Phonological Short-term Memory in Typically Developing Children and Children with Learning Disability

Abstract

Memory is a very important aspect of cognition and has major roles to play. It plays an instrumental role in reading and writing also. The phonological short-term memory in particular is important in learning new words. Phonological short-term memory (PSTM) is very important in recall of words and the constraint imposed on it would greater in case of recall of non-words and irregular words. The present study was carried out with the aim of exploring the integrity of PSTM in typically developing children and children diagnosed with LD. Recall task was administered on all participants. Recall of digits, words (3 syllable, 4 syllable and 5 syllable words) and non-words were considered. Each stimulus set comprised of 8 units. The task of the participant was to recall the items. Typically developing children performed better compared to children diagnosed with learning disability. Children with LD performed poorly on non-words showing that the PSTM would be defective in this population.

Keywords: learning disability, non-words, recall