Central executive involvement in children's spatial memory |
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Authors: | Su Yin Ang Kerry Lee |
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Institution: | 1. Nanyang Technological University , Singapore suyin47@yahoo.com.sg;3. Nanyang Technological University , Singapore |
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Abstract: | Previous research with adults found that spatial short-term and working memory tasks impose similar demands on executive resources. We administered spatial short-term and working memory tasks to 8- and 11-year-olds in three separate experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2 an executive suppression task (random number generation) was found to impair performances on a short-term memory task (Corsi blocks), a working memory task (letter rotation), and a spatial visualisation task (paper folding). In Experiment 3 an articulatory suppression task only impaired performance on the working memory task. These results suggest that short-term and working memory performances are dependent on executive resources. The degree to which the short-term memory task was dependent on executive resources was expected to be related to the amount of experience children have had with such tasks. Yet we found no significant age-related suppression effects. This was attributed to differences in employment of cognitive strategies by the older children. |
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Keywords: | Visuo-spatial working memory Executive functions Dual task interference Developmental differences Cognitive strategies |
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