Department of Health Sciences Faculty Articles
Title
Time and Resource Limits on Working Memory: Cross-Age Consistency in Counting Span Performance
ISBN or ISSN
1096-0457
Volume
86
Issue
4
Publication Date / Copyright Date
12-2003
First Page
303
Last Page
313
Publisher
Academic Press
DOI Number
10.1016/j.jecp.2003.08.002
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.
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
Keywords
Counting Span, Memory Capacity, Memory Decay, Working Memory
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