ABSTRACT
Recent behavioral evidence suggests that human vocabulary acquisition processes and verbal short-term memory abilities may be related (Gathercole & Baddeley, 1993). Investigation of this relationship has considerable significance for understanding of human language, of working memory, and of the relationship between short- and long-term memory systems. This paper presents a computational model of word learning, nonword repetition, and immediate serial recall. By providing an integrated account of these three abilities, the model provides a specification of how the mechanisms of immediate serial recall may be related to mechanisms of language processing more generally. Furthermore, the model provides fresh insight into the observed behavioral correlations between word learning and immediate serial recall. According to the model, these correlations can arise because of the common dependence of these two abilities on core phonological and semantic processing mechanisms. This contrasts with the explanation proposed in the working memory literature, viz., that word learning is dependent on verbal short-term memory (Gathercole et al., 1992). It is discussed how both explanations can be reconciled in terms of the present model.
