Modality Specificity of Memory Span Tasks among Zaïrian Children: A Developmental Perspective

Digit span (DS) and visual memory span (VMS) tasks have been shown to be distinct in young children but fail to show modality specificity in older American children and adults (Fastenau, Conant, & Lauer, 1997, 1998). The present study examines the possibility that processing of VMS becomes autom...

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Published inJournal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 375 - 384
Main Authors Conant, Lisa L., Fastenau, Philip S., Giordani, Bruno, Boivin, Michael J., Opel, Bikayi, Dia Nseyila, Diawaku
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Colchester Taylor & Francis Group 01.06.1999
Taylor & Francis
Subjects
Age Factors
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child Development
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Cultural Characteristics
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Developmental psychology
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Laos
Male
Memory
Psychological Tests
Psychology, Child
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
United States
Vision, Ocular
Congo(Democratic republic)
Africa
United States
Laos
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Human
Short term
Verbal ability
Verbal memory
Visual memory
Spatial ability
Cognition
Cognitive development
Memory span
Child
Preadolescent
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Summary:Digit span (DS) and visual memory span (VMS) tasks have been shown to be distinct in young children but fail to show modality specificity in older American children and adults (Fastenau, Conant, & Lauer, 1997, 1998). The present study examines the possibility that processing of VMS becomes automatized with written language training. In a sample of 139 Zaïrian children, separate factor analyses on K-ABC data for younger children (6.1-8.5 years) and older children (8.6-12.8 years) yielded two-factor solutions in both cases, which appear to represent verbal and visual-spatial abilities. Modality specificity of the visual span task is supported in both age groups. Findings of modality specificity in both Zaïrian age groups provides support for the theoretical distinction between verbal and visual memory span. Continued modality specificity of visual memory span tasks in older Zaïrian children suggests that the increased verbal loadings of these tasks seen for older American children may reflect differences in written language development.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
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ISSN:1380-3395
1744-411X
DOI:10.1076/jcen.21.3.375.912