MEMORY ABILITIES OF READING-DISABLED CHILDREN WITH VIQ-PIQ DIFFERENCES

Associations between VIQ and verbal memory and between PIQ and nonverb al memory have been found in neurologically impaired adults. This stud y examined the assumption that similar associations will hold for chil dren with reading disabilities (RD) who demonstrate lower VIQ relative to PIQ and the converse. The Verbal and Nonverbal Selective Reminding Tests were administered to children aged 10 to 12 years. Thirteen RD children with VIQ < PIQ 14 RD children with PIQ < VIQ and 14 controls served as subjects. Contrary to predictions, memory functions were not found to parallel intellectual functions. The children with lower PIQ displayed poorer storage and retrieval of verbal information along wi th poorer retrieval of nonverbal information. These results suggest th at children with reading disabilities who obtain relatively lower PIQ might be expected to experience more memory problems than children wit h lower VIQ regardless of modality of input.