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The nature of working memory for Braille
Henri Cohen1, Patrice Voss, Franco Lepore
1Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neuropsychologie Cognitives (FRE-3292), CNRS - Université Paris Descartes, Boulogne-Billancourt, France. henri.cohen@parisdescartes.fr
Plos One
|June 4, 2010
Summary
Completely blind individuals show efficient tactile working memory for Braille, comparable to sighted individuals
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Sensory Compensation
Background:
- Individuals with blindness often develop enhanced abilities in non-visual senses.
- Previous research focused on auditory and tactile perception, with recent interest in higher-order cognitive functions like memory and language.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine tactile working memory for Braille in visually impaired individuals.
- To investigate the nature (spatial vs. verbal) of tactile working memory in blind subjects.
- To explore the influence of visual experience on tactile working memory.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted involving completely blind subjects (CBS) and blind with residual vision (BRV) individuals.
- Participants performed tactile Braille memory span tasks, with and without articulatory suppression.
- A second experiment involved concurrent tasks (mental arithmetic or spatial displacement) to assess memory nature.
Main Results:
- Tactile working memory for Braille in completely blind subjects was as efficient as visual working memory in sighted individuals under articulatory suppression.
- Braille tactile working memory appeared more robust in completely blind subjects compared to those with residual vision.
- Memory disruption was greatest when blind subjects performed the Braille task concurrently with a spatial task, suggesting a spatial nature for this working memory.
Conclusions:
- Tactile working memory for Braille in completely blind individuals is highly efficient and likely spatial in nature.
- Visual experience may play a role in shaping tactile working memory.
- Working memory is multimodal, and experience significantly influences its subcomponent development.
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