TY - JOUR
T1 - Short-term Memory in Childhood Dyslexia
T2 - Deficient Serial Order in Multiple Modalities
AU - Cowan, Nelson
AU - Hogan, Tiffany P.
AU - Alt, Mary
AU - Green, Samuel
AU - Cabbage, Kathryn L.
AU - Brinkley, Shara
AU - Gray, Shelley
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PY - 2017/8
Y1 - 2017/8
N2 - In children with dyslexia, deficits in working memory have not been well-specified. We assessed second-grade children with dyslexia, with and without concomitant specific language impairment, and children with typical development. Immediate serial recall of lists of phonological (non-word), lexical (digit), spatial (location) and visual (shape) items were included. For the latter three modalities, we used not only standard span but also running span tasks, in which the list length was unpredictable to limit mnemonic strategies. Non-word repetition tests indicated a phonological memory deficit in children with dyslexia alone compared with those with typical development, but this difference vanished when these groups were matched for non-verbal intelligence and language. Theoretically important deficits in serial order memory in dyslexic children, however, persisted relative to matched typically developing children. The deficits were in recall of (1) spoken digits in both standard and running span tasks and (2) spatial locations, in running span only. Children with dyslexia with versus without language impairment, when matched on non-verbal intelligence, had comparable serial order memory, but differed in phonology. Because serial orderings of verbal and spatial elements occur in reading, the careful examination of order memory may allow a deeper understanding of dyslexia and its relation to language impairment.
AB - In children with dyslexia, deficits in working memory have not been well-specified. We assessed second-grade children with dyslexia, with and without concomitant specific language impairment, and children with typical development. Immediate serial recall of lists of phonological (non-word), lexical (digit), spatial (location) and visual (shape) items were included. For the latter three modalities, we used not only standard span but also running span tasks, in which the list length was unpredictable to limit mnemonic strategies. Non-word repetition tests indicated a phonological memory deficit in children with dyslexia alone compared with those with typical development, but this difference vanished when these groups were matched for non-verbal intelligence and language. Theoretically important deficits in serial order memory in dyslexic children, however, persisted relative to matched typically developing children. The deficits were in recall of (1) spoken digits in both standard and running span tasks and (2) spatial locations, in running span only. Children with dyslexia with versus without language impairment, when matched on non-verbal intelligence, had comparable serial order memory, but differed in phonology. Because serial orderings of verbal and spatial elements occur in reading, the careful examination of order memory may allow a deeper understanding of dyslexia and its relation to language impairment.
KW - children
KW - dyslexia
KW - memory
KW - specific language impairment
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U2 - 10.1002/dys.1557
DO - 10.1002/dys.1557
M3 - Article
C2 - 28497530
AN - SCOPUS:85019096851
SN - 1076-9242
VL - 23
SP - 209
EP - 233
JO - Dyslexia
JF - Dyslexia
IS - 3
ER -