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What is not working in working memory of children with literacy disorders? Evidence from a three-year-longitudinal study

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Abstract

The goals of this study were to explore the deficits in working memory associated with literacy disorders (i.e. developmental disorders of reading and/or spelling) and the developmental trajectories of these working memory deficits. The performance of 28 children with literacy disorders was compared to a non-disabled control group with the same group size at five bi-annual times of measurement in a three-year-longitudinal study beginning at the end of primary school (9.5 years of age). Storage capacity and central-executive working memory were assessed in phonological and visual-spatial modalities, the latter under static and dynamic conditions. Overall, children with literacy disorders were outperformed by their typical developing peers in all phonological and in dynamic visual-spatial storage and central-executive tasks except for the static visual-spatial storage task. Results at single times of measurement revealed that the most consistent deficit was found in the storage capacity of the phonological loop. An additional central-executive impairment is supported by low backward spans. The causes for output deficits in dynamic visual-spatial tasks and good performance under static visual-spatial condition are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This paper was prepared in the context of the Center for Research on Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), funded by the federal state government of Hesse (LOEWE initiative). The funding body has no conflict of interests, such as direct or indirect financial benefit. We would expressly like to thank Prof. Dr. Claudia Mähler and Dr. Kirsten Schuchardt of the University of Hildesheim, Germany, for their engagement in developing basic ideas of the manuscript.

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  1. German Institute for International Educational Research (DIPF), Schloßstraße 29, 60486, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Anne Fischbach, Tanja Könen, Chantal S. Rietz & Marcus Hasselhorn

  2. Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk (IDeA), Schloßstraße 29, 60486, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Anne Fischbach, Tanja Könen, Chantal S. Rietz & Marcus Hasselhorn

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  1. Anne Fischbach
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Fischbach, A., Könen, T., Rietz, C.S. et al. What is not working in working memory of children with literacy disorders? Evidence from a three-year-longitudinal study. Read Writ 27, 267–286 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-013-9444-5

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