Working memory deficits in children with reading difficulties: Memory span and dual task coordination

The current study investigated the cause of the reported problems in working memory in children with reading difficulties. Verbal and visuospatial simple and complex span tasks, and digit span and reaction times tasks performed singly and in combination, were administered to 46 children with single word reading difficulties and 45 typically developing children matched for age and nonverbal ability. Children with reading difficulties had pervasive deficits in the simple and complex span tasks and had poorer abilities to coordinate two cognitive demanding tasks. These findings indicate that working memory problems in children with reading difficulties may reflect a core deficit in the central executive.

► The executive component of working memory (WM) was investigated in poor readers.
► They showed WM problems after the relevant short-term memory domain was controlled.
► They had poorer abilities to coordinate two cognitive demanding tasks.
► The reported WM problems may represent a core deficit of the central executive.