Spatial Working Memory and Arithmetic Deficits in Children With Nonverbal Learning Difficulties

Visuospatial working memory and its involvement in arithmetic were examined in two groups of 7- to 11-year-olds: one comprising children described by teachers as displaying symptoms of nonverbal learning difficulties (N = 21), the other a control group without learning disabilities (N = 21). The two...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of learning disabilities 2010-09, Vol.43 (5), p.455-468
Main Authors: Mammarella, Irene Cristina, Lucangeli, Daniela, Cornoldi, Cesare
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arithmetic
Biological and medical sciences
Case-Control Studies
Child
Child clinical studies
Children
Children with disabilities
Cognitive psychology
Control Groups
Correlation
Developmental disorders
Discriminant Analysis
Elementary School Students
Error Patterns
Female
Humans
Information processing
Learning Disabilities
Learning disabled children
Learning disorders
Learning Disorders - psychology
Learning Problems
Male
Mathematics
Medical sciences
Memory
Memory, Short-Term
Neuropsychological Tests
Nonverbal Learning
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Questionnaires
Recognition (Psychology)
Role
Sequential Learning
Short Term Memory
Sociocultural factors
Space
Space Perception
Spatial Ability
Spatial memory
Special education
Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
Task Analysis
Teachers
Tests
Verbal Ability
Visual memory
Working memory
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Summary:Visuospatial working memory and its involvement in arithmetic were examined in two groups of 7- to 11-year-olds: one comprising children described by teachers as displaying symptoms of nonverbal learning difficulties (N = 21), the other a control group without learning disabilities (N = 21). The two groups were matched for verbal abilities, age, gender, and sociocultural level. The children were presented with a visuospatial working memory battery of recognition tests involving visual, spatial-sequential and spatial-simultaneous processes, and two arithmetic tasks (number ordering and written calculations). The two groups were found to differ on some spatial tasks but not in the visual working memory tasks. On the arithmetic tasks, the children with nonverbal learning difficulties made more errors than controls in calculation and were slower in number ordering. A discriminant function analysis confirmed the crucial role of spatial-sequential working memory in distinguishing between the two groups. Results are discussed with reference to spatial working memory and arithmetic difficulties in nonverbal learning disabilities. Implications for the relationship between visuospatial working memory and arithmetic are also considered.
ISSN:0022-2194
1538-4780
DOI:10.1177/0022219409355482