The writing superiority effect in the verbal recall of knowledge

Sources and determinants

authored by: Joachim Grabowski
Abstract: Language production processes are frequently involved in the diagnosis of knowledge. However, the relation between the knowledge basis and the spoken or written output is seldom addressed. We investigated whether and how language production processes related to speaking and writing systematically influence the results of verbal diagnoses of knowledge. Particularly, the writing superiority effect turned out to be a stable and replicable finding: In adults, writing allows for higher content validity of the indication of knowledge, compared to speaking. A theoretical analysis of the oral-and written-language production processes and the related cognitive load through its particluar subprocesses explains why linguistic output generally does not provide a valid window to cognition. For the diagnosis of knowledge, the advantage of writing as opposed to speaking is experimentally demonstrated. In subsequent experiments, working-memory capacity as well as the correspondence between the verbal modalities of knowledge input and output prove to be determining factors of the writing superiority effect, whereas verbal intelligence as well as stress and arousal seem to exert no influence.
Organisation(s): Institute of Psychology
Type: Contribution to book/anthology
Pages: 165-179
No. of pages: 15
Publication date: 2007
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Language and Linguistics, Education, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Linguistics and Language

BibTeX

@inbook{2391f9bcaadb479288929427fecca670,
title = "The writing superiority effect in the verbal recall of knowledge: Sources and determinants",
abstract = "Language production processes are frequently involved in the diagnosis of knowledge. However, the relation between the knowledge basis and the spoken or written output is seldom addressed. We investigated whether and how language production processes related to speaking and writing systematically influence the results of verbal diagnoses of knowledge. Particularly, the writing superiority effect turned out to be a stable and replicable finding: In adults, writing allows for higher content validity of the indication of knowledge, compared to speaking. A theoretical analysis of the oral-and written-language production processes and the related cognitive load through its particluar subprocesses explains why linguistic output generally does not provide a valid window to cognition. For the diagnosis of knowledge, the advantage of writing as opposed to speaking is experimentally demonstrated. In subsequent experiments, working-memory capacity as well as the correspondence between the verbal modalities of knowledge input and output prove to be determining factors of the writing superiority effect, whereas verbal intelligence as well as stress and arousal seem to exert no influence.",
author = "Joachim Grabowski",
note = "Funding information: Part of the research described in this paper was supported by grants from the University of Mannheim, and from the Senate of the University of Education at Heidelberg, respectively. I am particularly grateful to Manfred Hofer who most generously offered his institutional facilities, and to Michaela G{\"o}rlinger who was involved in the implementation of many experiments on the writing superiority effect.",
year = "2007",
language = "English",
isbn = "9780080450940",
series = "Studies in Writing",
publisher = "Brill Academic Publishers",
pages = "165--179",
editor = "{van Waes}, Luuk and David Galbraith and Mark Torrance",
booktitle = "Writing and Cognition",
address = "Netherlands",
}