Discussion & Conclusions: The current results were consistent with those from Waters and Caplan (2003), reporting composite measure increased stabilities and reliabilities for the working memory measures and all of the working memory tasks loaded onto a single factor. A principal component analysis revealed that the one-factor solution accounted for 66% of the total variance for four different working memory pointing tasks. As short-term memory measures, digit and word forward pointing span measures were highly correlated (r=0.79). Concurrent validity results suggested that the pointing version of the digit span measures shared only 25~40% of the total variance with the standardized measure of the digit span-recall. However, test-retest reliabilities increased up to 0.86 when a composite measure was used with a combination of at least two different tasks. Results The test-retest reliability results revealed that the range of Pearson’s correlation coefficients was 0.43~0.77. Fifty-five normal individuals participated in the study and performed all of the tasks. An alphabet pointing span task and a subtract-2 pointing span measure were developed as working memory tasks. Methods Digit forward and backward pointing span measures were developed by adapting the most commonly used digit forward/backward recall tasks to pointing measures. The specific aim of the study was to examine psychometric properties such as test-retest reliability, concurrent and construct validity, and internal item consistency in newly developed pointing span measures. The current study developed pointing span measures that do not require verbal output and thus can be used to assess short-term and working memory capacities in special populations with verbal-output deficits. However, there are limitations to the employment of short-term and working memory tasks developed for assessing normal cognitive processing for the evaluation of speech and/or language-impaired clinical populations. Together, the current findings demonstrate that the sensorimotor and working memory systems jointly support RD processing during middle-to-late childhood and that the degree of association between the two systems and perceptual rhythm processing is shifted before entering into early adolescence.The Reliability and Validity of Short-term and Working Memory Pointing Tasks Developed for Clinical Populations with Speech and Language DisordersĬopyright ©2011 The Korean Academy of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiologyīackground & Objectives Short-term and working memory capacity theories have gained considerable attention as underlying cognitive mechanisms, deficiencies in which may account for language processing difficulties in individuals with speech and language disorders. AWM was the only predictor of RD in older children. Critically, the relation of SMS to RD was moderated by age in that RD performance was predicted by beat tapping consistency in younger children (age: 7-9 years), but not in older children (age: 10-12 years). The association between RD and SMS was more robust in the slower tempos (60 and 100 beats-per-minute (BPM)) than faster ones (120 and 180 BPM). Multiple regression analysis revealed that children's RD performance was independently predicted by higher beat tapping consistency and greater digit span score, with all other demographic variables (age, sex, socioeconomic status, music training) controlled. Children were assessed for their abilities in sensorimotor synchronization (SMS beat tapping), auditory working memory (AWM digit span), and rhythm discrimination (RD same/different judgment on a pair of musical rhythm sequences). We studied the role of sensorimotor and working memory systems in supporting development of perceptual rhythm processing with 119 participants aged 7-12 years.
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