Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language
- Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- About the Editors
- About the Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Overview of the Handbook
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Models and Measures
- 3 The Evolution of Working Memory and Language
- 4 The Phonological Loop as a “Language Learning Device”
- 5 The Embedded-Processes Model and Language Use
- 6 Long-Term Working Memory and Language Comprehension
- 7 The Cognitive Neuroscience of Working Memory and Language
- 8 Computational Models of Working Memory for Language
- 9 The Time-Based Resource Sharing Model of Working Memory for Language
- 10 The Ease of Language Understanding Model
- 11 Assessing Children’s Working Memory
- 12 Measuring Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and Attention Control and Their Contribution to Language Comprehension
- Part III Linguistic Theories and Frameworks
- Part IV First Language Processing
- Part V Bilingual Acquisition and Processing
- Part VI Language Disorders, Interventions, and Instruction
- Part VII Conclusion
- Index
- References
8 - Computational Models of Working Memory for Language
from Part II - Models and Measures
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 July 2022
- The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language
- Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- About the Editors
- About the Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Overview of the Handbook
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Models and Measures
- 3 The Evolution of Working Memory and Language
- 4 The Phonological Loop as a “Language Learning Device”
- 5 The Embedded-Processes Model and Language Use
- 6 Long-Term Working Memory and Language Comprehension
- 7 The Cognitive Neuroscience of Working Memory and Language
- 8 Computational Models of Working Memory for Language
- 9 The Time-Based Resource Sharing Model of Working Memory for Language
- 10 The Ease of Language Understanding Model
- 11 Assessing Children’s Working Memory
- 12 Measuring Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and Attention Control and Their Contribution to Language Comprehension
- Part III Linguistic Theories and Frameworks
- Part IV First Language Processing
- Part V Bilingual Acquisition and Processing
- Part VI Language Disorders, Interventions, and Instruction
- Part VII Conclusion
- Index
- References
Summary
We start with a brief review of evidence that verbal working memory (WM) involves a limited capacity phonological loop capable of retaining verbal sequences for a few seconds in immediate serial recall, vocabulary acquisition, speech production, and language comprehension. The challenge of explaining how such a system handles information about serial order is discussed in the context of computational models of the immediate recall of unstructured sequences of words, letters, or digits, an extensively studied laboratory task for which there are many benchmark findings. Evaluating computational models against these benchmarks suggests a serial ordering mechanism in which items are simultaneously active before being selected for sequential output by a process of competitive queuing (CQ). Further evidence shows how this process may operate in the context of sequences that conform to various kinds of linguistic constraint. We conclude by suggesting that CQ is a promising theoretical mechanism for connecting and potentially unifying theories of WM and language processing more generally despite major differences in their scope and level of abstraction.
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- The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language , pp. 143 - 174Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022
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