ABSTRACT

The review assumes a broad perspective on working memory and working memory related cognitive functions primarily involved in visual communication. The purpose of this chapter is to use a comparative and contrastive approach to point to similarities and differences in the ways that working memory processes in particular are engaged in different modes of visual speech and sign understanding. As a result, a framework is proposed that focuses on the role of sensory and language modality in the formulation of a working memory system for processing of language, and the ease with which language understanding can be accomplished.