The Cognitive and Behavioral Characteristics of Children With Low Working Memory

Abstract

This study explored the cognitive and behavioral profiles of children with working memory impairments. In an initial screening of 3,189 5-11-year-olds, 308 were identified as having very low working memory scores. Cognitive skills (IQ, vocabulary, reading, and math), classroom behavior, and self-esteem were assessed. The majority of the children struggled in the learning measures and verbal ability. They also obtained atypically high ratings of cognitive problems ⁄ inattentive symptoms, and were judged to have short attention spans, high levels of distractibility, problems in monitoring the quality of their work, and difficulties in generating new solutions to problems. These data provide rich new information on the cognitive and behavioral profiles that characterize children with low working memory.Working memory is a multicomponent system providing temporary storage of information for brief periods of time that can be used to support ongoing cognitive activities (Baddeley, 1986;Baddeley & Hitch, 1974). The limited capacity of working memory varies widely between individuals and is closely associated with learning abilities during childhood (see Cowan & Alloway, in press; for a review). A large body of research has focused on working memory deficits in individuals with learning difficulties in reading (e.g., Gathercole, Alloway, Willis, & Adams, 2006a;Gathercole, Lamont, & Alloway, 2006b;Siegel & Ryan, 1989;Swanson, 2003), mathematics (Bull & Scerif, 2001;Geary, Hoard, Byrd-Craven, & DeSoto, 2004;Gersten, Jordan, & Flojo, 2005), language (e.g., Archibald & Gathercole, 2006b;Ellis Weismer et al., 2000;Montgomery, 2000), and attention (Barkley, 1997;Martinussen & Tannock, 2006). In this research tradition, the area of learning difficulty (reading, language, etc.) represents the primary impairment by which the children are identified, and any working memory deficits are secondary, associated characteristics. As a result, little is known about the consequences of low working memory capacity per se, independent of other associated learning difficulties. In particular, it is not known either what proportion of children with low working memory capacities have significant learning difficulties of these different kinds or what their behavioral characteristics are. The purpose of the present study is to redress this situation by providing the first systematic large-scale examination of the cognitive and behavioral characteristics of school-aged children who have been identified solely on the basis of very low working memory scores.The dominant conceptualization of working memory is of a system comprising multiple components whose coordinated activity provides the capacity for the temporary storage and manipulation of information in a variety of domains. According to Baddeley's (2000) revision of the influential Baddeley and Hitch (1974) model, working memory consists of four limited capacity elements. The central executive is a domain-general component responsible for the control of attention and processing that is invol...

Media multitasking in adolescence

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The Diagnostic Utility of Behavioral Checklists in Identifying Children with ADHD and Children with Working Memory Deficits

“…Second, their behavioral profile is distinct from those with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD 92 [32,34]. Relatively few of the children were judged to exhibit the high levels of hyper-93 active and impulsive behaviors that are found in the majority of children with a clinical 94 diagnosis of ADHD.…”

“…First, those working memory difficulties have a pervasive 87 deficit that impacts both verbal and visuo-spatial working memory, rather than a selective 88 impairment of either verbal or visuo-spatial difficulties. This pervasive deficit is associated 89 with low learning outcomes [32] and without appropriate intervention, these students lag 90 behind their peers [33]. 91…”

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