A cross-sectional study using children aged 3 to 7 years and a cross-sequential study using children aged between 5 and 8 years showed that the development of phonological recoding in working memory was more complex than the simple dichotomous picture portrayed in the current literature. It appears that initially children use no strategy in recall, which is proposed to represent the level of automatic activation of representations in long-term memory and the storage capacity of the central executive. This is followed by a period in which a visual strategy prevails, followed by a period of dual visual-verbal coding before the adult-like strategy of verbal coding finally emerges. The results are discussed in terms of three working memory models (Baddeley, 1990; Engle, 1996; Logie, 1996) where strategy use is seen as the development of attentional processes and phonological recoding as the development of inhibitory mechanisms in the central executive to suppress the habitual response set of visual coding.
The picture span performance of developmental dyslexic teenagers (mean age 14 years 1 month) was compared to the picture span performance of both RA (mean age 9 years 0 month) and chronological age match controls (mean age 14 years 1 month). Three stimulus lists were manipulated for visual and phonological similarity. Findings indicated that all three groups showed a significant phonological similarity effect but only the dyslexic group showed a significant visual similarity effect.
This cross‐sequential study investigated the development of phonological recoding in working memory in relation to literacy acquisition in children between the ages of 5 and 8 years. Using a paradigm which manipulates visual and phonological similarity of visual stimuli, it has shown that phonological recoding consists not only of the ability to access the phonological representation of the visual stimuli, but also the capacity to inhibit the visual representation which might cause interference. In relation to literacy acquisition, the ability to access the phonological representation is a unique predictor of literacy acquisition over and above that accounted for by age, intelligence and working memory capacity. It accounts for up to 25% of the variance on a Neale Analysis of Reading test and up to 18% of the variance on the WRAT single word reading test. However, from the age of 7 years and above, the capacity to inhibit the visual response also plays a major role, accounting for a further 10% of the variance. Children of this age who are still relying on visual strategies in working memory have significantly lower literacy attainment levels. There was no significant relation between phonological recoding and maths scores until the age of 8 years, showing that a separable cognitive processing component has been isolated.
This study evaluates an innovative method of delivery and assessment in psychology, using enquiry-based learning as a method of delivery, and student-led seminars that are peerassessed as part of the assessment. Students' grades in a first semester developmental psychology module were found to be significantly higher than a conventionally delivered and assessed module in the second semester. The results of this evaluation are discussed in terms of student benefit and feedback.
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