Memory Span for Signs & Digits Forward & Backward in Beginning Level ASL Students

Thirty-six hearing college students with approximately one semester experience in a beginning course in American Sign Language were tested for their memory span for signs and for digits forward and backward. The mean number of signs recalled by these hearing subjects was 4.44, slightly less than the mean of 4.9 previously reported for deaf subjects. The standard deviation of their memory span for signs was 1.11. Memory span for signs was significantly shorter than memory span for digits forward (6.94) and the mean reported elsewhere for words (5.5). The correlation between digits forward and signs (r = 0.419) was significant. Two conclusions emerge from the data. First, a short memory span for signs is evidence that signs are more complex than digits or words, possessing more features that need to be stored in short-term memory. Second, large individual differences in memory span for signs imply that teachers who require students to recall or translate signed discourse must take care to avoid a bias favoring students with a longer memory span. As long as students are covertly translating from a signed into a spoken language, teachers need to take into account students’ limited memory span for signs.