Premium
Limitations In Working Memory: Implications For Language Development
Author(s) -
Adams AnneMarie,
Gathercole Susan. E.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
international journal of language and communication disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.101
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1460-6984
pISSN - 1368-2822
DOI - 10.1080/136828200247278
Subject(s) - psychology , recall , repetition (rhetorical device) , cognitive psychology , short term memory , working memory , memory span , association (psychology) , spoken language , language development , cognition , developmental psychology , linguistics , philosophy , neuroscience , psychotherapist
In this study, the proposal that individual differences in spoken language acquisition may be due to limitations in short‐term memory abilities was investigated within a working memory framework. The relationship between speech production skills and working memory abilities was examined in two groups of 4‐yearold children, matched for non‐verbal ability but who had either relatively good or poor non‐word repetition skills. Children with better non‐word repetition skills produced speech that comprised a wider repertoire of words, on average longer utterances and a greater range of syntactic constructions than did children with relatively poor non‐word repetition skills. The significant association found between these indices of language development and verbal short‐term memory span assessed with non‐spoken recall, suggested that this relationship was not merely due to the common output requirements of the language and memory tasks. Inconsistent associations between language performance and two tasks of visuo‐spatial short‐term memory precluded firm conclusions being drawn regarding the specificity of the relationship to the phonological domain. Cognitive mechanisms that may underlie the association between spoken language development and working memory skills are discussed.