title: The cognitive and behavioral characteristics of children with low working memory.
abstract: This study explored the cognitive and behavioral profiles of children with working memory impairments. In an initial screening of 3,189 five- to eleven-year-olds, 308 were identified as having very low working memory scores. Cognitive skills (IQ, vocabulary, reading, and math), classroom behavior, and self-esteem were assessed. The majority of the children struggled in the learning measures and verbal ability. They also obtained atypically high ratings of cognitive problems/inattentive symptoms and were judged to have short attention spans, high levels of distractibility, problems in monitoring the quality of their work, and difficulties in generating new solutions to problems. These data provide rich new information on the cognitive and behavioral profiles that characterize children with low working memory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK. t.p.alloway@stir.ac.uk
authors.forename: Tracy Packiam
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Alloway
authors.forename: Susan Elizabeth
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Gathercole
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kirkwood
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Elliott
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011932:Reading; D012649:Self Concept; D014825:Vocabulary