Department of Health Sciences Faculty Articles
Time and Resource Limits on Working Memory: Cross-Age Consistency in Counting Span Performance
Document Type
Article
Publisher
Academic Press
ISSN
1096-0457
Publication Date
12-2003
Keywords
Counting Span, Memory Capacity, Memory Decay, Working Memory
Abstract
This longitudinal study separated resource demand effects from those of retention interval in a counting span task among 100 children tested in grade 2 and again in grades 3 and 4. A last card large counting span condition had an equivalent memory load to a last card small, but the last card large required holding the count over a longer retention interval. In all three waves of assessment, the last card large condition was found to be less accurate than the last card small. A model predicting reading comprehension showed that age was a significant predictor when entered first accounting for 26% of the variance, but counting span accounted for a further 22% of the variance. Span at Wave 1 accounted for significant unique variance at Wave 2 and at Wave 3. Results were similar for math calculation with age accounting for 31% of the variance and counting span accounting for a further 34% of the variance. Span at Wave 1 explained unique variance in math at Wave 2 and at Wave 3.
DOI
10.1016/j.jecp.2003.08.002
Volume
86
Issue
4
First Page
303
Last Page
313
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
NSUWorks Citation
Ransdell, Sarah Ellen PhD and Hecht, Steven A. PhD, "Time and Resource Limits on Working Memory: Cross-Age Consistency in Counting Span Performance" (2003). Department of Health Sciences Faculty Articles. 260.
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_hs_facarticles/260
