Metz, Chloé (2023) The Influence of Long-Term Linguistic Knowledge on Verbal Short-Term Memory in Adults With and Without Dyslexia: Behavioural and Electrophysiological Insights. Doctoral thesis, York St John University.

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Abstract

This thesis analysed the impact of lexical-semantic knowledge on verbal short-term memory (vSTM) in individuals with and without dyslexia. Given that dyslexic individuals
generally exhibit phonological difficulties, this investigation sought to understand whether they leverage their lexical-semantic knowledge as a compensatory mechanism
in vSTM, mirroring tendencies observed in reading tasks. Chapters 2 and 3 studied the impact of newly acquired linguistic knowledge on vSTM. Chapter 2 found that newly
gained phonological-lexical knowledge boosted nonword recall, but further semantic associations offered no extra benefits, particularly for dyslexic participants. In contrast, Chapter 3, after strengthening the training methodology, found that both phonological familiarity and semantic training improved recall, benefiting dyslexic and non-dyslexic participants alike. Chapter 4 investigated the impact of associating nonwords with high or low-imageability words, although the results did not show substantial differentiation for any participants. Chapter 5 pivoted to scrutinise the role of well-integrated lexicalsemantic representations in vSTM, showing that both imageability and semantic relatedness enhanced recall, even at a rapid presentation rate, implying these semantic influences were largely automatic. Here, individuals with weaker phonological skills benefitted more from word imageability under faster presentations. Chapter 6 replicated the beneficial effect of semantic coherence on vSTM performance, revealing similarly enhanced accuracy in both groups, although a differing pattern of errors indicated
dyslexic participants may use different recall strategies. Throughout the thesis, experiments have replicated the supportive effects of phonological-lexical representations and added benefits of established semantic knowledge in vSTM and, through similar levels of performance, demonstrated that these sources of support likely have an important contribution to maintaining functional STM capacity in dyslexia; although the efficacy and degree to which they can boost vSTM performance may be limited. These insights offer a valuable foundation for future research into lexicalsemantic mechanisms underpinning language processing in dyslexia.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Status:	Published
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
School/Department:	School of Education, Language and Psychology
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/9020

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