What We Study
Working memory refers to the ability to remember information for short periods of time in order to solve a problem or accomplish a task. Remembering a list of ingredients while navigating the grocery store, following the steps of a recipe, and converting fractions for a double-batch of cookies all require working memory. Working memory isn't only useful for cooking. It's used whenever you have to figure out something new, and it supports long-term learning.
Why is language important to working memory?
Working memory is important for making sense of language. We can only hear or read words one-at-a-time. Therefore, we must hold onto the words—and their order—while simultaneously creating meaning and thinking about our own response. Children with hearing loss must especially rely on working memory. Because the auditory signal they get is sometimes ambiguous, children with hearing loss often problem-solve to work out the meaning of what they hear.
Grants, Publications and Resources
It is common for adults to talk to themselves when they need to remember something. When an adult silently says the same word or phrase over and over in an attempt to commit it to memory, we call this rehearsal. Unfortunately, we know much less about how and when children rehearse. In this project, we measure how children's rehearsal changes as the memory task gets harder. We also want to know how children's use of rehearsal changes over time. This project is funded by a NIH Centers for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant (NIH-NIGMS / 5P20GM109023-04).
AuBuchon, A. M. & Wagner, R. L. (2023). Self-generated strategies in the phonological similarity effect. Memory & Cognition 51(7), 1683-1701.
AuBuchon, A.M., Elliott, E.M., Morey, C.C., Jarrold, C., Cowan, N., Adams, E.J. …& Voracek M. (2022) Lexical Access Speed and the Development of Phonological Recoding during Immediate Serial Recall, Journal of Cognition and Development, doi: 10.1080/15248372.2022.2083140
Wagner, R. L., Lyon, B. A., AuBuchon, A. (2022). False memory for words in noise: An at-home Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) experiment across adulthood. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 27(2), 154-165. doi.org/10.24839/2325-7342.JN27.2.154.
Elliott, E.M., Morey, C.M., AuBuchon, A.M. et al. (2021). A multi-lab direct replication of: Flavell, Beach, and Chinsky (1966): Spontaneous Verbal Rehearsal in Children, Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science doi: 10.1177/25152459211018187
AuBuchon, A.M., McGill, C., & Elliott, E.M. (2020). Decomposing the role of rehearsal in auditory distraction during serial recall. Auditory Perception & Cognition, 1-15, doi: 10.1080/25742442.2020.1842996
Bosen, A. K., Monzingo, E. & AuBuchon, A.M. (2020). Acoustic-phonetic mismatches impair serial recall of degraded words, Auditory Perception & Cognition, 1-21, doi: 10.1080/25742442.2020.1846012 Cowan, N., AuBuchon, A. M., Gilchrist, A. L., Blume, C. L., Boone, A. P., & Saults, J. S. (2020). Developmental change in the nature of attention allocation in a dual task. Developmental Psychology, 57(1), 33-46. doi: 10.1037/dev0001134
AuBuchon, A.M., Kronenberger, W.G., Stone, L. & Pisoni, D.B. (2020). Strategy Use on Clinical Administrations of Short-Term and Working Memory Tasks. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 0734282920930924. doi: 10.1177/0734282920930924
AuBuchon, A.M., & McCreery, R.W. (2020). When Choosing NOT to Listen Helps You Hear and Learn. Frontiers for Young Minds, Young Minds. 8:104. doi: 10.3389/frym.2020.00104Kamerer A.M., AuBuchon A, Fultz S.E., Kopun J.G., Neely S.T., Rasetshwane D.M. (2019). The role of cognition in common measures of peripheral synaptopathy and hidden hearing loss. American Journal of Audiology, 1-14. doi: 10.1044/2019_AJA-19-0063
AuBuchon, A.M., Pisoni, D.B. & Kronenberger, W.G. (2019). Evaluating Pediatric Cochlear Implant Users Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval Strategies in Verbal Working Memory. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62(4), 1016-1032. doi: 10.1044/2018_JSLHR-H-18-0201
AuBuchon, A.M., McGill, C.I., & Elliott, E.M. (2018). Auditory distraction does more than disrupt rehearsal processes in children's serial recall. Memory & Cognition, 47(4), 738-748. doi: 10.3758/s13421-018-0879-4
AuBuchon A.M., Pisoni D.B., Kronenberger W.G. (2016). Elementary Cognitive Processes Underlying Verbal Working Memory in Pre-lingually Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants. In: Young N., Iler Kirk K. (eds) Pediatric Cochlear Implantation. Springer, New York, NY. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2788-3_17
AuBuchon, A.M., Pisoni, D.B. & Kronenberger, W.G. (2015). Short-Term and Working Memory Impairments in Early-Implanted, Long-Term Cochlear Implant Users are Independent of Audibility and Speech Production. Ear and Hearing, 36(6), 733-737. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000189
AuBuchon, A. M., Pisoni, D. B., & Kronenberger, W. G. (2015). Verbal Processing Speed and Executive Functioning in Long-Term Cochlear Implant Users. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 58(1), 151-162. doi: 10.1044/2014_JSLHR-H-13-0259
Montag, J. L., AuBuchon, A. M., Pisoni, D. B., & Kronenberger, W. G. (2014). Speech intelligibility in deaf children after long-term cochlear implant use. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 57(6), 2332-2343. doi: 10.1044/2014_JSLHR-H-14-0190
Cowan, N., AuBuchon, A.M., Gilchrist, A.L., Ricker, T.J., & Saults, J.S. (2011). Age differences in visual working memory capacity: Not based on encoding limitations. Developmental Science, 14, 1066-1074. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2011.01060.x
Cowan, N., Hismjatullina, A., AuBuchon, A.M., Saults, J.S., Horton, N., Leadbitter, K., & Towse, J. (2010). With development, list recall includes more chunks, not just larger ones. Developmental Psychology, 46(5), 1119-1131. doi: 10.1037/a0020618
Cowan, N., Morey, C. C., AuBuchon, A. M., Zwilling, C. E., & Gilchrist, A. L. (2010). Seven- year-olds allocate attention like adults do unless working memory is overloaded. Developmental Science, 13, 120-133. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00864.x
Cowan N. & AuBuchon A. M. (2008). Short-term memory loss over time without retroactive stimulus interference. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 15, 230-235. doi: 10.3758/pbr.15.1.230
A blog on issues of attention, memory, and learning. A team of amazing bloggers summarize research findings for students, educators, parents, and anyone who wants to learn how to learn.
Clinical psychologist Ali Mattu brings psychology to life in his personal, often nerd-inspired, explanations of psychological phenomenon. His YouTube channel features topics on sci-fi ("The Last Jedi Psychology Explained") with the same thoroughness as his overviews of mental health ("How to overcome social anxiety").
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It's a Noisy Planet, Protect Their Hearing
An educational campaign supported by the National Institutes of Health, Noisy Planet provides resources to teach children about how hearing works and how to prevent hearing loss.
Frontiers for Young Minds is a scientific journal written by scientists for children. Children are involved in the review and editing process to ensure age-appropriate writing on a variety of topics—including genetics, ocean life, astronomy, and neuroscience. Now only does Dr. AuBuchon serve as a Science Mentor for the Young Minds who review the papers, but she has written a paper herself! Click here to go directly to her paper on how children's brains listen to background noise and tips for listening through the noise.
