Verbal and Visuospatial Short-Term and Working Memory in Children: Are They Separable?

Citation

Alloway TP, Gathercole SE & Pickering SJ (2006) Verbal and Visuospatial Short-Term and Working Memory in Children: Are They Separable?. Child Development, 77 (6), pp. 1698-1716. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00968.x

Abstract
This study explored the structure of verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory in children between ages 4 and 11 years. Multiple tasks measuring 4 different memory components were used to capture the cognitive processes underlying working memory. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the processing component of working memory tasks was supported by a common resource pool, while storage aspects depend on domain-specific verbal and visuospatial resources. This model is largely stable across this developmental period, although some evidence exists that the links between the domain-specific visuospatial construct and the domain-general processing construct were higher in the 4- to- 6-year age group. The data also suggest that all working memory components are in place by 4 years of age.

Keywords
Working memory; Development; Verbal memory; vvsual memory; Memory in children; Sjhort-term memory; Child development

Journal
Child Development: Volume 77, Issue 6