Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
09:05
Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)
Published on: June 12, 2017
Working memory strategies in children aged 7-10 years
Caitlin Hrysanidis1, Regine Cassandra Lau1, Peter J Anderson1,2,3,4
1School of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
Memory & Cognition
|July 17, 2026
Summary
Children aged 7-10 use working memory strategies, often favoring single manipulation types. Strategy use generally links to better performance on tasks relevant to school and daily life.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Working memory strategies are documented in adults, but less is known about their use in children.
- Understanding childhood working memory strategies is crucial for educational and developmental contexts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine self-reported strategy use in 7-10-year-old children on various working memory tasks.
- To investigate the association between strategy use and performance on tasks relevant to everyday and classroom activities.
Main Methods:
- Children (N=63) completed five working memory tasks (backward span, following instructions, n-back) post-intervention.
- Semi-structured interviews assessed strategies used for each task.
- Analysis focused on strategy prevalence, type (manipulation vs. maintenance), and association with performance.
Main Results:
- Strategy use was prevalent across all tasks and generally associated with superior performance.
- Children often relied on a single strategy, favoring manipulation over maintenance types.
- Associations between specific strategies, number of strategies, and performance varied across tasks.
Conclusions:
- Strategic behavior in middle childhood is linked to working memory task performance, similar to adults.
- Findings highlight the importance of strategy use in children's cognitive functioning for daily and academic tasks.
- Further research can explore the nuances of strategy development and effectiveness in pediatric populations.
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