| Reference : Are working memory measures free of socio-economic and cultural influence? |
| Scientific congresses, symposiums and conference proceedings : Unpublished conference | |||
| Social & behavioral sciences, psychology : Theoretical & cognitive psychology | |||
| http://hdl.handle.net/10993/1994 | |||
| Are working memory measures free of socio-economic and cultural influence? | |
| English | |
Engel de Abreu, Pascale  [University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education (FLSHASE) > Educational Measurement and Applied Cognitive Science (EMACS)] | |
| Gathercole [] | |
| Santos, F [] | |
| Martin, Romain [University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education (FLSHASE) > Education, Culture, Cognition and Society (ECCS) >] | |
| Jan-2008 | |
| Yes | |
| International | |
| Experimental Psychology Society London Meeting | |
| 3-4 January 2008 | |
| London | |
| UK | |
| [en] working memory ; language ; test-bias | |
| [en] This research investigated the hypothesis that working memory skills are independent of environmental factors such as socio-economic status (SES) or cultural background. Twenty Brazilian children aged 6 and 7 years from low SES families were evaluated on measures of working memory (verbal short-term memory and verbal complex span, taken form the AWMA: Automated Working Memory Assessment) and of vocabulary (expressive and receptive). They were compared with typically developing Brazilian children from the same region but from families of higher SES and to a population of Portuguese- speaking, immigrant children growing up in Luxembourg/EU. Children were matched on age, sex, and nonverbal ability. The three groups differed significantly on the vocabulary measures but not on the verbal short-term memory tests. Further the groups differed on one of the two complex span measures – counting recall - but performed equally well on backwards digit recall. The results indicate that tests of verbal short-term memory and also backwards digit recall provide measures of cognitive abilities that are not biased by the quality of the child’s socio-economical or cultural background. As these measures are also highly sensitive to language ability, they may provide useful methods for diagnosing language disorder that are independent of environmental opportunity. | |
| ESRC | |
| Researchers | |
| http://hdl.handle.net/10993/1994 |
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