The Moderation Effect of Processing Efficiency on the Relationship Between Visual Working Memory and Chinese...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Visual working memory (VWM) is crucial for cognitive tasks.
• Chinese character recognition involves complex visual processing.
• The interplay between VWM, processing efficiency, and reading acquisition is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between VWM and Chinese character reading in young learners.
• To investigate the moderating role of processing efficiency, specifically visual temporal order judgment (VTOT), on this relationship.

Main Methods:

• 154 first-grade students completed VWM, VTOT, and Chinese character reading tasks.
• VWM was assessed by recalling frog jumping routes in reverse.
• VTOT, an indicator of processing efficiency, was measured using a temporal order judgment task.
• Chinese character reading was evaluated by oral reading of 100 characters.

Main Results:

• Both VWM and VTOT significantly predicted Chinese character reading abilities.
• VTOT significantly moderated the relationship between VWM and Chinese character reading (p = 0.001).
• A positive VWM-reading correlation was observed with above-average VTOT (≤87.14 ms), but a negative correlation with poor VTOT (>231.44 ms).

Conclusions:

• Processing efficiency is a critical factor influencing how VWM supports Chinese character reading.
• Interventions aimed at improving Chinese character reading may benefit from targeting both VWM and processing efficiency.
• The findings highlight the dynamic and context-dependent nature of cognitive skill interactions in early literacy development.