Computer assisted assessment of visuospatial working memory

We present a new computer program that allows the assessment of visuospatial working memory (VSWM) in kindergarten children. The challenge for the assessment of VSWM in this age group is to present a test design that is easily understandable for children and thus not too difficult while at the same time implying additional processing elements above the pure storage of positional information (according to the definition of Engle et al. 1999 that working memory combines an element of pure storage with processes of executive attention) The adopted test paradigm is based on a grid / no-grid paradigm for which a previous fMRI study with an adult population has shown that the memorization of positional information in a perceptively undifferentiated space (no-grid condition) requires additional attentional processes compared to the memorization of positional information in a perceptively structured space (grid condition). The setting of the test was adapted to children in Kindergarten. We used a tablet PC to administer the test. This procedure excludes that children fail because they can’t use the computer mouse in an appropriate way. The different items show a 4x4 grid where the eyes of a manikin appear on a dark background. Children are told that the positions of different manikins in a dark room have to be memorized. After a short period of time the eyes disappear again and up to four positions have to be memorized in this way. The test person then clicks in the grid where he believes that the different manikins are hidden. The setting allows measuring performance in terms of accuracy and time. First results with kindergarten children in Luxemburg will be presented showing the correlation of this VSWM task with other visuospatial and numerical tasks.