Children with developmental reading disabilities (RD) frequently display impaired working memory functioning. However, research has been divergent regarding the characteristics of the deficit. Our investigation addressed this controversy by assessing Baddeley's working memory model as a whole rather than focusing on particular aspects of it, as has been done by much of the research to date. Participants included 20 children with RD and 20 typical readers between the ages of 9 and 13. The phonological loop, visual-spatial sketchpad, and central executive were assessed according to Baddeley's model. The results demonstrated that children with RD have an impaired phonological loop but intact visual-spatial sketchpad and central executive functioning as compared to controls. In terms of the phonological loop, the deficit appears to be specific to the phonological store. Furthermore, our research supports a relationship between phonological processing and phonological loop functioning.

We examined memory functioning in children with reading disabilities (RD), ADHD, and RD/ ADHD using a clinic sample with a clinical instrument: the Children's Memory Scale, enhancing its generalizability. Participants included 23 children with RD, 30 with ADHD, 30 with RD/ADHD, and 30 controls. Children with RD presented with reduced verbal short-term memory (STM) but intact visual STM, central executive (CE) and long-term memory (LTM) functioning. Their deficit in STM appeared specific to tasks requiring phonetic coding of material. Children with ADHD displayed intact CE and LTM functioning but reduced visual-spatial STM, especially when off stimulant medication. Children with RD/ADHD had deficits consistent with both disorders. Keywords dyslexia; reading disorders; ADHD; working memory; memory; children; stimulant medication There is a high comorbidity between a specific learning disability in reading (RD) and attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Approximately 15-35% of children with RD meet criteria for ADHD (Holborow & Berry, 1986;Shaywitz, Fletcher, & Shaywitz, 1995;Willcutt & Pennington, 2000), and about 10-40% of children with ADHD also have RD (Holborow & Berry, 1986;Semrud-Clikeman et al., 1992;Shaywitz et al., 1995). This overlap occurs in both community and clinical samples, suggesting it is not a selection artifact (Willcutt et al., 2001). Both disorders present with working memory and linguistic deficits; however, the manifestation of these deficits may vary between disorders. Despite all that we have learned about memory functioning in these populations over the past few decades, much of this research has focused on community samples and/or has used experimental measures. In contrast, this study examines memory functioning in children with RD, ADHD, and comorbid RD and ADHD using a clinical sample with a clinical instrument: the Children's Memory Scale (CMS;. This study provides greater external validity than is typically published, which will enhance its generalizability to psychologists working in clinical practice. For the purposes of this study, the term working memory (WM) is used when tasks require storage and mental manipulation such as a mental arithmetic task, whereas short-term memory (STM) is used when tasks require brief storage but limited mental manipulation such as when performing a This PDF receipt will only be used as the basis for generating PubMed Central (PMC) documents. PMC documents will be made available for review after conversion (approx. 2-3 weeks time). Any corrections that need to be made will be done at that time. No materials will be released to PMC without the approval of an author. Only the PMC documents will appear on PubMed Central --this PDF Receipt will not appear on PubMed Central. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptChild Neuropsychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 November 1. Published in final edited form as:Child Neuropsychol. 2008 November ; 14(6): 525-546. doi:10.1080/09297040701821752. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Man...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) refers to a broad range of neurological, cognitive and emotional factors that result from the application of a mechanical force to the head. Mechanical force can be applied on a continuum from none to very severe, and the extent of brain injury is related to the severity of this force. A review of the literature reveals that, while considerable research has been done on minor head injury, there remain several major sources of confusion. First, one of the most noticeable problems relates to the fact that the mild head injury has lower limits which are vaguely defined. This leads to individuals being categorized as having sustained a mild TBI despite minimal or no neurological damage being present. A second source of confusion in the literature is related to the failure to differentiate between cognitive consequences of TBI and post-concussion symptoms (PCS). Since PCS can occur in the absence of head injury, and are often present beyond the period of cognitive recovery from mild TBI, the two clearly result from different factors. Researchers have often failed to separate these two factors when studying recovery of function, and this has led to varying findings on outcome. Finally, many pre-injury factors (age, education, emotional adjustment) and post-injury factors (pain, family support, stress) interact with cognitive functioning and significantly affect recovery from TBI. These problems are reviewed and discussed.

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We compared three phonological processing components (phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming and phonological memory), verbal working memory, and attention control in terms of how well they predict the various aspects of reading: word recognition, pseudoword decoding, fluency and comprehension, in a mixed sample of 182 children ages 8–12 years. Participants displayed a wide range of reading ability and attention control. Multiple regression was used to determine how well the phonological processing components, verbal working memory, and attention control predict reading performance. All equations were highly significant. Phonological memory predicted word identification and decoding. In addition, phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming predicted every aspect of reading assessed, supporting the notion that phonological processing is a core contributor to reading ability. Nonetheless, phonological processing was not the only predictor of reading performance. Verbal working memory predicted fluency, decoding and comprehension, and attention control predicted fluency. Based upon our results, when using Baddeley’s model of working memory it appears that the phonological loop contributes to basic reading ability, whereas the central executive contributes to fluency and comprehension, along with decoding. Attention control was of interest as some children with ADHD have poor reading ability even if it is not sufficiently impaired to warrant diagnosis. Our finding that attention control predicts reading fluency is consistent with prior research which showed sustained attention plays a role in fluency. Taken together, our results suggest that reading is a highly complex skill that entails more than phonological processing to perform well.