Validity and reliability of an online visual–spatial working memory task for self-reliant administration in school-aged children

• Published in: Behavior research methods Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 708 - 719
• Main Authors: Van de Weijer-Bergsma, Eva, Kroesbergen, Evelyn H., Prast, Emilie J., Van Luit, Johannes E. H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child; Cognitive Psychology; Computer-Assisted Instruction - methods; Elementary school students; Female; Game theory; Humans; Male; Mathematics; Memory; Memory, Short-Term; Psychology; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Validity; Working memory; Children; Visual-spatial; Computerized classroom assessment
• ISSN: 1554-3528; 1554-3528
• DOI: 10.3758/s13428-014-0469-8

Working memory is an important predictor of academic performance, and of math performance in particular. Most working memory tasks depend on one-to-one administration by a testing assistant, which makes the use of such tasks in large-scale studies time-consuming and costly. Therefore, an online, self-reliant visual–spatial working memory task (the Lion game) was developed for primary school children (6–12 years of age). In two studies, the validity and reliability of the Lion game were investigated. The results from Study 1 ( n = 442) indicated satisfactory six-week test–retest reliability, excellent internal consistency, and good concurrent and predictive validity. The results from Study 2 ( n = 5,059) confirmed the results on the internal consistency and predictive validity of the Lion game. In addition, multilevel analysis revealed that classroom membership influenced Lion game scores. We concluded that the Lion game is a valid and reliable instrument for the online computerized and self-reliant measurement of visual–spatial working memory (i.e., updating).