Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 24, 2026
08:32
Examining Online Syntactic Processing of Spoken Complex Sentences in Chinese Using Dual-Modal Interference Tasks
Published on: September 5, 2019
6.0K
Planning sentences while doing other things at the same time: effects of concurrent verbal and visuospatial working
Jana Klaus1, Andreas Mädebach1, Frank Oppermann1
1a Department of Psychology , Leipzig University , Leipzig , Germany.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|March 18, 2016
Summary
Cognitive load impacts sentence planning. Verbal working memory (WM) load specifically hinders phonological planning more than abstract-lexical planning, suggesting shared resources.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Sentence production involves advance planning at multiple linguistic levels.
- Cognitive load, particularly working memory (WM) load, can interfere with cognitive processes.
- Understanding the interplay between speech production and WM is crucial for cognitive models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how concurrent cognitive load affects advance planning in sentence production.
- To differentiate the impact of visuospatial versus verbal WM load on phonological and abstract-lexical planning.
- To examine the resource allocation between sentence planning and concurrent WM tasks.
Main Methods:
- Two picture-word interference experiments were conducted.
- Participants produced subject-verb-object sentences while ignoring auditory distractors.
- Advance planning was assessed at phonological (lexeme) and abstract-lexical (lemma) levels under varying WM loads.
Main Results:
- Phonological planning scope was reduced under verbal WM load, but not visuospatial WM load.
- Abstract-lexical planning remained unaffected by either type of WM load.
- Sentence planning performance detrimentally affected verbal WM task performance more than visuospatial WM task performance.
Conclusions:
- Phonological planning in sentence production is more susceptible to interference from verbal WM load.
- Abstract-lexical planning appears to utilize different or more robust resources.
- Findings suggest an overlap in cognitive resources between phonological planning and verbal WM.
Related Concept Videos
01:24Working Memory
1.2K
Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this...
1.2K
01:30Impact of Schemas
267
Schemas are cognitive structures that provide a framework for interpreting and organizing social information. They help individuals navigate complex environments by offering expectations about people, events, and behaviors. Schemas influence attention, encoding, and retrieval processes, thereby shaping the entire trajectory of information processing in social contexts.Attention and Cognitive LoadDuring initial attention, schemas function as filters that prioritize schema-consistent information,...
267
01:14Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory
1.4K
The cerebellum, while traditionally associated with motor control, also plays a crucial role in memory, particularly in procedural memory, which involves learning motor tasks that become automatic through repetition. For example, studies have shown that when the cerebellum is damaged, individuals or animals lose the ability to learn conditioned motor responses, such as the conditioned eye-blink response in classical conditioning experiments with rabbits. This study demonstrates the...
1.4K
01:20Parallel Processing
869
The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...
869