Short-term memory and equivalence judgments in normal and retarded readers.
Matched groups of normal and disabled readers were required to perform same/different judgments in which the interval between standard and comparison stimuli was either 0, 1, or 6 sec. Standard and comparison stimuli were either the same, different in element order, or different in actual elements present. Retarded readers performed as well as controls on same tasks in all 3 delay conditions. Difference tasks discriminated retarded readers on 1- and 6-sec conditions, but not on 0-sec conditions. Differences in order and gross element distinguished retarded from adequate readers equally well. The results are interpreted to indicate a deficit in short-term memory in retarded readers, but only for tasks requiring a difference judgment.
D001288:Attention; D002648:Child; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D004410:Dyslexia; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011932:Reading