Two experiments examined whether text composition engages verbal, visual, and spatial working memory to different degrees. In Experiment 1, undergraduate students composed by longhand a persuasive text while performing a verbal, visual, or spatial concurrent task that was presented visually. In Experiment 2, participants performed a verbal or spatial concurrent task that was aurally presented. Writing performance was not disrupted differentially across the three tasks. Performance on all concurrent tasks showed fewer correct responses and longer RTs relative to single-task, baseline data. However, the demands on visual working memory were as high as those on verbal working memory, whereas demands on spatial working memory were minimal. The findings help to delineate the roles of the verbal, visual, and spatial working memory in written composition.

/pdf/verbal-visual-and-spatial-working-memory-demands-during-text-pzek039txs.pdf

Verbal, Visual, and Spatial Working Memory Demands during Text Composition.

Across the autism spectrum, level of intelligence is highly dependent on the psychometric instrument used for assessment, and there are conflicting views concerning which measures best estimate autistic cognitive abilities. Inspection time is a processing speed measure associated with general intelligence in typical individuals. We therefore investigated autism spectrum performance on inspection time in relation to two different general intelligence tests. Autism spectrum individuals were divided into autistic and Asperger subgroups according to speech development history. Compared to a typical control group, mean inspection time for the autistic subgroup but not the Asperger subgroup was significantly shorter (by 31%). However, the shorter mean autistic inspection time was evident only when groups were matched on Wechsler IQ and disappeared when they were matched using Raven's Progressive Matrices. When autism spectrum abilities are compared to typical abilities, results may be influenced by speech development history as well as by the instrument used for intelligence matching.

https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/abn/122/1/295.pdf

The level and nature of autistic intelligence III: Inspection time.

Cognitive map or medium materiality? Reading on paper and screen

Take the matter into your own hands: a brief review of the effect of nearby-hands on visual processing.

This paper reviews models of the cognitive processes involved in writing. It sketches their development from an early emphasis on the thinking behind the text and the impact of cognitive overload on this, through more dynamic models emphasizing the interaction between thinking and text production processes, to more recent models emphasizing the constitutive role of text production in the development of the writer?s thought. In the course of the review it considers the implications of these models for research on writing in L2. These include a consideration of (i) varying goals and genres in L1 and L2, (ii) the impact of linguistic fluency in L2 on higher level thinking processes, (iii) strategies for managing the writing process in L2, (iv) the maintenance of conceptual representations during text production in L2, and (v) the impact of L2 writing on the development of the writer?s understanding during text production.

/pdf/cognitive-models-of-writing-1w5yei94sn.pdf

Cognitive models of writing

Recent studies have shown that changes in visual processing in perihand space are limited to the area around the right hand, at least in right-handers. One explanation for these findings is that perception is altered at locations where action is more likely to occur. To test this notion, we asked both right- and left-handers to perform an unspeeded visual discrimination task under four hand-position configurations: Left hand, right hand, both hands, or no hands near the display. Compared to the no-hands (control) condition, visual sensitivity (d’) was higher in the dominant-hand condition for right-handers and higher in the dominant- as well as the non-dominant hand condition for left-handers. When both hands were near the display, sensitivity was similar to that in the dominant-hand condition for right-handers and to that in the non-dominant hand condition for left-handers. This shows that performance differed between the two handedness groups when their non-dominant hand was near the display (both alone and accompanied by their dominant hand). Thus, the pattern for left-handers did not correspond to a mirror image of the pattern for right-handers. In line with studies on bimanual action control, visual processing in perihand space seems to be determined by the different ways in which left- and right-handers use their hands.

/pdf/effects-of-handedness-on-visual-sensitivity-in-perihand-1agfjfgklr.pdf

Effects of handedness on visual sensitivity in perihand space.

In two experiments, we investigated memory for words location after writing a text. Experiment 1 demonstrated the existence of a memory for words location in writing by showing that participants who first composed a text and were then asked to locate words extracted from their text performed above a chance level established using a computer simulation, and better than participants who did not compose a text but were told the subject of the text. Experiment 2 showed that memory for words location in writing is mainly supported by a visuospatial representation of the text, as indicated by the lower recall of words location by participants who performed a visuospatial concurrent task at the time of the composition, compared with participants who performed a verbal concurrent task. The findings highlight the role of a spatial representation of the physical layout of the text and the role of such a memory in the writing process.

http://thierry.olive.pagesperso-orange.fr/resources/2009-LBPO-Psych-Research.pdf

Memory for words location in writing.

This paper describes the results of an experiment designed to assess the effects of self-monitoring and 3 different kinds of secondary task on the development of ideas during planning, and on the quality of subsequently produced text An LSA-based measure was used to assess the development of ideas during planning and Coh-Metrix was used to assess effects on text The results suggest that the spatial component of working memory plays an important role in the development of ideas during planning, and that this affects the quality of the final text Individual differences in self-monitoring also affect the extent to which content develops during planning and are associated with differences in the coherence of the final text

/pdf/the-role-of-different-components-of-working-memory-in-25ozejmysq.pdf

Nathalie Le Bigot

Papers

Effects of handedness on visual sensitivity in perihand space.

Memory for words location in writing.

The role of different components of working memory in writing

The visual impact of augmented reality during an assembly task

Augmented reality on industrial assembly line: Impact on effectiveness and mental workload.