The differential relations between verbal, numerical and spatial working memory abilities and children's reading comprehension
Keywords:
Reading comprehension, reading accuracy, working memory, information processingAbstract
Working memory predicts children's reading comprehension but it is not clear whether this relation is
due to a modality-specific or general working memory. This study, which investigated the relations
between children's reading skills and working memory (WM) abilities in 3 modalities, extends previous
work by including measures of both reading comprehension and reading accuracy. Tests of word
reading accuracy and reading comprehension, and working memory tests in three different modalities
(verbal, numerical and spatial), were given to 197 6- to 11-year old children. The results support the
view that working memory tasks that require the processing and recall of symbolic information (words
and numbers) are better predictors of reading comprehension than tasks that require visuo-spatial
storage and processing. The different measures of verbal and numerical working memory were not
equally good predictors of reading comprehension, but their predictive power depended on neither
the word vs. numerical contrast nor the complexity of the processing component. In general,
performance on the verbal and numerical working memory tasks predicted reading comprehension,
but not reading accuracy, and spatial WM did not predict either. The patterns of relations between the
measures of working memory and reading comprehension ability were relatively constant across the
age group tested.
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References
Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., & Pickering, S. J. (2006). Verbal and visuospatial short-term and working
memory in children: Are they separable? Child Development, 77, 1698-1716.
Baddeley, A.D. & Hitch, G.J. (1974). Working memory. In G.A. Bower (Ed.) The psychology of learning and
motivation, Vol. 8 (pp. 4790). New York: Academic Press.
Bayliss, D. M., Jarrold, C., Baddeley, A. D., Gunn, D. M., & Leigh, E. (2005). Mapping the developmental
constraints on working memory span performance. Developmental Psychology, 41, 579-597.
Bayliss, D. M., Jarrold, C., Gunn, D. M., & Baddeley, A. D. (2003). The complexities of complex span:
Explaining individual differences in working memory in children and adults. Journal of
Experimental Psychology: General, 132, 71-92.
Caplan, D. and Waters, G. S. (1999) Verbal working memory and sentence comprehension. Behavioral
and Brain Sciences, 22, 77-126
Cantor, J., Engle, R.W., & Hamilton, G. (1991). Short-term memory, working memory, and verbal
abilities: How do they relate? Intelligence, 15, 229-246.
Carretti, B., Borella, E., Cornoldi, C. & De Beni, R. (2009). Role of working memory in explaining the
performance of individuals with specific reading comprehension difficulties: A meta-analysis.
Learning and Individual Differences, 19, 246–251
Cataldo, M.G. and Oakhill, J.V. (2000) Why are poor comprehenders inefficient searchers? An
investigation into the effects of text representation and spatial memory on ability to locate
information in a text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 791-799.
Cooke, A. E., Halleran, J. G., & O'Brien, E. J. (1998). What is readily available during reading? A memorybased
view. Discourse Processes, 26, 109-129.
Daneman, M. & Carpenter, P.A. (1980) Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal
of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450-466.
Daneman, M. & Carpenter, P.A. (1983). Individual differences in integrating information between and
within sentences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 9, 561-
584.
Daneman, M. & Merikle, P.M. (1996). Working memory and language comprehension: A metaanalysis.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 3, 422-433.
Daneman, M. & Tardif, T. (1987). Working memory and reading skill reexamined. In M. Coltheart (ed.),
Attention and performance, 7.Pp. 491-508. London: Erlbaum.
de Beni, R., Palladino, P., Pazzaglia, F., & Cornoldi, C. (1998). Increases in intrusion errors and working
memory deficit of poor comprehenders. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human
Experimental Psychology, 51A, 305–320.
de Jong, P. (1998). Working memory deficits of reading disabled children. Journal of Experimental Child
Psychology, 70, 75–95.
Dixon, P., LeFevre, J. & Twilley, L.C. (1988). Word knowledge and working memory as predictors of
reading skill. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 465-472.
Engle, R. W., Carullo, J. J., & Collins K. W. (1991). Individual differences in working memory for
comprehension and following directions. Journal of Educational Research, 84, 253-262.
Engle, R. W., Nations, J. K., & Cantor, J. (1990). Is "working memory capacity" just another name for
word knowledge? Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 799-804.
Engle, R. W., Tuholski, S. W., Laughlin, J. E., & Conway, A. R. A. (1999b). Working memory, short-term
memory, and general fluid intelligence: A latent variable approach. Journal of Experimental
Psychology: General, 125, 309 – 331.
Gernsbacher, M. A. (1990). Language Comprehension as Structure Building. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
Graesser, A. C., Singer, M., & Trabasso, T. (1994). Constructing inferences during narrative text
comprehension. Psychological Review, 101, 371-395.
Hale, S., Bronik, M. D., & Fry, A. E. (1997). Verbal and spatial working memory in school-age children:
Developmental differences in susceptibility to interference. Developmental Psychology, 33,
364–371.
Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1983). Mental Models. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Just, M. A., & Carpenter P.A. (1992). A capacity theory of comprehension: Individual differences in
working memory. Psychological Review, 99, 122-149.
Kane, M. J., Hambrick, D. Z., Tuholski, S. W., Wilhelm, O., Payne, T. W., & Engle, R. W. (2004). The
generality of working memory capacity: A latent-variable approach to verbal and visuospatial
memory span and reasoning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 189-217.
Kennedy, A. (1987). Eye movements, reading skill and the spatial code. In J.R. Beech and A.M. Colley
(Eds.) Cognitive Approaches to Reading. Chichester: Wiley.
Kintsch, W. (1998). Comprehension: A paradigm for cognition. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Leather, C.V. & Henry, L.A. (1994). Working memory span and phonological awareness tasks as
predictors of early reading ability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 58, 88-111.
Lépine, R., Barrouillet, P., & Camos, V. (2005). What makes working memory spans so predictive of
high-level cognition? Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 12, 165-170.
Murray, W.S. & Kennedy, A. (1988). Spatial coding in the processing of anaphor by good and poor
readers: Evidence from eye movement analyses. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,
1988, 40A, 693-718.
Nation, K., Adams, J. W., Bowyer-Crane, C.A. & Snowling, M. J. (1999) Working Memory Deficits in Poor
Comprehenders Reflect Underlying Language Impairments. Journal of Experimental Child
Psychology, 73, 139-158.
Neale, M.D. (1997) The Neale Analysis of Reading Ability: Revised, London: Macmillan Education.
Oakhill, J. V., Cain, K.E. & Bryant, P.E. (2003). Dissociation of single-word reading and text
comprehension skills. Language and Cognitive Processes, 18, 443-468.
Oakhill, J. V., Yuill, N. M., & Parkin, A. (1986). On the nature of the difference between skilled and lessskilled
comprehenders. Journal of Research in Reading, 9, 80–91.
Seigneuric, A., Ehrlich, M-F., Oakhill, J.V. & Yuill, N.M. (2000). Working memory resources and children's
reading comprehension. Reading and Writing, 13, 81-103.
Shah, P., & Miyake, A. (1996). The separability of working memory resources for spatial thinking and
language processing: An individual differences approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
General, 125, 4-27.
Siegel, L.S., & Ryan, E.B. (1989). The development of working memory in normally achieving and
subtypes of learning disabled children. Child Development, 60, 973-980.
Stothard, S.E. & Hulme, C. (1992) Reading comprehension difficulties in children: The role of language
comprehension and working memory skills. Reading and Writing, 4, 245-256.
Swanson, H.L. (1992) Generality and modifiability of working memory among skilled and less skilled
readers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 473-488.
Swanson, H.L. (1996). Individual and age-related differences in children's working memory. Memory &
Cognition, 24, 70-82.
Swanson, H. L., & Ashbaker, M. (2000). Working memory, short-term memory, articulation speed, word
recognition, and reading comprehension in learning disabled readers: Executive and/or
articulatory system? Intelligence, 28, 1–30.
Swanson, H.L., & Berninger V.W. (1995). The role of working memory in skilled and less skilled readers’
comprehension. Intelligence, 21, 83-108.
Swanson, H.L. & Jerman, O. (2007) The influence of working memory on reading growth in subgroups
of children with reading disabilities. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , 96, 249–283
Thorndike, R.L. & Hagen, E. (1986) Cognitive Abilities Test Levels AF. Second Edition. NFER Nelson:
Windsor, Berks.
Thorndike, R.L., Hagen, E. & France, N. (1986) Cognitive Abilities Test: Administration Manual. Second
Edition. NFER-Nelson: Windsor, Berks.
Turner, M.L., & Engle, R.W. (1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent? Journal of Memory and
Language, 28, 127-154.
Waters, G.S. & Caplan, D. (1996). The measurement of verbal working memory capacity and its relation
to reading comprehension. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1996, 49A, 51-79.
Yuill, N. & Oakhill, J. (1991). Children's Problems in Text Comprehension: An Experimental Investigation.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Yuill, N., Oakhill, J. & Parkin, A. (1989). Working memory, comprehension ability and the resolution of
text anomaly. British Journal of Psychology, 80, 351-361.
memory in children: Are they separable? Child Development, 77, 1698-1716.
Baddeley, A.D. & Hitch, G.J. (1974). Working memory. In G.A. Bower (Ed.) The psychology of learning and
motivation, Vol. 8 (pp. 4790). New York: Academic Press.
Bayliss, D. M., Jarrold, C., Baddeley, A. D., Gunn, D. M., & Leigh, E. (2005). Mapping the developmental
constraints on working memory span performance. Developmental Psychology, 41, 579-597.
Bayliss, D. M., Jarrold, C., Gunn, D. M., & Baddeley, A. D. (2003). The complexities of complex span:
Explaining individual differences in working memory in children and adults. Journal of
Experimental Psychology: General, 132, 71-92.
Caplan, D. and Waters, G. S. (1999) Verbal working memory and sentence comprehension. Behavioral
and Brain Sciences, 22, 77-126
Cantor, J., Engle, R.W., & Hamilton, G. (1991). Short-term memory, working memory, and verbal
abilities: How do they relate? Intelligence, 15, 229-246.
Carretti, B., Borella, E., Cornoldi, C. & De Beni, R. (2009). Role of working memory in explaining the
performance of individuals with specific reading comprehension difficulties: A meta-analysis.
Learning and Individual Differences, 19, 246–251
Cataldo, M.G. and Oakhill, J.V. (2000) Why are poor comprehenders inefficient searchers? An
investigation into the effects of text representation and spatial memory on ability to locate
information in a text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 791-799.
Cooke, A. E., Halleran, J. G., & O'Brien, E. J. (1998). What is readily available during reading? A memorybased
view. Discourse Processes, 26, 109-129.
Daneman, M. & Carpenter, P.A. (1980) Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal
of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450-466.
Daneman, M. & Carpenter, P.A. (1983). Individual differences in integrating information between and
within sentences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 9, 561-
584.
Daneman, M. & Merikle, P.M. (1996). Working memory and language comprehension: A metaanalysis.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 3, 422-433.
Daneman, M. & Tardif, T. (1987). Working memory and reading skill reexamined. In M. Coltheart (ed.),
Attention and performance, 7.Pp. 491-508. London: Erlbaum.
de Beni, R., Palladino, P., Pazzaglia, F., & Cornoldi, C. (1998). Increases in intrusion errors and working
memory deficit of poor comprehenders. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human
Experimental Psychology, 51A, 305–320.
de Jong, P. (1998). Working memory deficits of reading disabled children. Journal of Experimental Child
Psychology, 70, 75–95.
Dixon, P., LeFevre, J. & Twilley, L.C. (1988). Word knowledge and working memory as predictors of
reading skill. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 465-472.
Engle, R. W., Carullo, J. J., & Collins K. W. (1991). Individual differences in working memory for
comprehension and following directions. Journal of Educational Research, 84, 253-262.
Engle, R. W., Nations, J. K., & Cantor, J. (1990). Is "working memory capacity" just another name for
word knowledge? Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 799-804.
Engle, R. W., Tuholski, S. W., Laughlin, J. E., & Conway, A. R. A. (1999b). Working memory, short-term
memory, and general fluid intelligence: A latent variable approach. Journal of Experimental
Psychology: General, 125, 309 – 331.
Gernsbacher, M. A. (1990). Language Comprehension as Structure Building. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
Graesser, A. C., Singer, M., & Trabasso, T. (1994). Constructing inferences during narrative text
comprehension. Psychological Review, 101, 371-395.
Hale, S., Bronik, M. D., & Fry, A. E. (1997). Verbal and spatial working memory in school-age children:
Developmental differences in susceptibility to interference. Developmental Psychology, 33,
364–371.
Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1983). Mental Models. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Just, M. A., & Carpenter P.A. (1992). A capacity theory of comprehension: Individual differences in
working memory. Psychological Review, 99, 122-149.
Kane, M. J., Hambrick, D. Z., Tuholski, S. W., Wilhelm, O., Payne, T. W., & Engle, R. W. (2004). The
generality of working memory capacity: A latent-variable approach to verbal and visuospatial
memory span and reasoning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 189-217.
Kennedy, A. (1987). Eye movements, reading skill and the spatial code. In J.R. Beech and A.M. Colley
(Eds.) Cognitive Approaches to Reading. Chichester: Wiley.
Kintsch, W. (1998). Comprehension: A paradigm for cognition. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Leather, C.V. & Henry, L.A. (1994). Working memory span and phonological awareness tasks as
predictors of early reading ability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 58, 88-111.
Lépine, R., Barrouillet, P., & Camos, V. (2005). What makes working memory spans so predictive of
high-level cognition? Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 12, 165-170.
Murray, W.S. & Kennedy, A. (1988). Spatial coding in the processing of anaphor by good and poor
readers: Evidence from eye movement analyses. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,
1988, 40A, 693-718.
Nation, K., Adams, J. W., Bowyer-Crane, C.A. & Snowling, M. J. (1999) Working Memory Deficits in Poor
Comprehenders Reflect Underlying Language Impairments. Journal of Experimental Child
Psychology, 73, 139-158.
Neale, M.D. (1997) The Neale Analysis of Reading Ability: Revised, London: Macmillan Education.
Oakhill, J. V., Cain, K.E. & Bryant, P.E. (2003). Dissociation of single-word reading and text
comprehension skills. Language and Cognitive Processes, 18, 443-468.
Oakhill, J. V., Yuill, N. M., & Parkin, A. (1986). On the nature of the difference between skilled and lessskilled
comprehenders. Journal of Research in Reading, 9, 80–91.
Seigneuric, A., Ehrlich, M-F., Oakhill, J.V. & Yuill, N.M. (2000). Working memory resources and children's
reading comprehension. Reading and Writing, 13, 81-103.
Shah, P., & Miyake, A. (1996). The separability of working memory resources for spatial thinking and
language processing: An individual differences approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
General, 125, 4-27.
Siegel, L.S., & Ryan, E.B. (1989). The development of working memory in normally achieving and
subtypes of learning disabled children. Child Development, 60, 973-980.
Stothard, S.E. & Hulme, C. (1992) Reading comprehension difficulties in children: The role of language
comprehension and working memory skills. Reading and Writing, 4, 245-256.
Swanson, H.L. (1992) Generality and modifiability of working memory among skilled and less skilled
readers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 473-488.
Swanson, H.L. (1996). Individual and age-related differences in children's working memory. Memory &
Cognition, 24, 70-82.
Swanson, H. L., & Ashbaker, M. (2000). Working memory, short-term memory, articulation speed, word
recognition, and reading comprehension in learning disabled readers: Executive and/or
articulatory system? Intelligence, 28, 1–30.
Swanson, H.L., & Berninger V.W. (1995). The role of working memory in skilled and less skilled readers’
comprehension. Intelligence, 21, 83-108.
Swanson, H.L. & Jerman, O. (2007) The influence of working memory on reading growth in subgroups
of children with reading disabilities. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , 96, 249–283
Thorndike, R.L. & Hagen, E. (1986) Cognitive Abilities Test Levels AF. Second Edition. NFER Nelson:
Windsor, Berks.
Thorndike, R.L., Hagen, E. & France, N. (1986) Cognitive Abilities Test: Administration Manual. Second
Edition. NFER-Nelson: Windsor, Berks.
Turner, M.L., & Engle, R.W. (1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent? Journal of Memory and
Language, 28, 127-154.
Waters, G.S. & Caplan, D. (1996). The measurement of verbal working memory capacity and its relation
to reading comprehension. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1996, 49A, 51-79.
Yuill, N. & Oakhill, J. (1991). Children's Problems in Text Comprehension: An Experimental Investigation.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Yuill, N., Oakhill, J. & Parkin, A. (1989). Working memory, comprehension ability and the resolution of
text anomaly. British Journal of Psychology, 80, 351-361.
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Published
2017-08-24
How to Cite
Oakhill, J., Yuill, N., & Garnham, A. (2017). The differential relations between verbal, numerical and spatial working memory abilities and children’s reading comprehension. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 4(1), 83–106. Retrieved from http://www.iejee.com/index.php/IEJEE/article/view/215
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