Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University
Doi
Abstract
Comprehension of natural language suffers at input rates
above the normal speech range. If the same were true for
very slow input, this would have important implications
for certain types of readers. Slow reading rates exceeding
the temporal capacity of a hypothesized short-term
memory (STM) store, believed to play a central role in
the processing of sentences, has been blamed for observed
comprehension deficits in slow readers. A study involving
several groups of slow-reading children showed that good
comprehension can be achieved even if the hypothesized
limits of the STM store are exceeded. The results of the
study can be explained in terms of alternate models of
sentence processing which (a) redefine the conventional
view of a largely passive STM, strictly limited in capacity
and function, into STM as a working space with
considerable flexibility and semantic processing capability,
or (b) models which are based on a more unitary view
of memory and information processing with no need for a
separate STM, or where something like a STM is retained
but with a less crucial importance for language processing.
The results also indicate that theorists and practitioners
in fields outside psychology should exercise caution in
extrapolating findings from experimental psychology involving
atypical material and settings to tasks and situations
requiring natural language processing such as in the
reading and comprehension of meaningful prose in everyday
life