Articulatory Suppression Effects on Short-term Memory of Signed Digits and Lexical Items in Hearing Bimodal-Bilingual Adults

<span class="paragraphSection"><div class="boxTitle">Abstract</div> We can gain a better understanding of short-term memory processes by studying different language codes and modalities. Three experiments were conducted to investigate: (a) Taiwanese Sign Language (TSL) digit spans in Chinese/TSL hearing bilinguals ( <span style="font-style:italic;">n</span> = 32); (b) American Sign Language (ASL) digit spans in English/ASL hearing bilinguals ( <span style="font-style:italic;">n</span> = 15); and (c) TSL lexical sign spans in Chinese/TSL hearing bilinguals ( <span style="font-style:italic;">n</span> = 22). Articulatory suppression conditions were manipulated to determine if participants would use a speech- or sign-based code to rehearse lists of signed items. Results from all 3 experiments showed that oral suppression significantly reduced spans while manual suppression had no effect, revealing that participants were using speech-based rehearsal to retain lists of signed items in short-term memory. In addition, sub-vocal rehearsal using Chinese facilitated higher digit spans than English even though stimuli were perceived and recalled using signs. This difference was not found for lexical sign spans. </span>
Source: Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education - Category: Audiology Source Type: research