WORKING-MEMORY AND ERROR-DETECTION IN TEXTS - WHAT ARE THE ROLES OF THE CENTRAL EXECUTIVE AND THE PHONOLOGICAL LOOP

Subjects performed a text error detection task, either alone or in con junction with a secondary task aimed at specifically hindering the fun ctioning of either the central executive in working memory or of the p honological loop. We focused on the decline in detection performance a s a function of the type of error to be detected (typographical, ortho graphic, or semantic/syntactic) and the processing span required for d etection (one word, several words within the same clause, or several c lauses). The results showed that the central executive in working memo ry is involved in detecting semantic/syntactic errors and in detecting orthographic ones, but not in detecting typographical errors. Moreove r, the degree of involvement increases with the processing span. The p honological loop is involved in detection whenever processing above th e word level is required. As observed in many studies, these results s uggest that the difficulty subjects have detecting semantic errors as compared to other types of errors is due to the heavier working memory load: maintenance of the phonological representation and greater invo lvement of the central executive. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.