Children's working memory: Its structure and relationship to fluid intelligence

Working memory (WM) has been predominantly studied in adults. The insights provided by these studies have led to the development of competing theories on the structure of WM and conflicting conclusions on how strongly WM components are related to higher order thinking skills such as fluid intelligence. However, it remains unclear whether and to what extent the theories and findings derived from adult data generalize to children. The purpose of the present study is therefore to investigate children's WM (N = 161), who attended classes at the end of kindergarten in Luxembourg. Specifically, we examine different structural models of WM and how its components, as defined in these models, are related to fluid intelligence. Our results indicate that short-term storage capacity primarily explains the relationship between WM and fluid intelligence. Based on these observations we discuss the theoretical and methodological issues that arise when children's WM is investigated.

► We investigate different structural working memory models in children.
► We examine the relation between working memory and fluid intelligence.
► Storage and non-storage components are related to fluid intelligence.
► Short-term storage capacity predominantly explains their relationship in children.