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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
Global processing speed as a mediator of developmental changes in children's auditory memory span
Angela N Ferguson1, Judith A Bowey
1School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia.
Abstract:
This study examined the role of global processing speed in mediating age increases in auditory memory span in 5- to 13-year-olds. Children were tested on measures of memory span, processing speed, single-word speech rate, phonological sensitivity, and vocabulary. Structural equation modeling supported a model in which age-associated increases in processing speed predicted the availability of long-term memory phonological representations for redintegration processes. The availability of long-term phonological representations, in turn, explained variance in memory span. Maximum speech rate did not predict independent variance in memory span.
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