A Cross-Modal Working Memory Binding Span Deficit in Reading Disability. (March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Toffalini, Enrico; Marsura, Mara; Garcia, Ricardo Basso; Cornoldi, Cesare
• Is Part Of: Journal of learning disabilities. Volume 52:Number 2(2019)
• Page Start: 99
• Page End: 108
• Publication Date: 2019-03
• Subjects: cross-modal binding -- working memory -- dyslexia -- reading disability; Learning disabilities -- Periodicals; 371.905
• DOI: 10.1177/0022219418786691
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-2194

Abstract

Successful reading demands the ability to combine visual-phonological information into a single representation and is associated with an efficient short-term memory. Reading disability may consequently involve an impaired working memory binding of visual and phonological information. The present study proposes two span tasks for assessing visual-phonological working memory binding. The tasks involved memorizing cross-modal associations between nonsense figures and nonwords, and they were administered, with other working memory measures, to children with and without a reading disability. The tasks required recognizing which figure was associated with a given nonword and recalling which nonword was associated with a given figure. Children with a reading disability had a similar significant deficit in both cross-modal binding tasks when compared with the control children, and the difference remained significant even after controlling for other verbal and nonverbal working memory measures. The cross-modal binding tasks described here seem to capture a core aspect of working memory associated with reading and may be a useful procedure for assessing reading disabilities.