Abstract
Working memory capacity is described as a pool of limited resources that carry out processing and storage functions. Its role has been emphasised in adults' reading comprehension. The present study had two aims: First, to study the relationship between working memory capacity and reading comprehension in fourth-grade children. Second, to study the nature of the working memory resources involved in reading comprehension, i.e., are they specific or general?To test the first point, the predictive power of working memory capacity was compared with two reading-related basic skills, vocabulary and decoding skills. To test the second point, different working memory tasks were devised using verbal, numerical and spatial materials. All the tasks were administered to 48 fourth-grade children. The results showed that working memory capacity was a direct predictor of reading comprehension when contrasted with vocabulary and decoding skills. Moreover, it seemed that working memory would be better described as a system specialised for the processing of symbolic information in that only the verbal and in a lesser extent the numerical working memory tasks were significant predictors of reading comprehension. The spatial task did not correlate with reading comprehension. The reasons accounting for the predictive power of working memory tasks were discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aubret, J. & Blanchard, S. (1991). L'évaluation des compétences de lecture [The assess-ment of reading abilities]. Issy-les-Moulineaux, France: Etablissements d'Applications Psychotechniques.
Baddeley, A., Logie, R., Nimmo-Smith, I. & Brereton N. (1985). Components of fluent reading, Journal of Memory and Language 24: 119–131.
Bryant, P.E. & Bradley, L. (1985). Children's reading problems. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Cantor, J., Engle, R.W. & Hamilton, G. (1991). Short-term memory, working memory and verbal abilities: How do they relate?, Intelligence 15: 229–246.
Case, R., Kurland, M. & Goldberg, J. (1982). Operational efficiency and the growth of short-term memory span, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 33: 386–404.
Claes, M., Dehant, A., Lamy, J. & Gille, A. (1967). Test de lecture California [California reading test]. Bruxelles: Editest.
Cohen, J. & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences, 2nd edn. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Conway, A R.A. & Engle, R.W. (1994). Working memory and retrieval: A resource-dependent inhibition model, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 123: 354–373.
Daneman, M. & Carpenter, P.A. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 19: 450–466.
Daneman, M. & Carpenter, P.A. (1983). Individual differences in integrating information between and within sentences, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition 9: 561–584.
Daneman, M. & Merikle, P.M. (1996). Working memory and language comprehension: A meta-analysis, Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 3: 422–433.
Daneman, M. & Tardif, T. (1987). Working memory and reading skill reexamined. In: M. Coltheart (ed.), Attention and performance, vol 12 (pp. 491–508). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Dixon, P., LeFevre, J.-A. & Twilley, L.C. (1988). Word knowledge and working memory as predictors of reading skill, Journal of Educational psychology 80: 465–472.
Ehrlich, M.-F., Kurtz-Costes, B.E. & Loridant, C. (1993). Cognitive and motivational determ-inants of reading comprehension in good and poor readers, Journal of Reading Behavior 25: 365–381.
Ehrlich, M.-F., Kurtz-Costes, B.E., Rémond, M. & Loridant, C. (1995). Les differences individuelles dans la compréhension de l'écrit: facteurs cognitivo-linguistiques et motiv-ationnels [Individual differences in reading comprehension: Cognitivo-linguistic and motivational factors], Cahiers d'Acquisition et de Pathologie du Langage 13: 37–58.
Engle, R.W., Cantor, J. & Carullo, J.J. (1992). Individual differences in working memory and comprehension: A test of four hypotheses, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 18: 972–992.
Engle, R.W., Carullo, J.J. & Collins K.W. (1991). Individual differences in working memory for comprehension and following directions, Journal of Educational Research 84: 253–262.
Engle, R.W., Nations, J.K. & Cantor, J. (1990). Is 'working memory capacity' just another name for word knowledge?, Journal of Educational Psychology 82: 799–804.
Gathercole, S.E., Willis, C.S. & Baddeley, A.D. (1991). Differentiating phonological memory and awareness of rhyme: reading and vocabulary development in children, British Journal of Psychology 82: 387–406.
Gernsbacher, M.A. (1993). Less skilled readers have less efficient suppression mechanisms, Psychological Science 4: 294–298.
Hasher, L. & Zacks, R.T. (1988). Working memory, comprehension and aging: A review and a new view. In: G.H. Bower (ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (pp. 193–225). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Hermabessière, G. & Sax, H. (1972). Epreuve de lecture 'Jeannot et Georges' Test of decoding skills 'Jeannot et Georges']. Paris: ECPA.
INETOP (1981). Test de lecture silencieuse [Silent reading test]. Issy-les-Moulineaux: EAP.
Just, M.A. & Carpenter P.A. (1992). A capacity theory of comprehension: Individual differences in working memory, Psychological Review 99: 122–149.
Kintsch, W. (1988). The role of knowledge in discourse comprehension: A construction-integration model, Psychological Review 95: 163–182.
La Pointe L.B. & Engle R.W. (1990). Simple and complex word spans as measures of working memory capacity, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 16: 1118–1133.
Leather, C.V. & Henry, L.A. (1994). Working memory span and phonological awareness tasks as predictors of early reading ability, Journal of Experimental Child psychology 58: 88–111.
Merrill, E.D., Sperber, R.D. & McCauley, C. (1981). Differences in semantic encoding as a function of reading comprehension skill, Memory and Cognition 9: 618–624.
Näslund J.C. & Schneider, W. (1991). Longitudinal effects of verbal ability, memory capacity, and phonological awareness on reading performance, European Journal of Psychology of Education 6: 375–392.
Oakhill, J.V., Hartt, J. & Samols, D. (1996). Comprehension monitoring and working memory in good and poor comprehenders. Paper presented at the 14th Biennial ISSBD Conference, Quebec City.
Saarnio, D.A., Oka, E.R. & Paris, S.G. (1989). Developmental predictors of children's read-ing comprehension. In: T.H. Carr & B.A. Levy (eds.), Reading and its development: component skills approaches (pp. 57–79). New-York: Academic Press.
Shah, P. & Miyake, A. (1996). The separability of working memory resources for spatial thinking and language processing: An individual differences approach, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 125: 4–27.
Siegel, L.S. & Ryan, E.B. (1989). The development of working memory in normally achieving and subtypes of learning disabled children, Child Development 60: 973–980.
Swanson, H.L. (1992). Generality and modifiability of working memory among skilled and less skilled readers, Journal of Educational psychology 84: 473–488.
Swanson, H.L. (1996). Individual and age-related differences in children's working memory, Memory and Cognition 24: 70–82.
Swanson, H.L. & Berninger V.W. (1995). The role of working memory in skilled and less skilled readers' comprehension, Intelligence 21: 83–108.
Swanson, H.L. & Berninger V.W. (1996). Individual differences in children's working memory and writing skill, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 63: 358–385.
Turner, M.L. & Engle, R.W. (1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent?, Journal of Memory and Language 28: 127–154.
Yuill, N.M., Oakhill, J.V., Garnham, A. & O'Donovan D. (submitted). The relation between working memory abilities and children's reading.
Yuill, N.M., Oakhill, J.V. & Parkin, A. (1989). Working memory, comprehension ability and the resolution of text anomaly, British Journal of Psychology 80: 351–361.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Seigneuric, A., Ehrlich, MF., Oakhill, J.V. et al. Working memory resources and children's reading comprehension. Reading and Writing 13, 81–103 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008088230941
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008088230941