Memoria de trabajo, comprensión de textos y generación de inferencias en adolescentes tempranos

Abstract

Text comprehension is a complex cognitive activity that involves the construction of a coherent mental representation. Two important aspects are relevant for this, one is the understanding of literal information and the other, the generation of inferences. Working memory is considered a crucial process for comprehension. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of the working memory components in the text comprehension, in the understanding of literal information and in the generation of inferences in a sample of early adolescents. The study included 105 students that completed three work memory tasks (forward and backward digits span and listening span) and two text comprehension tests (CLP and PROLEC-SE). The results show that, both components of working memory are implicated in the general text comprehension, but in the understanding of literal information and in the generation of inferences, only the executive component of the working memory had an important effect.

Text comprehension is a complex cognitive activity that involves the construction of a coherent mental representation. Two important aspects are relevant for this, one is the understanding of literal information and the other, the generation of inferences. Working memory is considered a crucial process for comprehension. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of the working memory components in the text comprehension, in the understanding of literal information and in the generation of inferences in a sample of early adolescents. The study included 105 students that completed three work memory tasks (forward and backward digits span and listening span) and two text comprehension tests (CLP and PROLEC-SE). The results show that, both components of working memory are implicated in the general text comprehension, but in the understanding of literal information and in the generation of inferences, only the executive component of the working memory had an important effect.