Complex conversational understanding engages working memory where isolated word recognition does not

Evidence

First, individual differences in WMC have been shown to explain some of the variability in performance in more linguistically complex task (such as in the comprehension of dynamic conversations; Keidser et al. 2015 ), presumably requiring memory or attentional/inhibitory processes associated with WMC (Conway et al. 2001 ; Kjellberg et al. 2008 ). Second, different cognitive measures, probing the hypothesized sub-processes of WM (e.g. inhibition, shifting, updating) or other domain-general cognitive primitives (e.g. processing speed) might prove to be better predictors of SiN processing abilities than the Reading-Span test. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1154

Categorization

• QUESTION: The task-dependence of WMC involvement — dynamical conversation vs. isolated SiN — suggests a gradient of cognitive engagement worth mapping against background noise conditions.