| This study investigates the relationship between working memory, as conceptualized by Baddeley and Hitch (1974), and reading comprehension in children. Thirty-four second graders and thirty-nine fifth graders responded to age appropriate stories selected from the Diagnostic Scales of Reading (Spache, 1981), the Matrix Analogies Test (Naglieri, 1985) and individual computerized tests designed to measure aspects of working memory (central executive, auditory, visual and spatial skill). It was hypothesized that: (1) auditory working memory would be the most important working memory skill for both second and fifth grader's reading success, followed by central executive, visual and spatial working memory, (2) visual working memory would be more important for reading success in the younger than older students, and (3) spatial working memory would play the smallest role in enabling reading for both second and fifth graders; however, it would be more important for the younger than older children. For the second graders, the data show significant correlations between reading and working memory tests. When the students are divided into groups according to reading ability (low, medium and high) there were significant differences in working memory skill between reading groups. For the second graders, low readers had low auditory, central executive, visual and spatial (to a lesser degree) working memory ability. The converse was true for good readers. For the 5th graders, only auditory working memory ability differed significantly for the low, medium and high readers. Cross-age comparison, unfortunately, are vitiated by the low and largely nonsignificant correlations in the fifth grade data. These findings support the conclusions that: (1) auditory working memory is more important in reading comprehension than the other working memory abilities for both second and fifth graders, (2) central executive functioning is more important for the second than the fifth graders, and (3) visual and spatial working memory are less important in the reading process than auditory working memory for both age levels. |
