Working memory in 5-to-7 year-old children: Its structure and relationship to fluid intelligence

Working memory (WM) has been predominantly studied in adults. The insights provided by these studies have led to the development of competing theories on the structure of WM and conflicting conclusions on how strongly WM components are related to higher order thinking skills such as fluid intelligence (GF). However, it remains unclear whether and to what extent the theories and findings derived from adult data generalize to children. The purpose of the present study was therefore to investigate WM in 5-to-7-year-old children (N = 161). Specifically, we examined different structural models of WM and how its components, as defined in these models, are related to GF. Our results suggest that children draw on both domain- general and domain-specific processes when performing memory span. Crucially, our findings indicate that domain-general processes result in a core storage capacity that primarily explains the relationship between WM and GF. Based on these observations we discuss the theoretical and methodological issues that arise when children’s WM is investigated.