title: How Common are WM Deficits in Children with Difficulties in Reading and Mathematics?
abstract: The extent to which deficits in working memory (WM) are characteristic of children with reading and mathematics difficulties was investigated in a large sample aged 5-15 years reported to have problems in attention, learning and memory. WM performance was highly correlated with reading and mathematics scores. Although deficits in individual tests of short-term memory (STM) and WM occurred in less than half of the children with detected learning difficulties, three-quarters of the children with low reading and mathematics scores obtained one or more WM scores in the deficit range. These findings are consistent with proposals that WM or the broader cognitive dimensions it taps impede school-based learning, and point to the importance of managing WM loads in the classroom.
authors.affiliation: MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Gathercole
authors.affiliation: MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Woolgar
authors.affiliation: MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rogier A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kievit
authors.affiliation: MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Duncan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Astle
authors.affiliation: MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Manly
authors.affiliation: MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Joni
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holmes
keywords: Language; Learning; Mathematics; Reading; Working memory