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Working Memory Deficits as They Relate to Academic Growth of Students with RD

Working Memory Deficits as They Relate to Academic Growth of Students with RD. Olga Jerman, Ph.D. Director of Research Frostig Center, Pasadena, CA Minyi Shih , Ph.D. California State University, Los Angeles. PCRC 2010 San Diego, CA. Frostig Center. Abstract.

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Working Memory Deficits as They Relate to Academic Growth of Students with RD

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  1. Working Memory Deficits as They Relate to Academic Growth of Students with RD Olga Jerman, Ph.D. Director of Research Frostig Center, Pasadena, CA Minyi Shih, Ph.D.California State University, Los Angeles PCRC 2010 San Diego, CA FrostigCenter

  2. Abstract The study investigated whether (a) growth patterns related to cognitive processing (working memory, updating, inhibition) differed in subgroups of children with reading disabilities (RD), and (b) if growth in WM (executive processing) predicted growth in other cognitive areas, such as reading and math. 81 children (ages 7 to 17) categorized as poor decoders, poor comprehenders, or average readers were administered a battery of achievement and cognitive measures for three consecutive years. HLM showed that growth in executive processing (inhibition) in children with RD constrained growth in reading and math. The results support the notion that development in the executive system underlies performance on reading and math measures. FrostigCenter

  3. Working Memory & Reading • Working Memory is: • A system that simultaneously processes and stores information for a brief period of time • Responsible for a range of cognitive functions, such as maintaining attention, inhibiting irrelevant information, switching between different stimuli, and updating. • There are different models of working memory and different tasks to assess working memory • Dyslexia • Average intelligence; • Below average score on standardized reading measures; • Scores on math tasks within average range. FrostigCenter

  4. Baddeley’s model of WM Central Executive Visuospatial Sketchpad Phonological Loop Episodic Buffer Visual Semantics LTM Language FrostigCenter

  5. Research Questions: • Does growth in the executive components of WM or WM span differ as a function of reading ability? • Do deficits in the executive components of WM (or WM span) constrain RD students’ growth on measures related to crystallized intelligence (reading and math)? FrostigCenter

  6. Methods • Participants: • 73 students • Gender: 24 girls and 49 boys • Mean age 12.20; range 7.8 – 17.0 • SES: middle-upper to upper class • Ethnicity: 57 Caucasian; 6 African-American; 5 Hispanic; 5 other FrostigCenter

  7. Subgroups • Poor decoders (PD); N = 25 • Reading fluency (WRAT-3) < 25th percentile (90 SS) • Math (WRAT-3) > 80 SS • Poor comprehenders (PC); N = 23 • Reading fluency (WRAT-3) > 25th percentile • Comprehension (WRMT) < 25th percentile • Math (WRAT-3) > 80 SS • Control group (C); N = 25 • Reading fluency (WRAT-3) > 40th percentile • Comprehension (WRMT) > 40th percentile • Math (WRAT-3) > 80 SS FrostigCenter

  8. Does Growth in WM Differ As a Function of Reading Ability? WM growth rates among Poor decoders, Poor comprehenders, and Average readers are comparable for the younger students FrostigCenter

  9. Results of Multilevel Modelsfor Change in Sentence Span FrostigCenter

  10. DC 4 3 2 1 0 90 114 138 162 186 210 AGE Students’ Performance on Sentence Span Note: Age is given in months, WM performance presented in span scores FrostigCenter

  11. Younger and Older Students Across3 Waves on Sentence Span FrostigCenter

  12. Do Deficits in WM Span or Executive System Constrain Growth on Measures Related to Reading and Math? • Growth in WM span did not explain any additional variance in students’ reading and math performance and did not account for the growth in these areas. • On the other hand, measures of Executive processing were found to have an important influence in children’s growth in math and reading. FrostigCenter

  13. Growth Models for Reading(TOWRE Real Word and Non-word Reading) FrostigCenter

  14. Growth Models for Math(WISC-R Arithmetic Subtest) FrostigCenter

  15. Growth Models with Executive Activity (EA) as a Predictor of Math FrostigCenter

  16. Growth Models with Executive Activity (EA) as a Predictor of Reading FrostigCenter

  17. Conclusion Functions of the Executive system of WM, specifically inhibition and/or updating of the new information, contribute significantly to students’ reading and math growth. Students with RD show deficits in these areas, which constrain their ability to learn new material, comprehend written text, and problem-solve. FrostigCenter

  18. Implications • Theoretical implications: • Findings suggest that specific aspects of the Central Executive, rather than general WM impairments, are deficient in RD students. • Functions of the Central Executive are critical for successful learning in school. Deficits in executive functions result in developmental lag in reading and math acquisition. • Practical implications: • Modification of classroom instruction and curricular materials: • Minimize the amount of irrelevant info; reduce switching between tasks & activities; slower pace of introducing new info (updating). FrostigCenter

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