最近到底幹了些什麼事去了呢?…我自己也一邊在回想。
星期三的時候跑去剪了頭髮。一邊剪的時候覺得很high，還不時跟剪頭髮的小姐聊天。設計師是日本人，雖然她有點聽不懂我的英文，不過也有一搭沒一搭的聊著。後來剪完回家才意識到，我真的把頭髮剪得很短。設計師聽我描述我要的樣子的時候，還有點不確定我是不是真的要剪到那種長度，大概是同為女生，會知道女生的長髮有時候是很寶貝的，不過我就這麼把它給剪了。
今天星期四。在家裡整理了一下家務，把一堆洗完堆在那裡還沒折的衣服歸位，突然覺得自己怎麼那麼像家庭主婦。下午決定出去透透氣，騎著棄在陽台上很久沒騎的腳踏車想去咖啡館看個書。一騎出去，心裡就開始犯嘀咕，去個咖啡館還要騎個十五分鐘腳踏車!!真懷念台北那種一下樓就有五家咖啡館的日子。很久沒運動，加上車子有點生銹，一面擔心鉸鏈脫落，一面在車道上跟著車子們爭道，我突然害怕起來，有點想折回家。打了電話給Nick，他叫我還是回家好了，等車子修好了再騎。但是我又有點不服氣，就一路騎下去。也許我比較適合咖啡館吧，星期二去圖書館，結果什麼事也沒做，一不小心就睡著了。但是在咖啡館讀著書，思考居然分外清楚。
我一直逃避著論文的事情。這幾個星期好像因著寫論文，一些生命裡底層的東西漸漸浮上檯面。那種感覺很難受。我才發現，我以為我是本著上帝給我的價值而過日子，結果不是…我寫的報告或修的課有A才是我的自我價值來源。如果沒有拿到好分數，我就會開始懷疑自己的能力，自己的價值。為什麼已經過了這麼多年脫離那種台灣國高中升學系統，加上神在我生命當中的磨塑，我還是讓成就掌管我的喜怒哀樂? 我甚至開始擔心，等我下學期又開始教書，我也會用教書的成效當做我的價值。又是否當我畢業了開始找工作，我也會用工作來界定我是個怎麼樣的人?
其實有好幾次對著電腦哭的經驗。要做的題目是有些難度，可是最難的是自己。我不知道該怎麼樣讓被負面思想全面癱瘓的自己停止哭泣開始做事情。然後電腦就一直停在某一頁，腦中一片空白。
當我想到我當初為什麼決定念語言學，還有那些讓我感到有興趣的議題，也許有幾分鐘的時間，我會感到很愉快，好像充滿希望。但是一開始做論文…我就又癱瘓了。
好像那年申請研究所的時候，我也有同樣的狀況。那時候是撐著把申請弄完的: 那時，我不太確定能否申請上，去旁聽課程也很擔心不如別人，也不知道是否能夠縮短遠距，回美國念書跟Nick在一起。有一陣子喉嚨出狀況根本唱不出聲音來…連這個也可以讓我沮喪很久。也許這是我最大的弱點--老是想要用別的東西証明我是聰明的，可喜愛的，有價值的。當這些我可以依附的東西，如成績、學校、才能沒有了的時候，好像世界就變色了。
在理智上我知道我的價值是來自神，我不需要証明些什麼，也不需要做些什麼來換取祂的愛。頭腦裡知道就算我的寫出來的東西爛到爆，事實証明我真的不適合學術這種環境，以後畢業找不到工作，那又如何…神還是一樣愛我。但是心裡就是很難体會，好像有什麼東西塞住了。
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Obstacles for my writing
1. Procrastination: this is confounded with the factors below:
2. Lack of Confidence: I have to tell myself that even though I'm not an expert in either fields-linguistics, neuroscience, and psychology...I can still see things they don't see, and then put these fields together.
3. Perfectionism
4. Anxiety: if the goal is too high for me to reach, say, "write 10 pages a day", then I got anxious and frustrated.
2. Lack of Confidence: I have to tell myself that even though I'm not an expert in either fields-linguistics, neuroscience, and psychology...I can still see things they don't see, and then put these fields together.
3. Perfectionism
4. Anxiety: if the goal is too high for me to reach, say, "write 10 pages a day", then I got anxious and frustrated.
Schedule for Spring Quarter
Monday: 9-10am Chinese3 (section), 12-2pm (Teaching Literature)
Tuesday: 10-12am English Coversation Class, 1-2pm Chinese3 (Lecture)
Wednesday: 9-10am Chinese3 (section), 10-11am (Office Hour), 12-2pm C217 (Teaching Literature)
Thursday: 1-2pm Chinese3 (Lecture)
Friday: 12-2 C400 (Colloquium)
I'm glad that I am teaching Chinese and ESL in my last quarter. But the classes are so early...sigh***...
Tuesday: 10-12am English Coversation Class, 1-2pm Chinese3 (Lecture)
Wednesday: 9-10am Chinese3 (section), 10-11am (Office Hour), 12-2pm C217 (Teaching Literature)
Thursday: 1-2pm Chinese3 (Lecture)
Friday: 12-2 C400 (Colloquium)
I'm glad that I am teaching Chinese and ESL in my last quarter. But the classes are so early...sigh***...
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Now you know how unproductive I am today
by just looking at the post dates.
Is there ways that I can hide the post dates?
Is there ways that I can hide the post dates?
Taiwanese Orange Julius (for 2-3 servings)
Recipe: (btw, I always want to spell like "recepi")
Orange Juice----450 c.c.
Milk----250 c.c.
Lemon Juice---2 Tlbs
Egg Yolk---2
Sugar---3 Tlbs
Ice cubes---a few
Blend well and serve.
Orange Juice----450 c.c.
Milk----250 c.c.
Lemon Juice---2 Tlbs
Egg Yolk---2
Sugar---3 Tlbs
Ice cubes---a few
Blend well and serve.
my brian hurts...the relationship between attention and WM
From the memory field studies done by Funahashi et al., a cell can be excited to certain direction, but at the same time being inhibited to other opposite directions. Similar to this phenomenon, in human visual cortex, when subjects attend to certain locations, the corresponding visual cortex are enhanced, but other areas are suppressed. What does such inhibitory and excitatory process tell us about the characteristics of working memory? Is it a synonym to attention, part of attention, or something else?
Friday, March 24, 2006
Sad stories about illegal Chinese immigrants in UK
I read this on BBC news this morning: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4582470.stm
At least 21 Chinese cocklers died in the shore of Morecambe, UK in 2004. The gangmaster drove them to the sandland to pick cockles, despite the warning of surging high tides of that night. These poor Chinese workers all came from Fujian province of China, paying some 20,000 pounds to smugglers to come to UK when they can only earn 1,000 a year. In the end they all got drown in the dark, cold water, and the gangmaster fled on his own when the tragedy happened.
Things like this are actually happening everyday in different parts of the world. In Taiwan, we heard about Chinese smugglers being dumped in the ocean by the "Snakeheads" when Taiwanese coastpatrol found them. They are actually workers from Mainland China in night markets, restaurants, and other places everywhere in Taiwan. Normally it's obvious to tell a Taiwanese person from a Mainlander just by their accent. But I guess if a Mainland Chinese person is from places like Fujian province, it's not easy to tell by the accent. Since we share the same dialect, and 300 years ago we were all from the same province, perhaps the same hometowns.
I also heard about Chinese illegal immigrants cramming in a tiny place in Montery Park. The whole place has nothing or places to sit and stand but mattresses after matteresses. Their situation is probably similar everywhere, whether in UK, US, Japan, Taiwan, or any places they can make money. But the danger of surviving from the smuggleships, hard working environment and bloodsucking gangsters won't stop these people. This article interviewed one of the widows in the tragedy, who stayed in China, their hometown:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4823950.stm
Basically the whole village is full of people who illegally smuggled out to some countries, and then worked really hard to send home money. What they earned in UK in a month, even though very little, will take them a year or two to earn it in China.
I am just feeling really sad, remembering my great great great great...grand father who came to Taiwan along by himself from Fujian. From what I learned in a history class long ago, I suspect that he must have come in as an illegal smuggler because there used to be a ban on emmigration to Taiwan. That's probably also why he came all by himself, without any family. Today nobody knows what happened to him when he decided to move. He's just a name on the top of family tree. Did he every have family in Fujian? Did he ever contact his family in China? Nobody would ever know now. The stories of Chinese illegal immigrants have been going on for hundreds of years. I think it will continue still. It's just that some got lucky and survived, and some never did.
At least 21 Chinese cocklers died in the shore of Morecambe, UK in 2004. The gangmaster drove them to the sandland to pick cockles, despite the warning of surging high tides of that night. These poor Chinese workers all came from Fujian province of China, paying some 20,000 pounds to smugglers to come to UK when they can only earn 1,000 a year. In the end they all got drown in the dark, cold water, and the gangmaster fled on his own when the tragedy happened.
Things like this are actually happening everyday in different parts of the world. In Taiwan, we heard about Chinese smugglers being dumped in the ocean by the "Snakeheads" when Taiwanese coastpatrol found them. They are actually workers from Mainland China in night markets, restaurants, and other places everywhere in Taiwan. Normally it's obvious to tell a Taiwanese person from a Mainlander just by their accent. But I guess if a Mainland Chinese person is from places like Fujian province, it's not easy to tell by the accent. Since we share the same dialect, and 300 years ago we were all from the same province, perhaps the same hometowns.
I also heard about Chinese illegal immigrants cramming in a tiny place in Montery Park. The whole place has nothing or places to sit and stand but mattresses after matteresses. Their situation is probably similar everywhere, whether in UK, US, Japan, Taiwan, or any places they can make money. But the danger of surviving from the smuggleships, hard working environment and bloodsucking gangsters won't stop these people. This article interviewed one of the widows in the tragedy, who stayed in China, their hometown:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4823950.stm
Basically the whole village is full of people who illegally smuggled out to some countries, and then worked really hard to send home money. What they earned in UK in a month, even though very little, will take them a year or two to earn it in China.
I am just feeling really sad, remembering my great great great great...grand father who came to Taiwan along by himself from Fujian. From what I learned in a history class long ago, I suspect that he must have come in as an illegal smuggler because there used to be a ban on emmigration to Taiwan. That's probably also why he came all by himself, without any family. Today nobody knows what happened to him when he decided to move. He's just a name on the top of family tree. Did he every have family in Fujian? Did he ever contact his family in China? Nobody would ever know now. The stories of Chinese illegal immigrants have been going on for hundreds of years. I think it will continue still. It's just that some got lucky and survived, and some never did.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
My favorite things
-a cup of earl grey in the morning, with honey and soy milk
-another cup of earl grey in the afternoon when I come home, with honey
-a cup of earl grey before I sit in front my desk, no honey or sugar
-another cup during the break from studying
-a cup of decafe earl grey 40 minutes before going to bed
-another cup of earl grey in the afternoon when I come home, with honey
-a cup of earl grey before I sit in front my desk, no honey or sugar
-another cup during the break from studying
-a cup of decafe earl grey 40 minutes before going to bed
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
周杰倫、七里香、蕭邦、與其他
最近不知為何突然開始喜歡聽周杰倫。以我這種即使還算年輕但是常年沒在看電視聽流行音樂的人來說，真是非常不尋常的事。也許是一種奇特的台灣情懷吧…在LA說會有鄉愁是不太容易的事，畢竟華人那麼多，要吃中國菜，台灣菜也到處都有。不過聽慣了從中國來的華人口音，等到自己一開口說中文，才赫然發現，哇，我的口音還真台灣啊。周杰倫式讓人聽不懂在唱什麼講什麼的歌曲，那種懶懶的率性又像在把妹那種不在乎的說話方式，仿佛讓我想起某些對台灣的記憶:大學生活、台大公館、夜市。前一陣子還想說要來研究一下周杰倫歌詞的韻腳，看看他的押韻是否因他特殊的唱歌咬字方式而有變化。
前一陣子發現李雲迪要來學校裡表演，結果等我發現時，學生票已經賣完了，只剩一般票價。掙扎了一陣子還是決定放棄了。本來就滿喜歡蕭邦的音樂，但是李雲迪的演奏是從來沒聽過，搜尋了一下，只覺得他最近的照片居然出奇的神似木村拓哉在日劇"長假"裡的造型。李雲迪是在蕭邦鋼琴大賽出頭，而木村也是在長假裡彈奏著蕭邦的曲子。更巧的是，周杰倫的一張專輯也叫十一月的蕭邦。
也許這些百般聊賴的話題只是我逃避現實的方式吧…
研究所的生活從第一年進來，好像有無止盡的報告和reading，我也一直在忙碌中，一股傻傻的衝勁讓我可以過著四天內趕三分期末報告的超人生活。也可以為了準備教課忙到半夜。但是，到了這個學期，我好像失去了那樣的動力。依照往常的我，是可以一個晚上寫出個幾頁的論文的，但是我就是做不到，坐在電腦前面發呆，然後開始覺得負面，覺得自己寫不出來，一定畢不了業…
我覺得之前的日子好像是想要証明自己有足夠的聰明才智可以研究所，走學術研究。常常在缺乏自信與發現新思考的興奮兩極之間擺盪。一個小時前才覺得今天上課的討論真是有趣啊，如果再繼續往下怎樣怎樣不知會發現什麼結果。一個小時之後覺得自己好像是個笨蛋，連paper都不會寫的笨蛋，也沒有發表過什麼文章，走學術一定沒辦法生存。
也許上學期沒有申請博士班是個正確的選擇…我很高興我當初選擇來念了這裡的碩士班，但至於是否要念博士班，也許就不是那麼確定了。我覺得我好像生命中到目前為止，只知道念書這一件事。念書有快樂的地方，也有痛苦的地方，特別是大學時念了自己不喜歡念的科系。但痛苦的地方，還有那些跟別人的比較和壓力，似乎念書對我來說，不見得是完全單純的一件事，還混雜了很多自我形象、完美主義等等。在台灣的教育環境下，書念得越多，還算是一件光榮的事。所以如果能力和金錢資源夠讓你拿到一學入學許可，也許便投向研究所去了。
我常在想，到底上帝所要給我的人生，是像什麼樣子的呢?
從高中起，我就在想，是否上帝會要我去做某種工作，在某個位置去服事祂? 所以在那之前，一切就像是準備工作似的，我有點摸不著上帝在幹什麼，總覺得答案可能就在後頭，所以一直等待下去。但是我的人生就在這當中又過了好幾年。有些經歷好像是一點都不相干，我自己也不覺得能夠拿來幹什麼。轉個方向來想，又或者我的人生就是現在，是此刻，我應該好好把握?
不知不覺中，我也從單身進入婚姻。我不覺得是回頭百年身，反而是有種很神奇且甜蜜的感覺，一個本來完全跟我完全沒有關連的人就這樣一步一步的進入我的生命裡，是我自己怎麼樣也計畫不來的。
高中的時候我曾經和好朋友寫下了一百多件(應該有一百吧?)我們想要做的事情，不管可不可能達成。有一些已經實現了，可是還有好多地方還沒去，好多東西和語言還沒學。我不曉得走哪一條路可以讓我實現那些夢想，但是我好像又快走到了決定的分岔路口。
我想我還是回到現實，把論文寫個幾頁比較實際…
前一陣子發現李雲迪要來學校裡表演，結果等我發現時，學生票已經賣完了，只剩一般票價。掙扎了一陣子還是決定放棄了。本來就滿喜歡蕭邦的音樂，但是李雲迪的演奏是從來沒聽過，搜尋了一下，只覺得他最近的照片居然出奇的神似木村拓哉在日劇"長假"裡的造型。李雲迪是在蕭邦鋼琴大賽出頭，而木村也是在長假裡彈奏著蕭邦的曲子。更巧的是，周杰倫的一張專輯也叫十一月的蕭邦。
也許這些百般聊賴的話題只是我逃避現實的方式吧…
研究所的生活從第一年進來，好像有無止盡的報告和reading，我也一直在忙碌中，一股傻傻的衝勁讓我可以過著四天內趕三分期末報告的超人生活。也可以為了準備教課忙到半夜。但是，到了這個學期，我好像失去了那樣的動力。依照往常的我，是可以一個晚上寫出個幾頁的論文的，但是我就是做不到，坐在電腦前面發呆，然後開始覺得負面，覺得自己寫不出來，一定畢不了業…
我覺得之前的日子好像是想要証明自己有足夠的聰明才智可以研究所，走學術研究。常常在缺乏自信與發現新思考的興奮兩極之間擺盪。一個小時前才覺得今天上課的討論真是有趣啊，如果再繼續往下怎樣怎樣不知會發現什麼結果。一個小時之後覺得自己好像是個笨蛋，連paper都不會寫的笨蛋，也沒有發表過什麼文章，走學術一定沒辦法生存。
也許上學期沒有申請博士班是個正確的選擇…我很高興我當初選擇來念了這裡的碩士班，但至於是否要念博士班，也許就不是那麼確定了。我覺得我好像生命中到目前為止，只知道念書這一件事。念書有快樂的地方，也有痛苦的地方，特別是大學時念了自己不喜歡念的科系。但痛苦的地方，還有那些跟別人的比較和壓力，似乎念書對我來說，不見得是完全單純的一件事，還混雜了很多自我形象、完美主義等等。在台灣的教育環境下，書念得越多，還算是一件光榮的事。所以如果能力和金錢資源夠讓你拿到一學入學許可，也許便投向研究所去了。
我常在想，到底上帝所要給我的人生，是像什麼樣子的呢?
從高中起，我就在想，是否上帝會要我去做某種工作，在某個位置去服事祂? 所以在那之前，一切就像是準備工作似的，我有點摸不著上帝在幹什麼，總覺得答案可能就在後頭，所以一直等待下去。但是我的人生就在這當中又過了好幾年。有些經歷好像是一點都不相干，我自己也不覺得能夠拿來幹什麼。轉個方向來想，又或者我的人生就是現在，是此刻，我應該好好把握?
不知不覺中，我也從單身進入婚姻。我不覺得是回頭百年身，反而是有種很神奇且甜蜜的感覺，一個本來完全跟我完全沒有關連的人就這樣一步一步的進入我的生命裡，是我自己怎麼樣也計畫不來的。
高中的時候我曾經和好朋友寫下了一百多件(應該有一百吧?)我們想要做的事情，不管可不可能達成。有一些已經實現了，可是還有好多地方還沒去，好多東西和語言還沒學。我不曉得走哪一條路可以讓我實現那些夢想，但是我好像又快走到了決定的分岔路口。
我想我還是回到現實，把論文寫個幾頁比較實際…
Saturday, March 04, 2006
無題一
我最近變得很討厭寫東西。如果真的要我寫，我通常都是假裝在電腦上打字，然後其實是在寫blog或是到最後跟朋友聊天。我覺得是寫論文的壓力所造成的。我也不知道為何寫作變得那麼難。本來用英文寫學術的東西對我就不太容易，但這並非是件難事。最困難的部分我覺得是心理的礙障，覺得寫出來沒人看、這世界上99%看不懂又不會關心、投稿也沒人要登出來之類的負面思想讓我常常對著一片空白的螢光幕發呆…
在我來UCLA之前，我對人類的大腦和語言的關係很有興趣。儘管這世界有不少人是右撇子，很奇特的，幾乎大部分的人都是左腦為主(dominant)，而不是像許多感覺和運動的連結在腦部是和身体左右相反。更特別一點是語言的作用幾乎都是集中在左腦。但是真正的腦部功能真的比我們想像要複雜許多。所以像那種什麼腦主情感，什麼腦主理性，或是人的腦只有35%被使用到，其他都有待開發之類的，都是不合實情的謬論。人類除了有個精密的腦和神經系統之外，最有別於其他動物的是人類擁有語言。也許有人會爭辯說他家的狗除了不會說話，但是可以了解他主人說的話。或是也許有的動物有特別的叫聲可以通知其他同類躲避危險之類。但是這裡講的語言是一種無限的可能性;可以不斷重組創造出新的意涵，也是一種超越時間空間的指向性，可以談論過去，也可以想像未來。鳥兒不會告訴其他鳥兒昨天那個獵人如何如何。
我本來以為我會來這裡學怎麼跑fMRI，給一個人看一些句子，做一些實驗操弄，看看那些地方的大腦皮層有反應，也許我可以推論那些部位是語言的特別功能區，像是處理語意、文法等等…
結果發現這個program意外地跟我想像的完全不一樣。這裡沒有人在做造影…但是也算是個好的意外。因為我才發覺這種想從造影看語言功能是有點無知的想法。如果我們完全不了解腦的結構和神經元的聯絡，所以表面的推論也是枉能。也許語言的處理只是個物理性的過程?因為語言完全是個聲波;訊息的傳達完全是物理化學的反應。到底是什麼讓人類擁有語言?
回到我的論文…我想要探討的是語言和記憶的關係。特別是那種很短暫的，如快速複述一段電話號碼，在你快忘記之前趕快寫下來的那種記憶。特別是在學一個外語的時候，你可以跟著老師念一個單字或片語，可是有的時候過了幾分鐘就會忘記的那種短暫的記憶。也許你會羨慕有的人似乎可以將這種記憶轉成比較長期的，有著過目不忘或過耳不忘似的天分，這對學習似乎是個很大的優勢。
心理學有一些記憶的模型可以解釋這種短暫記憶轉化成長期記憶的過程，但是我所想要探討的是到底在腦裡面發生了什麼事? 是否除了描述這種記憶的現象之外，可以用另一種比較生物性的方式來描述這種"記憶"的本質是什麼。
在我來UCLA之前，我對人類的大腦和語言的關係很有興趣。儘管這世界有不少人是右撇子，很奇特的，幾乎大部分的人都是左腦為主(dominant)，而不是像許多感覺和運動的連結在腦部是和身体左右相反。更特別一點是語言的作用幾乎都是集中在左腦。但是真正的腦部功能真的比我們想像要複雜許多。所以像那種什麼腦主情感，什麼腦主理性，或是人的腦只有35%被使用到，其他都有待開發之類的，都是不合實情的謬論。人類除了有個精密的腦和神經系統之外，最有別於其他動物的是人類擁有語言。也許有人會爭辯說他家的狗除了不會說話，但是可以了解他主人說的話。或是也許有的動物有特別的叫聲可以通知其他同類躲避危險之類。但是這裡講的語言是一種無限的可能性;可以不斷重組創造出新的意涵，也是一種超越時間空間的指向性，可以談論過去，也可以想像未來。鳥兒不會告訴其他鳥兒昨天那個獵人如何如何。
我本來以為我會來這裡學怎麼跑fMRI，給一個人看一些句子，做一些實驗操弄，看看那些地方的大腦皮層有反應，也許我可以推論那些部位是語言的特別功能區，像是處理語意、文法等等…
結果發現這個program意外地跟我想像的完全不一樣。這裡沒有人在做造影…但是也算是個好的意外。因為我才發覺這種想從造影看語言功能是有點無知的想法。如果我們完全不了解腦的結構和神經元的聯絡，所以表面的推論也是枉能。也許語言的處理只是個物理性的過程?因為語言完全是個聲波;訊息的傳達完全是物理化學的反應。到底是什麼讓人類擁有語言?
回到我的論文…我想要探討的是語言和記憶的關係。特別是那種很短暫的，如快速複述一段電話號碼，在你快忘記之前趕快寫下來的那種記憶。特別是在學一個外語的時候，你可以跟著老師念一個單字或片語，可是有的時候過了幾分鐘就會忘記的那種短暫的記憶。也許你會羨慕有的人似乎可以將這種記憶轉成比較長期的，有著過目不忘或過耳不忘似的天分，這對學習似乎是個很大的優勢。
心理學有一些記憶的模型可以解釋這種短暫記憶轉化成長期記憶的過程，但是我所想要探討的是到底在腦裡面發生了什麼事? 是否除了描述這種記憶的現象之外，可以用另一種比較生物性的方式來描述這種"記憶"的本質是什麼。
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
thoughts of the day
Attention vs. working memory:
It seems like that working memory must to some extanct overlap with attention. Some literature treated "working memory" as attention, or part of attention, like Fuster. (Sara Schukert in her article on attention) also choose Fuster's stand point. It makes sense though, when a subject or animal is performing the so called "working memory" tasks, such as "delayed-response task", certain functioning of a focused attention to the stimuli. But can we say that they are equivalent things, two analogus processes in the brain?
Working memory in different representations:
In psychology and SLA research the notion of WM is related to phonological short-term memory. Miyaki and Friedman (1998) even relates the working memory capacity to one central component of language aptitude. In fact, some studies do show that such phonological short term memory has predicting power over individual's future grammar/vocabulary performance in SLA (Nick Ellis). In terms of neuroscience studies, the working memory task was broken down into very basic and simple processes or components, such as visual, spatial, and tactile memories, or guided hand/eye movements. Prefrontal cortex was thought to be the center for many of these working memory related tasks, planning and executive functions. But the picture seems to be more complicated than simply localizing the function of working memory in prefrontal cortex. Fuster does found so called "memory cells" in prefrontal cortex of monkeys, and Goldman-Rakic also found certain neurons in the same area sensitive to spatial memory. But this doesn't give us a conclusion of what's going on in the brain during these tasks. I'm leaning towards to a neural network that's not just confined in prefrontal area, but connects to other cortical and sub-cortical areas as well.
It seems like that working memory must to some extanct overlap with attention. Some literature treated "working memory" as attention, or part of attention, like Fuster. (Sara Schukert in her article on attention) also choose Fuster's stand point. It makes sense though, when a subject or animal is performing the so called "working memory" tasks, such as "delayed-response task", certain functioning of a focused attention to the stimuli. But can we say that they are equivalent things, two analogus processes in the brain?
Working memory in different representations:
In psychology and SLA research the notion of WM is related to phonological short-term memory. Miyaki and Friedman (1998) even relates the working memory capacity to one central component of language aptitude. In fact, some studies do show that such phonological short term memory has predicting power over individual's future grammar/vocabulary performance in SLA (Nick Ellis). In terms of neuroscience studies, the working memory task was broken down into very basic and simple processes or components, such as visual, spatial, and tactile memories, or guided hand/eye movements. Prefrontal cortex was thought to be the center for many of these working memory related tasks, planning and executive functions. But the picture seems to be more complicated than simply localizing the function of working memory in prefrontal cortex. Fuster does found so called "memory cells" in prefrontal cortex of monkeys, and Goldman-Rakic also found certain neurons in the same area sensitive to spatial memory. But this doesn't give us a conclusion of what's going on in the brain during these tasks. I'm leaning towards to a neural network that's not just confined in prefrontal area, but connects to other cortical and sub-cortical areas as well.
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