Verbal but not visual–spatial working memory contributes to complex arithmetic calculation

• Published in: British journal of developmental psychology Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 385 - 399
• Main Authors: Chen, Chunhui, Liu, Pengfei, Lu, Shuzhen, Li, Siqi, Zhang, Chunli, Zhou, Xinlin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.11.2023
• Subjects: Arithmetic; Cognition; Computation; Elementary schools; Mathematics; Rehearsal; Short term memory; Task performance; Verbal memory; span tasks; verbal working memory; visual-spatial working memory; mathematics
• ISSN: 0261-510X; 2044-835X; 2044-835X
• DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12458

The contribution of working memory to mathematics has been extensively studied. It has been proposed that verbal working memory (VWM) and visual–spatial working memory (VSWM) have distinct contributions, but results have been inconclusive. Here, we hypothesized that VWM and VSWM contribute differentially to separate sub‐domains of mathematics. To test this hypothesis, we enrolled 199 primary school students and measured their VWM and VSWM with number/letter/matrix backward span tasks, and tested mathematics performance with simple subtraction, complex subtraction, multi‐step calculation and number series completion, while controlling for several aspects of cognition. We found that while letter backward span had a significant contribution to complex subtraction, multi‐step computation and number series completion, number backward span only had a significant contribution to multi‐step computation, and matrix span had no effect on any math task. These results suggest that only VWM associated with complex mathematics, which might reflect verbal rehearsal. In contrast, VSWM does not appear to associated with mathematics.