Working memory
Which kind of working memory matters for maths as kids grow?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Visual-spatial working memory matters for arithmetic in younger primary pupils, but by the final grades verbal working memory becomes the stronger predictor across all four operations.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cohort — One school year with three arithmetic-fluency measurements, in grades 2 to 6 (partly cross-sectional across grades), analysed with multigroup latent growth curve models; working memory measured once each.
- N
- N=4285 · 4,285 children with arithmetic data from an original 4,337; 3,830 had visual-spatial and 3,499 had verbal working-memory data.
- Population
- Dutch primary school children in grades 2-6 from 32 schools
- Outcome
- Level and within-year growth of timed addition, subtraction, multiplication and division fluency
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Key findings
Both kinds of working memory predicted how well children performed in every operation, but neither predicted how fast they improved over the year. In grades 2 to 4 the two were equally predictive; in grades 5 and 6 verbal working memory was significantly stronger, while visual-spatial working memory stopped predicting most operations. The shift looked similar across all four operations, contrary to the idea that addition and subtraction rely more on visual-spatial resources.
Methodology
Children in grades 2 to 6 at Dutch schools took a timed arithmetic test three times during one school year, covering addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Each child also did a computerised visual-spatial working-memory game (remembering where coloured lions appeared) and a verbal one (recalling spoken words backwards). Growth curve models tested whether each working-memory type predicted children's arithmetic level and their rate of improvement, and how this changed by grade.
Limitations
Each working-memory type was measured by a single task, and the verbal task might partly reflect reading ability. The maths measure was a speeded fluency test, so processing speed could inflate its link with working memory. Grade comparisons are partly cross-sectional, so differences between grades could reflect cohort or teaching differences rather than development, and one school year was too short to capture meaningful individual differences in growth. The design is correlational, so it cannot show that working memory causes maths performance.
How this study connects
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