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Originalarbeiten/Original communications

Is memory for shapes subject to language-specific effects? An experimental study of memory span in German and Chinese subjects

1This study was conducted as part of a research project supported by the Volkswagen Foundation, Hanover, Germany (Nr.: II/68 192). We would like to thank Yan Song, Claudia Wilimzig and Nina Wiendahl for their help in carrying out the experiments, and Christina Sarembe for her help in preparing the English version of our article.

Published Online:December 01, 1999https://doi.org/10.1024//0253-4533.18.34.136

Abstract

Summary: With German and Chinese subjects, memory span for simple geometrical shapes and random shapes was established. Half of the subjects additionally learned verbal descriptions for the random shapes prior to the trials in which memory span was measured. Throughout all experimental conditions, the Chinese subjects achieved higher memory span scores than the German subjects where simple geometrical shapes were concerned, however, this was not the case where random shapes had to be reproduced. In addition the articulation times for the verbal descriptions of the figures used were measured. The articulation times for the verbal descriptions of both the simple geometrical shapes and the random shapes were shorter in Chinese than they were in German. The appearance of a language-specific effect on memory in the case of simple geometrical shapes and the non-appearance of such an effect in the case of random shapes are discussed within the framework of Baddeley's working memory model.

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