The Relationship between Visual-Spatial and Auditory-Verbal Working Memory Span in Senegalese and Ugandan Children

Michael J Boivin,Rebecca C Smith,Paul Bangirana,Antonio Verdejo García

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008914

Abstract

BackgroundUsing the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) Conant et al. (1999) observed that visual and auditory working memory (WM) span were independent in both younger and older children from DR Congo, but related in older American children and in Lao children [1]. The present study evaluated whether visual and auditory WM span were independent in Ugandan and Senegalese children.MethodIn a linear regression analysis we used visual (Spatial Memory, Hand Movements) and auditory (Number Recall) WM along with education and physical development (weight/height) as predictors. The predicted variable in this analysis was Word Order, which is a verbal memory task that has both visual and auditory memory components.ResultsBoth the younger (<8.5 yrs) and older (>8.5 yrs) Ugandan children had auditory memory span (Number Recall) that was strongly predictive of Word Order performance. For both the younger and older groups of Senegalese children, only visual WM span (Spatial Memory) was strongly predictive of Word Order. Number Recall was not significantly predictive of Word Order in either age group.ConclusionsIt is possible that greater literacy from more schooling for the Ugandan age groups mediated their greater degree of interdependence between auditory and verbal WM. Our findings support those of Conant et al., who observed in their cross-cultural comparisons that stronger education seemed to enhance the dominance of the phonological-auditory processing loop for WM.

Highlights

In what has become the dominant model of memory organization, Baddeley and Hitch postulated a distinction between the control processes in memory and the structural memory stores [2]
It is possible that greater literacy from more schooling for the Ugandan age groups mediated their greater degree of interdependence between auditory and verbal working memory (WM)
Our findings support those of Conant et al, who observed in their cross-cultural comparisons that stronger education seemed to enhance the dominance of the phonological-auditory processing loop for WM

Summary

Introduction

In what has become the dominant model of memory organization, Baddeley and Hitch postulated a distinction between the control processes in memory and the structural memory stores [2]. The first of the working memory systems is the visual-spatial sketch pad. This system is involved in the processing and memory of information of a more distinctively visual and/or spatial nature and is often instrumental in more adaptive motor control and response. The other subsidiary system is the phonological loop, which is involved in the processing and memory of auditory verbal material. Gathercole and colleagues proposed that the central executive, phonological loop, and the visual-spatial sketchpad were all in place by age six, and that the two subservient systems have a stronger relationship with the central executive than with each other. The present study evaluated whether visual and auditory WM span were independent in Ugandan and Senegalese children

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Conclusion