Date: 30th March 2022 – 3:00pm-4:30pm
Title: Visuospatial Working Memory of Humans and Chimpanzees: A possible Influence of Language on Recall
Location: Join Zoom Meeting
https://carleton-ca.zoom.us/j/92700176612
Meeting ID: Online
Speaker: Nadine Charanek
Abstract:
In recent years, most researchers have been interested in unravelling the working functions of cognition which is perhaps the most challenging undertaking by humans to date; but studying our nonhuman counterparts may have made it easier especially in terms of working memory (WM) functions in relation to language. The aim of the present paper is to investigate the possible influence of language as verbal coding on the recall of serial order in visuospatial working memory (VSWM) in humans and compared to chimpanzees from another study and such was investigated in 4 experimental masking tasks: 2 verbal Arabic numerals tasks and 2 nonverbal symbols tasks. Both numerals and symbols tasks utilized a dual-task paradigm of an 8-digit sequence as verbal interference (VI) to investigate the influence of language as manifest in verbal coding. For all experiments, there were variations in latency times for which characters were shown before masked. Findings revealed that a) chimpanzees clearly outperform humans in the Arabic numerals task; b) human capacity is limited but is dependent on latency time; and c) language as manifested in verbal coding does have an influence but such is dependent on the mode of presentation of serial order. Finally, limitations in methodology are discussed followed by implications, especially those pertaining to bilingual studies.
Bio:
Nadine is interested in psycholinguistics and experimental research methods in the field of Cognitive Science. Her Master’s focused on working memory and the role of language in recall necessary for daily tasks, as well as the new evolutionary theory, the Cognitive Trade-Off Hypothesis. Now, her Ph.D. work aims to extend this new hypothesis in light of the controversial Bilingual Executive Advantage and the interaction between the verbal and visuospatial components of working memory.