[Working memory capacity related to reading: measurement with the Japanese version of reading span test]

The efficiency of working memory capacity was measured with the Japanese reading span test (Japanese RST), which was developed based on the Carnegie-Mellon RST (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980). The correlation between the Japanese and the CMU RST was found to be highly significant. The present Japanese RST seems to predict reading efficiency in the same way as does the CMU RST. The Japanese RST was found to be correlated not only with memory span but with reading comprehension. However, it was not correlated with existing verbal intelligence tests.