Regarding digit span: what does "seven" and Spanish have in common?
Regarding digit span: what does "seven" and Spanish have in common?
There was a letter from a Spanish-speaking user about adding a Spanish-version test. Since /k p s t/ and /a i u/ are not strangers to Spanish, this is possibly about the digit span task, which is where "seven" comes in.
If you have completed the digit span test on this site, you may have noticed that the number 7 never appears, nor does 0. As you probably guessed, this is because these are bisyllabic words in English (se-ven, ze-ro), unlike the other digits, which are monosyllabic. While it is reasonable to assume that all digits are accessed very quickly in memory, in a task involving the phonological loop, words that require more time to recite may incur a cost: it's not that "se-ven" is harder to remember, but the sequence "se-ven ze-ro" has as many syllables as "one two three four," which is likely to sway the results.
Back to Spanish. Among the digits 0 to 9, there are three monosyllabic numbers (2 dos, 3 tres, 6 seis). If we consider "ie," and "ue" as diphthongs (two vowels read as one), there are seven bisyllabic numerals (0 cero, 1 uno, 4 cuatro, 5 cinco, 7 siete, 8 ocho, 9 nueve). If they are not diphthongs, there are five bisyllabic, and two trisyllabic (I suspect the latter case). These timing differences may skew the results of an auditory Spanish-based tasks -- although the Spanish speakers may have already been affected by this in the visual digit span task. To make a Spanish-based digit task I would have to do some more investigation.
Meanwhile, a letter span task will be coming soon, which would work well with Spanish!
If you have completed the digit span test on this site, you may have noticed that the number 7 never appears, nor does 0. As you probably guessed, this is because these are bisyllabic words in English (se-ven, ze-ro), unlike the other digits, which are monosyllabic. While it is reasonable to assume that all digits are accessed very quickly in memory, in a task involving the phonological loop, words that require more time to recite may incur a cost: it's not that "se-ven" is harder to remember, but the sequence "se-ven ze-ro" has as many syllables as "one two three four," which is likely to sway the results.
Back to Spanish. Among the digits 0 to 9, there are three monosyllabic numbers (2 dos, 3 tres, 6 seis). If we consider "ie," and "ue" as diphthongs (two vowels read as one), there are seven bisyllabic numerals (0 cero, 1 uno, 4 cuatro, 5 cinco, 7 siete, 8 ocho, 9 nueve). If they are not diphthongs, there are five bisyllabic, and two trisyllabic (I suspect the latter case). These timing differences may skew the results of an auditory Spanish-based tasks -- although the Spanish speakers may have already been affected by this in the visual digit span task. To make a Spanish-based digit task I would have to do some more investigation.
Meanwhile, a letter span task will be coming soon, which would work well with Spanish!
cognitivefun | 4 years ago
Reply
I was going to ask about this, but found this blog entry. :) Personally I'd prefer a 'general' digit span game where all 0-9 are included (or perhaps it could be a pulldown list option for what digit set you want to use), as I have noticed the lack of both 0 and 7 and it felt artificial.
But then again, I am one of those non-pure individuals who chunk by pairs of digits and mnemonics...
Also, I realize this post was 2 weeks ago but I still hope you still get notified when there's a new reply or something. :)
But then again, I am one of those non-pure individuals who chunk by pairs of digits and mnemonics...
Also, I realize this post was 2 weeks ago but I still hope you still get notified when there's a new reply or something. :)
ilikebutts | 4 years ago
Reply
I actually just noticed this while working on two digit mnemonics. Though I agree with ilikebutts on the general digit span task, I also understand why you've not allowed the zero or seven in the test but I do have a question for open speculation: should not including zero and seven increase the digit span or will it remain constant?
The parallel that leads me to believe it will increase the span is that of the binary digit span. Expecting only two choices of numbers, people can remember significantly more binary digits.
But I'm not sure if the same effect will be seen here because, assuming most people are or were ignorant of the choice not to include zero or seven, may expect them to come out. I do think any expectation of the numbers zero and seven will be counteracted by the fact that we cannot even type them into the box.
The parallel that leads me to believe it will increase the span is that of the binary digit span. Expecting only two choices of numbers, people can remember significantly more binary digits.
But I'm not sure if the same effect will be seen here because, assuming most people are or were ignorant of the choice not to include zero or seven, may expect them to come out. I do think any expectation of the numbers zero and seven will be counteracted by the fact that we cannot even type them into the box.
Whoopska | 2 years ago
Reply
