SEBASTIAN AND HERNANDEZ-GIL Flashcards
What is sub-vocalisation?
The ability to repeat a number or word over and over in your head and hold it in your phonological loop
What age are you able to sub-vocalise
the ability to sub-vocalise develops at 7 years old
Sebastian and Hernandez-Gills - Comparing the findings against previous research
- Elderly participants have a similar digit span to that of an older child
- Comparing the elderly to dementia patients did not show a significant difference. Therefore, a decrease in digit span was felt to be due to ageing rather than an illness.
- Digit span in the Spanish population is significantly shorter than Anglo-Saxon culture (due to the word-length of digits)
What is word length effect?
- You can remember more short words then long words, as long words take longer to say (more syllables)
- This is shown through Sebastian and Hernandez-Gills research as different cultures develop digit span at different rates
Sebastian & Hernandez-Gill - Aim
- To investigate the development of the phonological loop in children aged between five and 17 using digit span as a measure of phonological capacity
- To compare these findings to earlier research on adult, elderly and dementia pps, to see if there is significant differences in digit span capacity across age groups
Sebastian & Hernandez-Gill - Sample
- 570 volunteers
- Aged 5 to 17
- All from Madrid
- Public and Private schools
- All born in Spain and native Spanish speakers
- Screened for cognitive, hearing, reading and writing impairments
- Pps divided into 5 age groups
Sebastian & Hernandez-Gill - Procedure
- Pps were divided into 5 age groups
- Pps were tested individually
- They were red sequences of digits to recall in the correct order
- The digits were read out loud at a rate of one per second
- The digit list increased one digit per sequence
Sebastian & Hernandez-Gill - Results
- They found that digit span gradually increases with age, however there is a dramatic increase between preschool and primary school ages (around 7 years old)
- The developmental course of digit span changes in old age where the phonological loop capacity reduces to resemble that of an older child
Sebastian & Hernandez-Gill - Conclusion
- Digit span increases with age however the dramatic increased capacity appears when children are able to sub-vocalise
- Digit span in the Spanish population is significantly shorter/takes longer to develop than Anglo-Saxon culture due to word length affect associated with digits
(amount of syllables in words) - Poor digit span in old-age is a developmental process due to aging, not a disease such as dementia
Sebastian & Hernandez-Gill - Generalisability
Strength - large sample size of 570 children of a variety of ages from public and private schools (representative of the target population of children)
Weakness - all from Madrid so generalisability is limited to city populations and native Spanish speakers
Sebastian & Hernandez-Gill - Reliability
Strength - a standardised procedure was used (same digit tests, same speed)
Meaning that the procedure could be repeated easily for consistent results
Sebastian & Hernandez-Gill - Applicability
Strength - the results indicate that digit span is a developmental process which can be applied to learning to read, as children can only hold a certain amount of information in their working memory at once and their phonological loop can be easily overloaded
Strength - results demonstrate word length effect and the implications this has on memory development for different cultures
(Also applies to understanding eyewitness testimony)
Sebastian & Hernandez-Gill - Validity
Strength - Variables were well controlled (screened for hearing and learning impairments) which increases internal validity as they can confidently measure the impact of the IV on the DV
Weakness - children were not directly tested, internal validity relies on whether or not the parents were aware of any impairments or were telling the truth
Weakness - the procedure lacks mundane realism, meaning the study has poor ecological validity as it is an artificial memory task not used in everyday life
(we cannot necessarily apply the results to everyday memory recall)
Sebastian & Hernandez-Gill - Ethics
Strength - Pps gave informed consent, had the right to withdraw, were fully debriefed, confidentiality was maintained, no harm or deception (very ethical study)
How does dyslexia affect the capacity of the phonological loop?
People with dyslexia have a shorter capacity in the phonological loop and can’t hold sounds to match letters
