Working memory capacity and individual differences in the generation of reinstatement and elaborative inferences

This study investigated the role of working memory capacity on the making of reinstatement and causal elaborative inferences during the reading of natural texts. In order to determine participants' working memory capacity, they were asked to take the reading span task before they took part in t...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Barreyro, Juan Pablo, Yomha Cevasco, Jazmin, Burín, Débora, Marotto, Carlos Molinari
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2012
País:Argentina
Recursos:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/194968
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/194968
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:CAUSAL ELABORATIVE INFERENCES
REINSTATEMENT INFERENCES
WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5
Descrição
Resumo:This study investigated the role of working memory capacity on the making of reinstatement and causal elaborative inferences during the reading of natural texts. In order to determine participants' working memory capacity, they were asked to take the reading span task before they took part in the study. Those participants that were identified as high or low working memory capacity readers were asked to perform a lexical decision task in two conditions: pre-inference and inference. In the pre-inference condition, target words representing reinstatement or causal elaborative inferences were presented immediately before the sentences that were predicted to prompt them. In the inference condition, the target words were presented immediately after the sentences that were predicted to prompt the inferences. Results indicated that, for the high working memory capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the pre-inference locations for both types of inferences. In the case of low working capacity readers, lexical decision times were faster at the inference compared to the preinference locations only for reinstatement inferences. These findings suggest that working memory capacity plays a role in the making of causal inferences during the comprehension of natural texts.