Short-term memory span: insights from sign language.

@article{citeulike:928062, abstract = {Short-term memory (STM), or the ability to hold information in mind for a few seconds, is thought to be limited in its capacity to about 7 +/- 2 items. Notably, the average STM capacity when using American Sign Language (ASL) rather than English is only 5 +/- 1 items. Here we show that, contrary to previous interpretations, this difference cannot be attributed to phonological factors, item duration or reduced memory abilities in deaf people. We also show that, despite this difference in STM span, hearing speakers and deaf ASL users have comparable working memory resources during language use, indicating similar abilities to maintain and manipulate linguistic information. The shorter STM span in ASL users therefore confirms the view that the spoken span of 7 +/- 2 is an exception, probably owing to the reliance of speakers on auditory-based rather than visually based representations in linguistic STM, and calls for adjustments in the norms used with deaf individuals.}, address = {Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.}, author = {Boutla, M. and Supalla, T. and Newport, E. L. and Bavelier, D. }, citeulike-article-id = {928062}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn1298}, issn = {1097-6256}, journal = {Nat Neurosci}, keywords = {memory, short, term}, month = {September}, number = {9}, pages = {997--1002}, posted-at = {2006-11-04 05:43:11}, priority = {2}, title = {Short-term memory span: insights from sign language.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn1298}, volume = {7}, year = {2004} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:928062 L3 - citeulike-article-id:928062 TI - Short-term memory span: insights from sign language. JF - Nat Neurosci VL - 7 IS - 9 SP - 997 EP - 1002 AD - Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA. SN - 1097-6256 N2 - Short-term memory (STM), or the ability to hold information in mind for a few seconds, is thought to be limited in its capacity to about 7 +/- 2 items. Notably, the average STM capacity when using American Sign Language (ASL) rather than English is only 5 +/- 1 items. Here we show that, contrary to previous interpretations, this difference cannot be attributed to phonological factors, item duration or reduced memory abilities in deaf people. We also show that, despite this difference in STM span, hearing speakers and deaf ASL users have comparable working memory resources during language use, indicating similar abilities to maintain and manipulate linguistic information. The shorter STM span in ASL users therefore confirms the view that the spoken span of 7 +/- 2 is an exception, probably owing to the reliance of speakers on auditory-based rather than visually based representations in linguistic STM, and calls for adjustments in the norms used with deaf individuals. KW - memory KW - short KW - term AU - Boutla, M AU - Supalla, T AU - Newport, EL AU - Bavelier, D PY - 2004/09// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn1298 ER -