title: Working memory in school-age children with and without a persistent speech sound disorder.
abstract: The aim of this study was to explore the role of working memory processes as a possible cognitive underpinning of persistent speech sound disorders (SSD).
  
  
  
  Forty school-aged children were enrolled; 20 children with persistent SSD (P-SSD) and 20 typically developing children. Children participated in three working memory tasks - one to target each of the components in Baddeley's working memory model: phonological loop, visual spatial sketchpad and central executive.
  
  
  
  Children with P-SSD performed poorly only on the phonological loop tasks compared to their typically developing age-matched peers. However, mediation analyses revealed that the relation between working memory and a P-SSD was reliant upon nonverbal intelligence.
  
  
  
  These results suggest that co-morbid low-average nonverbal intelligence are linked to poor working memory in children with P-SSD. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders , Emerson College , Boston , MA , USA.
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1836-4681
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Farquharson
authors.affiliation: b MGH-Institute of Health Professions , Boston , MA , USA , and.
authors.forename: Tiffany P
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2160-6995
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.affiliation: c University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Special Education and Communication Disorders , Lincoln , NE , USA.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bernthal
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D066229:Speech Sound Disorder
keywords: Baddeley’s working memory model; nonverbal intelligence; school-aged children; speech sound disorders; working memory