Italians do it better? M capacity measurement and cross-linguistic differences in the Direction Following Task (DFT).

Abstract

This article considers the cross-linguistic validity of the Direction Following Task (DFT), which is a verbal test of the central attentional component of working memory, called M- capacity in neo-Piagetian theories. The DFT involves oral commands of different complexity, in which syntactic variation is kept to a minimum and the information load is varied systematically. Two studies investigated the DFT with 124 adults and 159 five- to seven-year-olds, respectively. Study 1 compared the DFT with the Figural Intersections Test (FIT), a visuo-spatial M-capacity measure. Adults scored higher on the DFT than on the FIT ; however, using modified scoring rules that control for a recency effect due to cross-linguistic differences in word order, the mean DFT score was no longer different from the FIT. Study 2 compared the DFT with the Mr. Cucumber Test and the Backward Digit Span (BDS) - a visuo-spatial and a verbal M-capacity measure, respectively. Children scored higher on the DFT than on the other two tests ; however, the modified scoring aligned the mean DFT score with the Mr. Cucumber and the BDS means. The word order in Italian sentences seems to fa- cilitate performance because recency allows easier retrieval of relevant information, whereas in the English original recency enhances redundant information retrieval. The DFT yields valid M-capacity measures when recency effects are controlled in scoring. The implications of cross-linguistic differ - ences for task analysis and testing practice are discussed.