Working memory and inattentive behaviour in a community sample of children.

Mariko Lui,Rosemary Tannock

doi:10.1186/1744-9081-3-12

Abstract

BackgroundExisting literature to date suggests a relationship between cognitive attention and working memory (WM), but the relationship between overt inattentive behaviour and WM is less clear. This study examined the relationship between WM and parent-rated inattentive behaviour in a community sample of 140 children aged 7–12 years.MethodsChildren completed 2 clinical (laboratory-based) measures of WM (auditory-verbal and visual-spatial) and a measure of real-life WM, designed specifically for this study, while their parents completed questionnaires about their child's inattentive behaviour and other areas of functioning.ResultsFindings indicated that poorer performance on WM tasks predicted inattentive behaviour.ConclusionThese results are consistent with previous research linking WM deficits and poor attention in ADHD and normal populations. The present findings support a controlled attention model of WM.

Highlights

Existing literature to date suggests a relationship between cognitive attention and working memory (WM), but the relationship between overt inattentive behaviour and WM is less clear
Age and gender analyses Age and gender analyses for WM measures Zero-order correlations revealed that age correlated significantly with all WM raw scores such that WM performance on all tasks improved significantly with age
Follow-up analyses of variance (ANOVAs) on each dependent variable revealed no significant differences between boys and girls on WM performance

Summary

Introduction

Existing literature to date suggests a relationship between cognitive attention and working memory (WM), but the relationship between overt inattentive behaviour and WM is less clear. A well-known model of WM is Baddeley and Hitch's model [2,3], in which WM is comprised of two separate systems for the temporary storage of verbal information ('phonological loop') and visual-spatial information ('visuo-spatial sketchpad') and a 'central executive' as a control mechanism that manipulates the information in active storage in order to perform complex cognitive tasks. Many other theoretical perspectives on WM exist [4], but one area of general agreement is the distinction between processes involving storage (e.g., shortterm memory; STM) and those involving greater cognitive control (e.g., central executive). Instead of emphasizing how large the STM store or WM capacity (i.e., how much WM can hold), the controlled attention perspective views information maintenance in the presence of interference as a critical (page number not for citation purposes)

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