Table 2.

Description of word learning stimuli, tasks, and manipulations.

Stimuli	Process assessed	Experimental manipulation	Type of working memory assessed	Assessment task
Noun nonwords CVC–CVC wo-syllable  structure; no phonological  neighbors (low neighborhood  density); low biphone phonotactic  probability (1.0039–1.009)	Create and store phonological form (receptive)	2 vs. 4 syllables	Phonological loop capacity (length)	Mispronunciation detection  A monster appears on the screen, and the child hears either the correct name or a foil. The child presses a key for “yes” if correct name or “no” if incorrect name. They receive immediate feedback on whether they responded correctly.
		Phonologically similar vs. phonologically dissimilar words	Specificity of stored phonological representation
	Retrieve and produce phonological form (expressive)	2 vs. 4 syllables	Phonological loop capacity (length)	Naming  A monster appears on the screen, and the child is asked to name it. Their response is recorded for later scoring. They receive positive feedback for responding, but no feedback on whether their response was correct.
		Phonologically similar vs. phonologically dissimilar	Specificity of stored phonological representation
Noun referents Virtual sea monsters all the  same size, but varied body  shapes, colors, limb shapes,  head coverings, and facial  features	Create and store semantic representation (receptive)	Stationary referent vs. referent changes location	Spatial memory	Visual difference decision  A monster appears on the screen. The child is asked to press a key for “yes” if the monster shown is an accurate depiction of one of the learned monsters or press a key for “no” if it is not one of the monsters they have learned. They receive immediate feedback on whether they responded correctly.
		Visually similar referent vs. visually dissimilar referent	Specificity of stored semantic (visual) representation
	Retrieve and recreate semantic representation (expressive)	Stationary referent vs. referent changes location	Spatial memory	Visual feature recall  The outline of a monster appears on the screen along with a menu that includes choices of monster colors, eyes, arms, and head coverings. The child is asked to choose the correct features for that monster and drag them onto the monster. They receive immediate feedback based on the number of correct selections they made.
		Visually similar referent vs. visually dissimilar referent	Specificity of stored semantic representation
	Link phonological form and semantic representation (link)	2 vs. 4 syllables	Phonological loop capacity (length)	Phonological–visual linking  Four monsters appear on the screen. The child hears the name of one monster and is asked to choose the monster that goes with the name. They receive immediate feedback on whether they responded correctly.
		Phonologically similar vs. phonologically dissimilar words	Specificity of stored phonological representation
		Stationary referent vs. referent changes location	Spatial memory
		Visually similar referent vs. visually dissimilar referent	Specificity of stored semantic representation
Verb nonwords CVC–CVC two-syllable  structure; no phonological  neighbors (low neighborhood  density); low biphone phonotactic  probability (1.0039–1.009)	Create and store phonological form (receptive)	None	Specificity of stored phonological representation	Mispronunciation detection  A monster who is performing an action appears on the screen. The child hears a nonword that is a command for performing an action. The child presses a key for “yes” if the command they hear is correct for the action, or a key for “no” if it is not the correct command for that action. They receive immediate feedback on whether they responded correctly.
	Retrieve and produce phonological form (expressive)	None	Specificity of stored phonological representation	Naming  A monster who is performing an action appears on the screen. The child is asked to say the command for that action. Their response is recorded for later scoring. They receive positive feedback for responding, but no feedback on whether their response was correct.
Verb referents Single virtual sea monster  with movement varied by  speed, direction, nature of  movement, and special effects  such as glowing or pulsating	Create and store semantic representation (receptive)	Four different referent actions	Spatial memory	Visual difference decision  A monster who is performing an action appears on the screen. The child is asked to press a key for “yes” if the action shown is an accurate depiction of one of the learned actions or press a key for “no” if it is not a learned action. They receive immediate feedback on whether they responded correctly.
			Specificity of stored semantic representation
	Retrieve and recreate semantic representation (expressive)	Four different referent actions	Spatial memory	Visual feature recall  The outline of a monster appears on the screen along with a menu that includes choices of speed, direction, type of movement, and special effects (such as glowing). The child is asked to choose the correct features for that monster and drag them onto the monster. They receive immediate feedback based on the number of correct selections they made.
			Specificity of stored semantic representation
	Link phonological form and semantic representation (link)	All of the above	All of the above	Phonological–visual linking  Four different monsters appear on the screen. The child hears a name (or action command for verbs). The child is asked to choose which monster (or action for verbs) was correct. They received immediate feedback on whether they responded correctly.

Note. CVC = consonant–vowel–consonant.