IMMEDIATE MEMORY CAPACITY FOR NONSEQUENTIAL INFORMATION - THE CONFIGURAL ATTENTION TEST

Performance data on a newly developed, nonsequential measure of immedi ate memory capacity (the Configural Attention Test) were collected on groups of elementary schoolchildren aged 7 to 14 and on a young adult sample (mean age = 21.6). The data indicated increasingly proficient p erformances with advancing age in a generally linear manner, Overall, boys and men performed modestly better than girls and women. Performan ce on the Configural Attention Test was not meaningfully related to so cioeconomic status. However, as expected, there were relationships wit h performance on another spatial attentional measure and with overall intellectual ability. Internal consistency for the instrument was quit e acceptable (Cronbach's alpha = .92). These data provide developmenta l standards for this new instrument and suggest that it may be a selec tive measure of nonsequential, spatial information processing with cli nical and experimental utility.