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Verbal Short‐term Memory Deficits in Down Syndrome: A Consequence of Problems in Rehearsal?
Author(s) -
Jarrold Christopher,
Baddeley Alan D.,
Hewes Alexa K.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/1469-7610.00604
Subject(s) - psychology , short term memory , baddeley's model of working memory , verbal memory , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , working memory , down syndrome , cognition , williams syndrome , long term memory , intervention (counseling) , neuroscience , psychiatry
Individuals with Down syndrome suffer from relatively poor verbal short‐term memory. Previous explanations of this deficit have been framed in terms of inefficient or absent rehearsal of verbal material in Down syndrome within the phonological loop component of Baddeley and Hitch's (1974) working memory model. Two experiments are presented which test this explanation by looking for the markers of rehearsal in children with Down syndrome and verbal mental age matched controls. Both experiments confirm that individuals with Down syndrome show poorer verbal short‐term memory performance than controls. However, they rule out rehearsal as an explanation of these deficits because the evidence suggests that neither individuals with Down syndrome nor matched controls are engaging in spontaneous subvocal rehearsal. Other explanations of poor verbal short‐term memory performance in Down syndrome, in terms of impairments both within and outside of the phonological loop system, are discussed. Practical implications for intervention strategies aimed at improving verbal short‐term memory skills in Down syndrome are also outlined.