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Working Memory Capacity and Individual Differences in the Making of Reinstatement and Elaborative Inferences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Juan Pablo Barreyro ,
Jazmín Cevasco ,
Débora Burín  and
Carlos Molinari Marotto
Juan Pablo Barreyro*
Affiliation:
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (Argentina)
Jazmín Cevasco
Affiliation:
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (Argentina)
Débora Burín
Affiliation:
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (Argentina)
Carlos Molinari Marotto
Affiliation:
Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Juan Pablo Barreyro. Instituto de Investigaciones. Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Independencia 3065, Piso 3° Oficina 8 (1225). Buenos Aires (Argentina). Phone: (05411) 4822-5202. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

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 pre-inference 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.

Este estudio investigó el rol de la capacidad de memoria de trabajo en la realización de inferencias de restablecimiento y elaborativas durante la lectura de textos naturales. Los participantes realizaron la tarea de amplitud lectora, y aquellos que fueron identificados como lectores de alta o baja capacidad de memoria de trabajo realizaron una tarea de decisión léxica en dos condiciones. En la condición de pre-inferencia, las palabras de prueba se presentaron inmediatamente antes de la oración que promovía la realización de la inferencia. En la condición de inferencia, las palabras de prueba se presentaron inmediatamente después de la oración que promovía la inferencia. Los resultados indicaron que los lectores de alta capacidad de memoria de trabajo tenían menores tiempos de reacción en la condición de inferencia en comparación con la condición de pre-inferencia para ambos tipos de inferencias. Los lectores de baja capacidad de memoria de trabajo tenían tiempos de reacción menores en la condición de inferencia en comparación con la condición de pre-inferencia, solo en el caso de las inferencias de restablecimiento. Estos hallazgos sugieren que la capacidad de memoria de trabajo tiene un rol en la realización de inferencias causales durante la comprensión de textos naturales.

Keywords

working memory capacitycausal elaborative inferencesreinstatement inferencescapacidad de memoria de trabajoinferencias causales elaborativasinferencias repositivas
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , July 2012 , pp. 471 - 479
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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