Contribution of Working Memory Capacity to Children’s Reading Comprehension: A Longitudinal Investigation |
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| Authors: | Alix Seigneuric Marie-France Ehrlich |
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| Institution: | 1. Université de Bourgogne, P?le AAFE-Esplanade Erasme, BP 26513, 21065, Dijon Cedex- Dijon, France
2. Université René Descartes, E.P.H.E., C.N.R.S., Paris, France
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| Abstract: | We examined the contribution of working memory capacity to the development of children’s reading comprehension. We present
data from three waves of a longitudinal study when the children were 7 years (Grade 1), 8 years (Grade 2) and 9 years (Grade
3). Two questions were raised: The first question concerned the developmental changes of the relative contribution of working
memory in predicting reading comprehension compared to vocabulary and decoding skills. The second question explored to what
extent reading comprehension could be predicted by working memory capacity measured at a prior time. At the end of each grade,
reading comprehension, nonword reading, vocabulary knowledge and working memory capacity were assessed. To test the first
question, the predictive power of working memory capacity was compared to vocabulary and decoding skills by performing concurrent
multiple-regression analyses in each grade. The results showed that working memory capacity emerged as a direct predictor
of reading comprehension in Grade 3. To address the second question, we performed multiple-regression analyses predicting
reading comprehension from working memory, nonword reading, and vocabulary measured at a prior time. In these analyses, the
autoregressive effect was taken into account to separately assess the unique contribution of each predictor to the development
of later reading comprehension. The results showed that Grade 1 vocabulary and Grade 2 working memory had additional effects
on Grade 3 reading comprehension after the autoregressive effect of reading comprehension had been accounted for. These findings
support the idea that, as word recognition becomes automated throughout the early grade levels, working memory becomes an
important determinant of reading comprehension. There is also evidence that working memory capacity directly influences the
development of reading comprehension skills. The direction of the causal flow is discussed. |
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| Keywords: | Children Reading comprehension Vocabulary Working memory |
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