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A capacity theory of comprehension: Individual differences in working memory (1992)
| Venue: | Psychological Review |
| Citations: | 699 - 21 self |
BibTeX
@ARTICLE{Just92acapacity,
author = {Marcel Adam Just and Patricia A. Carpenter},
title = {A capacity theory of comprehension: Individual differences in working memory},
journal = {Psychological Review},
year = {1992},
pages = {122--149}
}
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Abstract
A theory of the way working memory capacity constrains comprehension is proposed. The theory proposes that both processing and storage are mediated by activation and that the total amount of activation available in working memory varies among individuals. Individual differences in working memory capacity for language can account for qualitative and quantitative differences among college-age adults in several aspects of language comprehension. One aspect is syntactic modularity: The larger capacity of some individuals permits interaction among syntactic and pragmatic information, so that their syntactic processes are not informationally encapsulated. Another aspect is syntactic ambiguity: The larger capacity of some individuals permits them to maintain multiple interpretations. The theory is instantiated as a production system model in which the amount of activation available to the model affects how it adapts to the transient computational and storage demands that occur in comprehension. Working memory plays a central role in all forms of complex thinking, such as reasoning, problem solving, and language comprehension. However, its function in language comprehension is especially evident because comprehension entails processing
Keyphrases
individual difference language comprehension capacity theory memory capacity quantitative difference problem solving central role individual permit interaction syntactic ambiguity storage demand syntactic process memory varies syntactic modularity multiple interpretation complex thinking total amount college-age adult comprehension entail production system model pragmatic information several aspect transient computational
