Premium
Synergies between processing and memory in children’s reading span
Author(s) -
Towse John N.,
Hitch Graham J.,
Horton Neil,
Harvey Katarina
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00929.x
Subject(s) - working memory , recall , cognitive psychology , reading (process) , psychology , task (project management) , memory span , cognition , span (engineering) , semantic memory , sentence , relevance (law) , reconstructive memory , cognitive science , computer science , artificial intelligence , childhood memory , linguistics , neuroscience , philosophy , civil engineering , management , law , political science , engineering , economics
Previous research has established the relevance of working memory for cognitive development. Yet the factors responsible for shaping performance in the complex span tasks used to assess working memory capacity are not fully understood. We report a study of reading span in 7‐ to 11‐year‐old children that addresses several contemporary theoretical issues. We demonstrate that both the timing and the accuracy of recall are affected by the presence or absence of a semantic connection between the processing requirement and the memoranda. Evidence that there can be synergies between processing and memory argues against the view that complex span simply measures the competition between these activities. We also demonstrate a consistent relationship between the rate of completing processing operations (sentence reading) and recall accuracy. At the same time, the shape and strength of this function varies with the task configuration. Taken together, these results demonstrate the potential for reconstructive influences to shape working memory performance among children.