Tapping versus Saying: Effects of Age, Recoding, and Visual Search on Phonological Span

In contrast to traditional word spans with verbal recall, recently developed automated tasks employ a visuospatial response format (RF). This RF involves additional cognitive processes such as recoding and visual search, which develop across childhood. The aim of the present study was to extend previous findings on age-dependent RF effects, examining the role of recoding and visual search as underlying mechanisms. Groups of primary school children, secondary school children, and adults performed analogous word spans with visuospatial and verbal RF. Additionally, two tasks assessing recoding and visual search skills were conducted. Results show that primary school children performed poorer under visuospatial than verbal RF, whereas secondary school children and adults showed no performance differences. The analyses further suggest that search skills contribute to age-differential RF effects. Recoding seems less decisive, but its role could not be conclusively clarified. Developmental mechanisms and the necessity to disentangle the role of recoding from search are discussed.

Evaluation instruments for executive functions in children and adolescents: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

The present study aimed to perform a systematic review of instruments for evaluating the executive functions (EFs) in a pediatric population to assess their measurement properties, focusing on the professional who administers it.

AREA COVERED

A systematic search of the literature was performed on Cinahl, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science and Medline to identify studies in which an instrument for evaluating the EFs was described. Included only were the papers reporting the evaluation of EFs, with any instrument, on a population aged 0 to 18 consisting of healthy individuals or people with neurodevelopmental disorder. The evaluation of the Risk of Bias has been carried out with the administration of a part of the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) Checklist.

EXPERT OPINION

The search ended on the 2nd of August. Only 19 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study; the papers refer to 16 different evaluation tools of the EF. Analysis of the methodological quality shows that most of the papers assessed received an 'inadequate' or 'insufficient' score. Indeed, only two articles received six or five 'sufficient' out of 8 items; instead, ten papers received one or zero 'sufficient.'

Individual vs. Group Administration of Tablet-Based Working Memory Tasks – Does Setting Matter?

Abstract. Working memory (WM) is a key determinant of academic success. Therefore, standardized assessment tools are needed. In the past, WM assessment has been time-consuming and costly, especially in children, as WM instruments could only be used in one-to-one settings. The development of automatized, self-reliant WM tasks such as the tablet-based application EI-MAG ( Oesterlen, Gade, & Seitz-Stein, 2016 ) allows for a more economic assessment of WM in groups. However, so far, only few studies have empirically validated the comparability of WM scores obtained in individual and group setting. To close this gap, N = 89 children between 7 and 10 years of age ( M = 8.8 years, SD = 0.6 years) were administered four WM tasks of EI-MAG individually as well as in groups. The analyses show that independent of WM task, there are no mean score differences between individual and group setting. It can be concluded that automatized WM assessment with EI-MAG leads to comparable results in individual and group setting.

Tablet-Based Working Memory Assessment in Children and Adolescents

Abstract. Working memory (WM) is a key predictor of academic success. Therefore, standardized tools for measuring WM are of critical importance. So far, WM tests in the German-speaking research community require one-to-one instruction, making WM assessment time- and resource-consuming. To ease assessment of WM, a tablet-based, group-administrable application for German-speaking children and adolescents was developed. The aim of the current study was to investigate the applicability, reliability, and validity of the word span, Corsi block, and word span backward tasks of the newly designed application for use with primary and secondary school children. The results indicated good internal consistency and satisfactory test–retest reliability for all three tasks. In addition, the results provide some indication of content and concurrent validity. We conclude that the application is a promising tool for the assessment of WM and has the potential for resource-saving collection of developmental data in large-scale studies.

Psychometric Properties of the Working Memory Rating Scale for Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners

The Working Memory Rating Scale (WMRS) was designed as a behavioral rating tool to assist teachers in identifying students at risk of working memory difficulties. The instrument was originally normed on 417 monolingual English-speaking children from the United Kingdom. The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the WMRS on 459 first- to third-grade Spanish-speaking English Language Learners. Results indicated the one-factor model demonstrated adequate fit to the data. High convergent validity emerged with the Conners’ rating scale, but weak correlations occurred with achievement, vocabulary, phonological, short-term memory, and working memory measures. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.