The Relation Between Working Memory Span And Context Effect During Chinese Sentence Reading

This study researched the context effect during Chinese sentence reading. Naming task was used via rapid serial visual representation with reaction time as index. Context effect comes from two sources: the text priming and the lexical associative priming investigated separately. Results indicated: (1) there is text priming in high-span readers except the interference condition, but not in low-span readers at all times; (2) The lexical associative priming was found from all the subjects under the two conditions. It support the theory of Working Memory Capacity Constrain, in which working memory capacity constrains the cognitive processes that depend on abundance resources.