Working memory and intelligence in children: What develops? By
Swanson, H. Lee - This study explored the contribution of the
phonological and executive working memory (WM) systems to 205
(102 girls, 103 boys, 6 to 9 years old) elementary school
children's fluid and crystallized intelligence. The results show
that (a) a 3-factor structure (phonological short-term memory
[STM], visual-spatial WM, and verbal WM) was comparable between
age groups, (b) controlled attention and STM storage accounted
for 67% of the age-related variance in WM, (c) effect sizes for
direct paths from WM were substantially larger when predicting
fluid intelligence than crystallized intelligence, and (d) the
contribution of STM to intelligence was isolated to reading. The
results suggest that the development of WM is distinct from STM,
controlled attention plus storage accounted for age-related WM
changes, and WM underlies age-related changes in both fluid and
crystallized intelligence. On the measurement of achievement
goals: Critique,