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Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)
Published on: June 12, 2017
Picture span test: measuring visual working memory capacity involved in remembering and comprehension.
1Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. azumi@l05.mbox.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Behavior Research Methods
|April 14, 2009
Summary
A new Picture Span Test (PST) effectively measures visual working memory capacity. This validated task predicts visuospatial skills and highlights the role of inhibition in cognitive functions.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Working memory is theorized to utilize domain-specific resources, including verbal and visuospatial.
- A validated task for assessing visuospatial working memory has been lacking in prior research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel task, the Picture Span Test (PST), for measuring visuospatial working memory capacity.
- To investigate the relationship between the PST, visuospatial cognitive skills, and inhibitory control.
Main Methods:
- Development of the Picture Span Test (PST), requiring simultaneous memorization of scene image parts and comprehension of situations.
- Correlation and factor analyses were conducted on data from 52 college students.
- Error analysis was performed to identify key cognitive processes involved.
Main Results:
- The PST demonstrated predictive validity for visuospatial cognitive skills.
- A simple visual storage task and a verbal working memory task did not show similar predictive power.
- Error analysis indicated that inhibitory control is a crucial component of visuospatial working memory.
Conclusions:
- The Picture Span Test (PST) is a suitable measure for assessing individual differences in visual working memory capacity.
- The PST can be used to explore the relationship between visual working memory and higher-order cognitive abilities.
- The findings underscore the importance of inhibitory mechanisms in visuospatial working memory.
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