This is because output of the last list item in an N-item list will require N items to be retrieved from memory, the next item will require N − 1 items to be retrieved, and so forth, for sequences of diminishing length.
#Digit span test backward interpretation serial#
If backward recall is achieved by peeling off items in successive forward retrievals, output time should be a negatively accelerated function across serial position. So, just how do we recall in backward order, and how might this relate to individual differences in broader cognitive function?Ī peel-off strategy should be evident in the timing of output responses. It is one of the most reliable measures of general and complex cognitive abilities, predicting children’s current and future academic learning (Bull, Espy, & Wiebe, 2008 Gathercole, Pickering, Knight, & Stegmann, 2004) and showing high sensitivity to age-related cognitive decline (Bopp & Verhaeghen, 2005). For many decades, backward digit span has occupied a prominent position through its inclusion in test instruments extensively used in psychological research and neuropsychological evaluation (Elliott, Murray, & Pearson, 1990 Wechsler, 2014). Despite this low ecological validity, backward recall is something that we can do, and understanding how we do it may have important implications for the broader field of learning. In everyday life, circumstances rarely arise that require sequences to be reversed. The ability to remember spoken items in the order in which they were presented is critical to understanding spoken language, remembering telephone numbers, PIN numbers, passwords, and instructions, as well as to learning new words (Baddeley et al., 1998). We conclude that backward recall can be performed using many strategies, but that the peel-off is rarely used spontaneously. The pattern of response times for three of these individuals was similar to the two participants from Experiment 2a previously identified as using peel-off. In Experiment 2b, four further participants were directly instructed to use a peel-off strategy. Most participants reported using a combination of different strategies. Peel-off was not a dominant strategy in backward digit recall and there was no indication that it was ever used for spatial stimuli. Only two of 24 participants showed signs of using a peel-off strategy in spoken backward recall.
#Digit span test backward interpretation manual#
This was true whether responses were made by means of manual selection on a keyboard display (Experiment 1) or were spoken (Experiment 2a).
For digit span, backward recall was considerably slower.
For spatial span, the pattern of timing was the same in both directions. To examine the role of this strategy in both verbal and spatial domains, two experiments examined response output times for forward and backward recall. Direct evidence for this peel-off strategy is relatively weak, and there has to date been no examination of its potential role in the recall of spatial sequences. Following Conrad ( 1965, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 4, 161–169) it is often assumed that backward verbal serial recall is performed by repeated forward scans through the list and then recalling the last remaining item.
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