Are Working Memory Measures Free of Socioeconomic Influence?
Are Working Memory Measures Free of Socioeconomic Influence?
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DOI：
10.1044/1092-4388(2008/07-0210
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发表时间：
2008-12-01
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Gathercole, Susan Elizabeth
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Engel, Pascale Marguerite Josiane;Santos, Flavia Heloisa;Gathercole, Susan Elizabeth
目的：这项研究评估了社会经济因素对儿童的工作记忆和vocabulary.Method测试上的表现的影响：20名巴西儿童，年龄在6岁和7岁，来自低收入家庭，完成了工作记忆（口头短期记忆和口头复杂的广度）和词汇（表达和接受）的测试。另一组来自社会经济地位较高的家庭的巴西儿童在年龄、性别和非语言能力方面也参加了这项研究。结果：来自社会经济地位较低的儿童在表达性和接受性词汇方面的得分明显低于收入较高的儿童，但在工作记忆方面没有发现显著的群体差异。工作记忆的测量提供了对认知能力的评估，这些能力似乎不受社会经济背景的实质性差异的影响。由于这些措施是高度敏感的语言能力和学习一般，他们似乎提供了有用的方法来诊断特定的学习困难，是独立的环境机会。
Purpose: This study evaluated the impact of socioeconomic factors on children's performance on tests of working memory and vocabulary.Method: Twenty Brazilian children, aged 6 and 7 years, from low-income families, completed tests of working memory ( verbal short-term memory and verbal complex span) and vocabulary ( expressive and receptive). A further group of Brazilian children from families of higher socioeconomic status matched for age, gender, and nonverbal ability also participated in the study.Results: Children from the low socioeconomic group obtained significantly lower scores on measures of expressive and receptive vocabulary than their higher income peers but no significant group differences were found on the working memory measures.Conclusion: Measures of working memory provide assessments of cognitive abilities that appear to be impervious to substantial differences in socioeconomic background. As these measures are highly sensitive to language ability and learning in general, they appear to provide useful methods for diagnosing specific learning difficulties that are independent of environmental opportunity.