Relating verbal and non-verbal auditory spans to language comprehension performance

• Main Authors: DiGiovanni, Jeffrey J., Riffle, Travis L., Weaver, Aurora J., Lynch, Erin E.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1939-800X
• DOI: 10.1121/2.0000628

Working memory, the ability to store and process information, has often been assessed through variations of span tasks (e.g., reading span, digit span, etc.). Arguably, daily activities, such as engaging in conversation or understanding a news article, require more storage and processing than recalling a list of numbers. As storage and processing demands increase, it’s expected that the individual will be slower to respond and/or less accurate at their responses. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship of verbal and non-verbal auditory spans to language comprehension performance. Four experiments were administered for this study: LISN (Lecture, Interview, and Spoken Narratives) listening comprehension task, forward and reverse digit span, Complex Verbal Working Memory (CVWM) task, and pitch pattern span. Results revealed no significant correlation between non-verbal spans and language comprehension. Also, there was no significant correlation between forward and reverse digit spans to language comprehension. There was a significant finding between the Complex Verbal Working Memory task and language comprehension. This suggests that complex tasks which require more storage and processing will likely be better predictors of language comprehension than simple span tasks.