, the nature of this internally coded information, and the process involved in accessing the memory store for retrieval. However, relevant work has demonstrated that various components of the information processing of learning-disabled subjects can be experimentally analyzed using reaction time (Morrison, Giordani & Nagy, 1977). An approach which allows for more discreet analysis of the information processing involved in word recognition should prove useful in more accurately elucidating the apparent short-term memory deficits observed in many learning disabled children. For example, some investigators have suggested that some children with specific reading disorders may have particular difficulty in encoding written symbols into an a...

What do college students with learning disabilities learn from lectures?

“…One manifestation of LD that persists across development is difficulty with word learning (Elbert, 1984;Munson, Kurtz, & Windsor, 2005;Carlisle, Fleming, & Gudbrandsen, 2000;McGregor et al, 2013). In a longitudinal study, McGregor, Oleson, Bahnsen and Duff (2013) examined the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge in 177 children with developmental language impairment and 325 ND school-aged children between grades 2 and 8.…”