A working memory span task for toddlers
Autor: | Laura Prandelli, Sergio Morra, Sabrina Panesi, Elena Gandolfi |
---|---|
Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2021 |
Předmět: |
Span (category theory)
Working memory media_common.quotation_subject 05 social sciences Sorting Affect (psychology) Memory load 050105 experimental psychology Task (project management) Memory Short-Term Child Preschool Developmental and Educational Psychology Memory span Humans 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Psychology Imitation 050104 developmental & child psychology media_common Cognitive psychology |
Popis: | This study presents a new working memory measure for toddlers, inspired by the Spin-the-Pots (Hughes & Ensor, 2005), which we modified structuring it as a memory span task. As in the original task, we required toddlers to retrieve objects hidden in little boxes; however, in our Memory Span Spin-the-Pots (MSSP) we used smaller numbers of targets, and we systematically manipulated memory load, covering or not the display, and rotating it or not. Two experiments involved participants between 18 months and three years. In Experiment 1 we examined the effects of covering and rotation on toddlers' memory. Either covering or rotating the stimuli hindered their performance, and combining both transformations yielded an under-additive interaction. Moreover, the effect of covering decreased in the second half of the procedure. In Experiment 2 we validated the MSSP as a working memory measure by comparing it with the Imitation Sorting Task (IST; Alp, 1994). We found that the MSSP correlated with the IST, also with age partialled out, although the IST was easier. In both experiments, the scores increased with age. Overall, this research sheds light on some variables that affect toddlers' performance on the MSSP, and shows that it can be used as a valid working memory measure for toddlers. The results are discussed considering the attentional processes presumably involved. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
Externí odkaz: |