title: Improving working memory in children with low language abilities.
abstract: This study investigated whether working memory training is effective in enhancing verbal memory in children with low language abilities (LLA). Cogmed Working Memory Training was completed by a community sample of children aged 8-11 years with LLA and a comparison group with matched non-verbal abilities and age-typical language performance. Short-term memory (STM), working memory, language, and IQ were assessed before and after training. Significant and equivalent post-training gains were found in visuo-spatial short-term memory in both groups. Exploratory analyses across the sample established that low verbal IQ scores were strongly and highly specifically associated with greater gains in verbal STM, and that children with higher verbal IQs made greater gains in visuo-spatial short-term memory following training. This provides preliminary evidence that intensive working memory training may be effective for enhancing the weakest aspects of STM in children with low verbal abilities, and may also be of value in developing compensatory strategies.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge UK.
authors.forename: Joni
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge UK.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Butterfield
authors.affiliation: Cambridge Cognition, Cambridge UK.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cormack
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Loenhoud
authors.affiliation: Speech and Language Therapy Department, Davison Therapy Centre, Brookfields Hospital, Cambridge UK.
authors.forename: Leanne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ruggero
authors.affiliation: Georg-Elias-Müller-Institut für Psychologie, University of Göttingen, Göttingen Germany.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kashikar
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge UK.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gathercole
keywords: SLI; cognitive training; intervention; language; verbal IQ; working memory