Sebastián and Hernández-Gil (2012) Flashcards
what did they investigate ?
the development of the phonological loop component of working memory
how did they aim to measure loop capacity ?
by using verbal digit span
what study’s findings did they want to confirm ?
a study with Anglo-Saxon ppts that found that digit span increases up to the age of 15 and then levels off
what groups of ppts did they aim to compare ?
spanish schoolchildren with Anglo-Saxon elderly people and people with dementia tested in an earlier study
what setting was this experiment conducted in ?
a field setting (school)
what was the independent variable ?
the year of schooling (and year group)
what was the dependent variable ?
the verbal digit span
how many ppts were there ?
575
what type of schools were the ppts from ?
pre-,primary and secondary (both public and private)
where were the schools ?
Madrid
what are 5 controls for the children ?
- all born in Spain
- selected from all 13 years of the Spanish education system
- none had repeated a year
- none presented hearing disorders
- none had reading and writing difficulties
when were the children tested ?
individually during break times
what did the materials used consist of ?
sequences of random digits that gradually increased by one each time
what was the procedure used to test the children ?
- they were read aloud to each ppt
- task began with THREE sequences of THREE digits
- then THREE sequences of FOUR digits and so on…
what did the children have to do in the procedure ?
ppts listened to each sequence and then were asked to repeat them in order
what is one control given to the children in the procedure
the children were given a practice sequence at the start
what was digit span defined by ?
the longest sequence the child could recall, 2/3 of the three presented, in order without error
what were the findings ?
- clear increase of digit span with age
- youngest age group (5 years) had a significantly lower average digit span (mean=3.76)
- digit span increased significantly and consistently up to 11 years (mean=5.28)
- then the rate of increase slowed and stabilised up to 17 years (mean=5.91)
