2.3.4 sebastian and hernandez gill (2012) digit span in spanish population

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

to investigate the development of phonological loop in children between 5-17
Sample - 570 volunteered children from Madrid Spain and the participants were tested individually

Question 2

Procedure

Answer 2

Sample was divided into 5 age groups. The participants then read increasing sequences of digits to recall in the correct order.The words were read at a rate of one a second.The digit span was recorded as the maximum digits recalled in the right order without errors

Question 3

Results

Answer 3

The results showed that due to the longer length of syllables in Spanish numbers then the English numbers,it took Spaniards longer to reach their peak digit span (age 17) then English people reaches theirs at the age of 15.The longer words in the Spanish digits overloaded the phonological loop thus impairing its ability.

Question 4

Evaluation

Answer 4

Generalisability(+/-) Large sample of 570 with different ages so generalizable however only spanish children so not representative of other cultures
Reliability(+) - Good as standardised number of digits and digit in order of time 1 sec
Applicability (+) - can be used to help people with learning problems or could aid in teaching
Validity(-)-Artificial test in a lab.not a real way of how STM works in real life ecological validity is good as it is a school but not a normal STM task