Individual Differences in Perspective Effects on Text Memory

Abstract

Examined whether a reader's working memory capacity modulates the effects of reading and recall perspectives on text memory. Ss were 32 undergraduates. Ss were given a perspective from which to read a text. Recall was collected both immediately after reading with the same perspective and after a one week delay with a new perspective given as a recall cue. Readers' working memory capacity was measured by the reading span test developed by M. Daneman and P. A. Carpenter (1980). Results replicated earlier findings that it is the encoding perspective that primarily constrains what can be recalled from a text. Readers with relatively high working memory span showed a greater effect of the encoding perspective on text memory than low-span readers. Results suggest that working memory capacity might be better described as a reader's capability to control attention rather than as an overall pool of resources available. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)