This thesis examined phonological processing in adults with postlingually acquired moderate-to-severe hearing impairment (HI) and whether explicit working memory processing of phonology and individual working memory capacity (WMC) can compensate for degraded phonological representations in this group (papers I-III). A second aim was to provide reference data for a test of WMC, the reading span test, and to examine the relation between reading span test performance and speech recognition in noise in a larger sample of 50-89 year olds with HI (paper IV). Non-auditory tasks of phonological processing, episodic long-term memory and WMC were used in papers I-III, and both behavioral and electrophysiological measures were collected. Results showed that phonological processing was impaired in the group with HI but that WMC and explicit working memory processing of phonology could be employed to compensate for degraded phonological representations. However, this compensation may come at the cost of interfering with episodic memory encoding. An  electrophysiological marker of HI in text-based rhyme judgments was found. Paper IV presented reference data for reading span test performance in two versions of the test in individuals with HI, and results suggesting that WMC may be differentially predictive of speech recognition in noise in different age groups of older adults with HI. The clinical implications of the present results concerns the double disadvantage of individuals with lower WMC and HI. A structured assessment of WMC in rehabilitative settings would help to identify these individuals and tailor treatment to their needs. The reading span test is suggested as a suitable future candidate for clinical WMC assessment. / I denna avhandling undersöktes fonologiska processer hos personer med postlingualt förvärvad, måttlig till mycket grav hörselnedsättning (HNS) och om inkoppling av explicit bearbetning av fonologi eller individuell arbetsminneskapacitet kan kompensera för försämrade ljudminnen i denna grupp (studie I-III). Ett andra syfte var att sammanställa referensdata för ett test av arbetsminneskapacitet, lässpann, och undersöka relationen mellan prestation på lässpann ochigenkänning av tal-i-brus i en större grupp av 50-89 åriga personer  med HNS (studie IV). Icke-auditiva test av fonologisk förmåga, episodiskt långtidsminne och arbetsminneskapacitet användes i studie I-III och både beteendedata och elektrofysiologiska data samlades in. Resultaten visade på försämrad fonologisk förmåga i gruppen med HNS men också att explicit bearbetning av fonologi och arbetsminneskapacitet kunde användas för att kompensera för försämrade fonologiska representationer i denna grupp. Denna kompensation kan dock ske på bekostnad av att inkodning i episodiska långtidsminnet störs. Vidare identifierades en elektrofysiologisk markör för HNS i en textbaserad rimuppgift. I studie IV presenterades referensdata i två versioner av lässpanntestet för personer med mild till mycket grav HN och resultat som pekar mot möjliga skillnader mellan olika åldersgrupper i hur väl arbetsminneskapacitet predicerar igenkänning av tal-i-brus. Kliniska implikationer rör den dubbla belastning det innebär att ha både en HN och relativt sänkt arbetsminneskapacitet. En strukturerad bedömning av arbetsminneskapacitet i samband med rehabilitering skulle kunna bidra till att synliggöra dessa personer och anpassa insatser efter deras behov. Lässpanntestet är ett test som i framtiden skulle kunna vara användbart i det sammanhanget.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between working memory, English as a second language and academic achievement of secondary school students between the ages of 12-14. The study also examines the effects of age and gender factors on working memory capacity and its relation with academic attainments. Data were collected from 12-14 year-old children (N=54) in two state secondary schools in Kirsehir, Turkey. Verbal working memory was assessed by a reading span (RS) test and a backward digit span (BDS) test. Academic achievement was determined by performance on basic secondary school courses which were English (foreign language), Turkish (mother tongue), Social Sciences, Mathematics and Science. The study examined the predictive role of working memory capacity on success on each course. The results revealed that verbal working memory tests significantly correlated with the tests of both general academic achievement (for RS: r=42, for BDS: r=43) and specific courses (.001&le / p &lt / .01). The results also indicated that verbal working memory capacity had a far more predictive role on school success for females than males.

During reading oculomotor processes guide the eyes over the text. The visual information recorded is accessed, evaluated and processed. Only by retrieving the meaning of a word from the long-term memory, as well as through the connection and storage of the information about each individual word, is it possible to access the semantic meaning of a sentence. Therefore memory, and here in particular working memory, plays a pivotal role in the basic processes of reading. The following dissertation investigates to what extent different demands on memory and memory capacity have an effect on eye movement behavior while reading. The frequently used paradigm of the reading span task, in which test subjects read and evaluate individual sentences, was used for the experimental review of the research questions. The results speak for the fact that working memory processes have a direct effect on various eye movement measurements. Thus a high working memory load, for example, reduced the perceptual span while reading. The lower the individual working memory capacity of the reader was, the stronger was the influence of the working memory load on the processing of the sentence. / Beim Lesen steuern okulomotorische Prozesse die Blickbewegungen über den Text. Die aufgenommenen visuellen Informationen werden erschlossen, beurteilt und verarbeitet. Erst durch den Abruf der Wortbedeutung aus dem Langzeitgedächtnis, und die Verknüpfung sowie Speicherung der einzelnen Wortinformationen erschließt sich die semantische Bedeutung eines Satzes. Somit stellt das Gedächtnis und hier insbesondere das Arbeitsgedächtnis eines der grundlegenden Prozesse für das Lesen dar. Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht inwieweit sich unterschiedliche Gedächtnisanforderungen und Gedächtniskapazitäten auf das Blickverhalten während des Lesens auswirken. Für die experimentelle Überprüfung der Forschungsfragen wurde das in der Arbeitsgedächtnisforschung sehr häufig genutzte Paradigma der Lesespannenaufgabe verwendet, bei dem Probanden einzelne Sätze lesen und beurteilen. Die Ergebnisse sprechen für einen direkten Einfluss von Arbeitsgedächtnisprozessen auf verschiedene Blickbewegungsmaße. So reduzierte eine hohe Arbeitsgedächtnisbelastung beispielsweise die perzeptuelle Spanne während des Lesens. Je geringer die individuelle Arbeitsgedächtniskapazität des Lesers war, desto stärker war der Einfluss der Arbeitsgedächtnisbelastung auf die Satzverarbeitung.

This study aims to find out the relationship between Working Memory Capacity and Verbal and Mathematical Achievement. The participants were 60 students at Hacettepe University School of Foreign Languages Department of Basic English. For measuring working memory capacity, one simple (Digit Span Task) and one complex (Reading Span Task) were used. Verbal achievement of the participants was measured both in their native language (Turkish) and their foreign language (English). For measuring their native language achievement, the participants&rsquo / Turkish scores in Y&uuml / ksek&ouml / gretime Ge&ccedil / is Sinavi 2010 (Transition to Higher Education Examination) / and for measuring their foreign language achievement, the participants&rsquo / scores in Hacettepe University School of Foreign Languages Department of Basic English Elementary Groups Achievement Exams I and II were used. For measuring their mathematical achievement, the participants&rsquo / Mathematic scores in Y&uuml / ksek&ouml / gretime Ge&ccedil / is Sinavi 2010 (Transition to Higher Education Examination) were used. The data was analyzed using a statistical package program (SPSS Version 18.0). The data analysis results revealed that there is a relationship between working memory capacity and verbal and mathematical achievements of the participants. It was tentatively concluded that, as the working memory capacity of the participants increase, so might their achievement in verbal and mathematical subjects. This result was discussed in terms of its implications, which may be that, if working memory capacity could be improved / the cognitive processes which the working memory is responsible for might also improve.

Inom disciplinen kognitiv hörselvetenskap tillämpas en integrerad ansats där taluppfattning beskrivs ur både ett auditivt bottom-up-perspektiv och ett kognitivt top-down-perspektiv. Studien undersökte hur taluppfattning varierar med, respektive utan top-down-stöd och vad de kognitiva förmågorna uppmärksamhet, minne och inhiberingsförmåga hade för inverkan. Taluppfattningsförmåga utvärderades med hjälp av ett Speech-In-Noise-test (SIN-test) som bestod av tre deltest där enstaviga ord presenterades i en ofördelaktig miljö bestående av röster som talande i mun på varandra. I deltest 1 presenterades ord i uppåtgående förhållande till rösterna utan kognitivt stöd, i deltest 2 presenterades ord i nedåtgående förhållande till rösterna med kognitivt stöd och i deltest 3 presenterades ord i uppåtgående förhållande till rösterna med kognitivt stöd. Detta resulterade i identifiering av tre tröskelnivåer för taluppfattning. Kognitiva förmågor utvärderades med hjälp av Reading span test, Size Comparison span task (SIC-span) och Paced Auditory Serial-Addition Test (PASAT). Envägs variansanalys av taluppfattningstesten visade på signifikanta skillnader mellan alla tre testen. I test 2 identifierades lägst tröskelvärde, därefter test 3 och slutligen test 1. Korrelationsanalys visade på icke signifikanta samband mellan de tre SIN-testen. Av de kognitiva förmågorna och SIN- testen visade endast PASAT A på ett signifikant samband med SIN-test 2. Analys av de kognitiva förmågorna och differenserna mellan SIN-testen gav inga signifikanta samband. Slutligen vid analys av de kognitiva förmågorna hade PASAT A och PASAT B ett starkt positivt samband medan PASAT B och Reading span test hade ett starkt negativt samband. Resultaten i studien talade för att top-down-stöd ger bättre taluppfattningsförmåga och att uppmärksamhetskapacitet är en förmåga som har en signifikant inverkan på taluppfattning i nedåtgående förhållande till ett brus av röster.

In this thesis, the relationship between cognition and speech-in-noise recognition, in normally-hearing Swedish students, is examined. The Trail Making Test, hypothesized to measure a wide range of cognitive functions, including executive function and working memory, has been criticized for being a culturally biased measure, hence the need for a culturally unbiased version. A between-group experiment was conducted in which a non-semantically dependent version of the Trail Making Test was compared to the original Trail Making Test in order to test for psychometric equivalence. A total of 21 young normally-hearing Swedish students were given three tests: TMT or TMT (non-semantically dependent version), a Swedish Reading Span Task and a Swedish speech-in-noise recognition task. The B parts of the two Trail Making Test versions differed significantly and both were moderately to highly correlated to speech-in-noise and reading span performance. The results indicates that the original Trail Making Test is a more plausible index for executive function and strengthens the relationship between executive function, working memory and speech-in-noise recognition.