Examining verbal memory recall from a speech production standpoint can greatly contribute to the understanding of both processes. The existence of the segment as the minimal unit of articulation, already shown in the naming task, has important implications for how recall might occur in verbal recall tasks. Specifically, the initial segment of a…

Cognitive load theory (CLT) (Sweller 1988, 1998, 2010) provides us a guiding framework for designing instructional materials. CLT differentiates three subtypes of cognitive load: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. The three cognitive loads are theorized based on the number of simultaneously processed elements in working memory.…

Previous cognitive models of memory have not comprehensively taken into account the internal cognitive load of chunking isolated information and have emphasized the external cognitive load of visual presentation only. Under the Virk Long Term Working Memory Multimedia Model of cognitive load, drawing from the Cowan model, students presented with…

Taking a test often leads to enhanced later memory for the tested information, a phenomenon known as the "testing effect". This memory advantage has been reliably demonstrated with recall tests but not multiple choice tests. One potential explanation for this finding is that multiple choice tests do not rely on retrieval processes to the same…

Understanding a narrative situation depends on keeping track of multiple characters that enter and exit dynamically as the plot unfolds. Because there has been no systematic investigation of age differences in the ability to manage multiple characters during narrative comprehension, this project was designed to examine those differences in this…