Verbal short-term memory as the result of interactions between attention, order processing, and language activation

This paper investigates the potential specificity of verbal short-term memory in the light of its relation with lexical language development. On the basis of data obtained in developmental, experimental, and cognitive neuroscience studies, we argue that performance in verbal short-term memory tasks can be explained to a large extent by attentional capacity and activation of the language system. At the same time, processing of serial order information could represent a specific function of short-term memory, and this serial order function predicts learning capacity for new word forms and verbal sequences. We discuss a theoretical model relating attentional capacity, the language system, and a serial order processing system.