Measures and References: Working Memory

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Measures

Numerous measures exist to gain a full picture of a student's learning strengths and challenges. Following are examples of measures used to assess this Learner Factor. These measures should be administered and interpreted by experienced professionals.

Automated Working Memory Assessment (AWMA) (Alloway, 2007): Computer-based battery with multiple measures of verbal and visuospatial Short-term and Working Memory

Corsi Block or Block Recall (Pickering & Gathercole, 2001): Measures visuospatial ability using taps on a set of blocks that participants replicate in reverse order

References

Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., Kirkwood, H., & Elliott, J. (2009). The working memory rating scale: A classroom-based behavioral assessment of working memory. Learning and Individual Differences, 19(2), 242-245.

Andersson, U. (2008). Working memory as a predictor of written arithmetical skills in children: The importance of central executive functions. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 78(2), 181-203.

Barrouillet, P., & Lepine, R. (2005). Working memory and children's use of retrieval to solve addition problems. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 91, 183-204.

Beilock, S. L., Rydell, R. J., & McConnell, A. R. (2007). Stereotype threat and working memory: Mechanisms, alleviation, and spillover. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136(2), 256-276.

Bull, R., Espy, K. A., & Wiebe, S. A. (2008). Short-term memory, working memory, and executive functioning in preschoolers: Longitudinal predictors of mathematical achievement at age 7 years. Developmental Neuropsychology, 33(3), 205-228.

Caviola, S., Mammarella, I. C., Cornoldi, C., & Lucangeli, D. (2012). The involvement of working memory in children's exact and approximate mental addition. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 112(2), 141-160.

Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P.A. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19(4), 450-466.

Daubert, E. N., & Ramani, G. B. (2019). Math and memory in bilingual preschoolers: The relations between bilingualism, working memory, and numerical knowledge. Journal of Cognition and Development, 20(3), 314-333.

Della Sala, S., Gray, C., Baddeley, A., Allamano, N., & Wilson, L. (1999). Pattern span: A tool for unwelding visuo-spatial memory. Neuropsychologia, 37(10), 1189-1199.

Geary, D. C., Hoard, M. K., Nugent, L., & Byrd-Craven, J. (2008). Development of number line representations in children with mathematical learning disability. Developmental Neuropsychology, 33(3), 277-299.

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Kail, R., & Hall, L. K. (2001). Distinguishing short-term memory from working memory. Memory & Cognition, 29(1), 1-9.

Kofler, M. J., Singh, L. J., Soto, E. F., Chan, E. S. M., Miller, C. E., Harmon, S. L., & Spiegel, J. A. (2020). Working memory and short-term memory deficits in ADHD: A bifactor modeling approach. Neuropsychology, 34(6), 686-698.

Kofler, M. J., Spiegel, J. A., Soto, E. F., Irwin, L. N., Wells, E. L., & Austin, Kristen, E. (2019). Do working memory deficits underlie reading problems in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47(3), 433-446.

Koresbergen, E. H., Van Luit, J. E. H., Van Lieshout, E. C. D. M., Van Loosbroek, E., & Van de Rijt, B. A. M. (2009). Young children at risk for math disabilities : Counting skills and executive functions. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27(3), 226-236.

Lehmann, J., Quaiser-Pohl, C., & Jansen, P. (2014). Correlation of motor skill, mental rotation, and working memory in 3- to 6-year-old children. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 11(5), 560-573.

Li, Y., & Geary, D. C. (2013). Developmental gains in visuospatial memory predict gains in mathematics achievement. PloS One, 8(7).

Mammarella, N., Cornoldi, C., & Donadello, E. (2003). Visual but not spatial working memory deficit in children with spina bifida. Brain and Cognition, 53, 311-314.

Mercader, J., Miranda, A., Presentacion, M. J., Siegenthaler, R., & Rosel, J. F. (2018). Contributions of motivation, early numeracy skills, and executive functioning to mathematical performance. A longitudinal study. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 2375.

McKenzie, B. Bull, R., & Gray, C. (2003). The effects of phonological and visual-spatial interference on children's arithmetical performance. Educational and Child Psychology, 20(3).

McKown, C., & Weinstein, R.S. (2003). The development and consequences of stereotype-consciousness in middle childhood. _Child Development, 74, _498-515.

Morales, J., Calvo, A., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Working memory development in monolingual and bilingual children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 114, 187-202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.09.002

Moura, R., Wood, G. M., Pinheiro-Chagas, P., Lonnemann, J., Krinzinger, H., Willmes, K., & Haase, V. G. (2013). Transcoding abilities in typical and atypical mathematics achievers: The role of working memory and procedural and lexical competencies. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 116, 707-727.

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Peng, P., & Fuchs, D. (2016). A meta-analysis of working memory deficits in children with learning difficulties: Is there a difference between verbal domain and numerical domain?. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49(1), 3-20.

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