Sebastian and Hernandes Gill Flashcards
aims
to analyse the developmental pattern on the phonological loop in children ages 5-17 years old
to compare the digit span of Spanish speakers with the digit span of Anglo-Saxon data
how did they use their previous findings from a study in 2010
to look at the decline in digit span of older people, including those with two types of dementia - fronto-temporal dementia and alzheimers
2010 study - how many ppts
25 - alzheimers
9 - fronto-temporal dementia
25 - healthy older people
what did anglo-saxon data find
16 if the age in which digit span stops increasing
what does digit span reveal about short term memory
it shows the memory span and capacity of short term memory without rehearsal
which English study showed that the digit span of English children increased up to age 15
Gathercole & Alloway (2008)
what age range were the children participants
5-17
how many children participants
570
how many schools were the children in Madrid from
13
how were education and cognitive differences controlled
none of the students had repeated a school year
none had difficulties in reading, writing or hearing
procedure
digit span was measured by reading aloud sequences of digits at a rate of one per second
each time the participant got one right, another digit was added to increase the digit span and the participant tried again
which result determined the digit span
the number of digits in the sequence where they recalled at least two out of the three sequences correctly
what were the five age groups
5
6-8
9-11
12-14
15-17
what was the digit span for each age group
5 - 3.76
6-8 - 4.34
9-11 - 5.13
12-14 - 5.46
15-17 - 5.83
inter-rater reliability - Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV
intelligence test for children
showed digit span increased with age
but digit span was higher each time than the findings of their study
digit span of ppts with alzheimers
4.20
digit span of those with fronto-temporal dementia
4.22
digit span of control group - 2010
4.44
conclusions
digit span increases with age from 5-17 years old
figures were around 1 digit below Anglo-Saxon data - word-length effect was the cause of this - link to sub-vocal rehearsal
mundane realism
lacks mundane realism
artificial task - would not usually be recalling lists of digits
the setting - ecological validity?
schools
usual setting the children would be in
not an artificial setting
standardised procedure
digits presented for one second each
WAIS-III data - conflicting results
suggests that digit span may increase up to 19 years old
uses older people as well which shows a decrease in digit span with age
generalisability
large age range in sample
