Working Memory Capacity and the Implementation of New Information During Task Repetition / Capacidade de memória de trabalho e implementação de informações novas durante a repetição de tarefa

According to Bygate and Samuda (2005), task repetition can help students to integrate what they know with what they do, since it allows two different experiences of the same requirements of a task. Thus, such differences can result in changes from one speech production to another. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate which individuals, whether those with higher or lower working memory capacity, implement more new information during task repetition. A sample of 28 students from a public university underwent data collection which consisted of a working memory test (Speaking Span Test), a translation task, repeated twice, and two questionnaires. Caligrama, Belo Horizonte, v. 26, n. 2, p. 107-123, 2021 108 In general, the results showed that higher working memory capacity individuals were those who most implemented new information during task repetition, in terms of the implementation of new lexical items. The results are discussed in the light of the literature in the fields of working memory and task repetition. Final considerations are made suggesting that task repetition, in addition to bringing gains to oral production in terms of fluency and accuracy, for example, makes participants in the higher working memory capacity group able to allocate more cognitive and attentional resources to implement a greater number of new lexical items in second task performances.