The relationship of short-term visual memory to written spelling in average fifth-grade readers when sequential and simultaneous presentation is compared

The purpose of this study was to determine how several areas of short-term visual memory and simultaneous processing related to written spelling achievement for fifth-grade students whose reading achievement was at least average.;The sample included 60 fifth-grade students from a large suburb of Los Angeles county. A group of 30 good readers-poor spellers were selected based on a Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised (WRAT-R) spelling subtest score that was between 25 and 70 points below their Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) reading score. A comparison group of 30 good readers-good spellers was also selected. The two groups were comparable in age, gender, ethnicity, and CTBS reading scores.;An ex post facto study was employed where spelling achievement was the independent variable and short-term memory for numbers was the dependent variable. Short-term memory was assessed with the Visual Aural Digit Span Test (VADS), The Graham Kendall Memory for Designs Test (MFD), and variations of VADS suggested by Torgesen, Bowen, and Ivey (VADS2+).;In order to answer six research questions and three additional questions, a number of analyses were performed. The three additional analyses of this study focused on whether the crucial variables in the presentation of information of VADS and VADS2+ are actually visual and auditory presentation or sequential and simultaneous presentation.;Statisically significant differences between the good and poor spelling groups short-term memory for number were discovered when oral expression was required but not when written expression was required. These results indicate that the memory differences between the two groups were due to a general difference in rote memory rather than an auditory, visual, sequential, or simultaneous processing difference.;The results from the three additional analyses confirmed that the students in this study scored more similarly in areas that had a continuity in their sequential versus simultaneous manner of presentation rather than a likeness in their visual versus auditory method of presentation. These findings support the learning theories of Luria as well as the postulations of Torgesen, Bowen and Ivey that questioned the construct validity of the VADS.