INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES IN CHILDRENS WORKING-MEMORY AND WRITING SKILL

The purpose of this research is to address (a) whether individual diff erences in working memory (WM) and writing are related to a general or process-specific system, (b) whether WM tasks operate independently o f phonological short-term memory (STM) on measures or writing and read ing, and (c) whether working memory predicts variance in writing beyon d that predicted by reading alone. The present study correlated severa l WM and phonological STM measures with writing and reading measures. The study showed among the memory measures that a four-factor model re flecting phonological STM, verbal WM span, executive processing, and v isual-spatial WM span best fit the multivariate data set. Working memo ry was correlated significantly with a number of writing measures, par ticularly those related to text generation. WM measures contributed un ique variance to writing that was independent of reading skill, and ST M measures best predicted transcription processes and reading recognit ion, whereas WM measures best predicted text generation and reading co mprehension. Both verbal and visual-spatial working memory measures pr edicted reading comprehension, whereas only WM measures that reflect e xecutive processing significantly predicted writing. In general, the r esults suggest that individual differences in children's writing refle ct a specific capacity system, whereas reading comprehension draws upo n a multiple capacity system. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.