Studied by 0 people
Aim
To investigate the structure of working memory and its development across the childhood years in children
Participants
700 students aged 4-15 years
Location: S.W England
Testing period: 5-10 days
Procedure - Phonological Loop Tests
Digit recall, word list recall, non-word list recall
Procedure - Central Executive Tests
Backward digit recall, listening recall (<6), counting recall (>6)
Procedure - Visio-spacial Sketchpad Tests
Block recall, visual patterns test, mazes test (>6)
Results
three verbal-storage/visuo-spatial measures showed effect of age, older people performed better
older boys performed better on visuo-spatial test
general performances improved with age, leveling off between ages 14-15
Conclusion
The developmental functions for measures associated with the phonological loop, the central executive and the visuo-spatial sketchpad were very similar, showing linear increases in performances from ages 4-15
Strengths
Strong evidence supports existence of WMM components
Demonstrated WMM’s key role in learning and intellectual growth
Findings emphasise gradual development of the 3 components throughout childhood, contributing to the understanding of how cognitive processes evolve overtime
Limitations
Children were all from the same region of England
external validity could be questioned
coss-cultural comparison is needed
