A Temporal Signal Reveals Chunk Structure in the Writing of Word Phrases

Evidence is provided that the patterns of pauses that occur during the process of writing simple word phrases constitute a substantial temporal signal that reflects the structure of the chunks in working memory. This temporal signal is apparent in un-aggregated data for individual participants in single trials. Five and six word phrases, with word lengths of one to six letters were used. Pause durations were significantly longer between chunks (words) than for elements within a chunk (letters). Longer chunks, words with more letters, required significantly longer to process before they are written, and there is a trend for shorter pause durations for later chunks in the phrases. This provides a further demonstration that writing may be an effective approach to probe the structure of chunks in memory.