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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Is Written Language Production more Difficult than Oral Language Production? A Working Memory Approach

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Abstract Is written language production more difficult than oral language production? Probably, yes. But why? Several experiments were conducted in order to test the impact of low-level activities involved in writing on the performance of higher-level activities also involved in writing. Three assumptions were made: (1) the capacity of working-memory is limited, (2) every component of writing has a cognitive load, and (3) every increase in the load devoted to the activity of one component would lead to a decrease in the remaining resources available for the other components. These low-level activities are more resource-consuming in children than in adults because children have not yet automated these activities. So, it was hypothezised that the difficulties encountered by children in dealing with the low-level activities would have a negative impact on the performance of higher activities. To test that hypothesis, a serial recall paradigm was used. Adults and children were asked to recall series of words,...