Relative to speakers of other languages, Chinese speakers are known to show supe

Relative to speakers of other languages, Chinese speakers are known to show superior
immediate verbal memory span. Baddeley and colleagues (2023) investigated two potential
sources of this advantage. I’d like to focus on the second factor (investigated in
Experiment 3, 4 and 5). Each answer is based on the article provided and should be within the word limit given for each question.
-Analytical reading exercise
-Deep understanding of research methods in
cognition – in particular, how theoretical issues are mapped onto observable,
empirical data.
-The topic of this assignment relates to Working memory specifically to the
phonological loop.
Questions
1. (Introduction/Background to this research, total 4 marks)
a) Describe the main pattern of results depicted in Figure 1 that motivated the
present research (limit 20 words, 2 marks).
b) According to the authors, how is this pattern of results usually explained in terms
of the workings of the phonological loop system? (limit 30 words, 2 marks)
2. (Discussion of Experiment 2, total 4 marks).
The results of Experiment 2 were unexpected in two ways. Describe the result the
authors considered to be more important (and investigated in Experiments 3, 4 and 5).
In your answer, refer to Figure 5, making its relevance clear (4 marks, limit 80 words)
3. (Method, Experiment 3, total 4 marks). Describe:
a) the participant characteristics (limit 10 words, 1 mark),
b) the dependent variable (limit 10 words, 1 mark), and
2
c) the two independent variables (IV) and the levels (conditions) within each IVs,
making clear how they were manipulated (within-subjects or between-subjects)(limit
30 words, 2 marks).
4. (Results Experiment 3, total 4 marks). The results of Experiment 3 are shown in Figure
6. Describe in a sentence the result that the authors regard as unique to the Chinese
speakers, referring to the statistical support for the result (limit 40 words, 4 marks)
5. (General Discussion, total 4 marks). To develop an explanation of the finding reported
here, the authors consider when the retention of speech-like features can withstand
articulatory suppression, and distinguish between two buffers that hold speech-based
information.
a) What are these two systems/buffers, and which of these two buffers/systems is
suggested by the authors as used differently by the Chinese speakers? (limit 50
words, 2 marks).
b) According to the authors, what characteristics of the Chinese reading/writing
system (that is different from the alphabetic systems) may explain this difference?
(limit 60 words, 2 marks)
Target article
: Baddeley, A.D., Xu, Z., Ho, S.T., & Hitch, G.J. (2023). On verbal memory span in Chinese
speakers: Evidence for employment of an articulation-resistant phonological component.
Journal of Memory and Language, 129, 104389. DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2022.104389