We examined the effects of the processing and the storage in English and Chinese working memory o... more We examined the effects of the processing and the storage in English and Chinese working memory on English reading comprehension among Chinese middle school students. Ninety-eight students in Grade 8 completed tasks of general cognitive ability,English reading comprehension,Chinese working memory,and English working memory. Using an interference paradigm to cross the processing and storage demands of span tasks,we separated the processing and storage components in working memory. Results showed both the processing and the storage in English working memory significantly accounted for unique variances in English reading comprehension. The processing in English working memory partially mediated the effect of the storage in English working memory and completely mediated the effect of the processing in Chinese working memory on English reading comprehension. The storage in Chinese working memory didn‘t have significant effects on English reading comprehension. This study supported the mu...
The current meta-analysis synthesized findings from profiling research on Chinese children with r... more The current meta-analysis synthesized findings from profiling research on Chinese children with reading difficulties (RD). We reviewed a total of 81 studies published between 1964 and May 2015, representing a total of 9735 Chinese children. There are 982 effect sizes for the comparison between children with RD and age-matched typically developing (A-TD) children and 152 effect sizes for the comparison between children with RD and reading-level-matched typically developing (R-TD) children on multiple linguistic and cognitive skills. Results showed that compared to A-TD children, children with RD have severe deficits in morphological awareness, orthographic knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid naming, working memory, and visual skills and moderate deficits in short-term memory and motor skills. Compared to R-TD children, children with RD only have moderate deficits in rapid naming and mild deficits in orthographic knowledge. Moderation analyses for the comparison between RD and A-TD children revealed that children with more severe RD show more severe deficits in morphological awareness, phonological awareness, rapid naming , and visual skills. However, neither location (Mainland vs. Hong Kong) nor type of reading screening (character recognition vs. character recognition combined with reading comprehension) emerged as a moderator of the deficit profiles. These findings indicate that Chinese children with RD have deficits on a wide range of cognitive and linguistic skills. Deficits in rapid naming and orthographic knowledge may be
Children with mathematics difficulties suffer from working memory
deficits. This study investiga... more Children with mathematics difficulties suffer from working memory
deficits. This study investigated the deficit profile of phonological
storage and executive functions in working memory among
children with mathematics difficulties. Based on multiple instruments and two assessment points, 68 children were screened out of 805 fifth graders. Of these 68 children, 18 were classified as children with only mathematics difficulties (MD), 20 were classified as children with mathematics and reading difficulties (MDRD), and 30 were typically developing (TD) peers matched on age and general ability. Measures for phonological storage, dual-task performance, inhibition, and updating of verbal and numerical materials were administered individually. Results showed that compared with the TD group, children with MD exhibited storage and inhibition deficits specific to numerical information and dual-task deficits of both verbal and numerical information, whereas children with MDRD showed extensive deficits on phonological storage and executive functions on both verbal and numerical tasks. Moreover, executive function deficits were not confined to phonological storage deficits. Implications of the findings for the working memory deficit profile and working memory training among children with mathematics difficulties were discussed.
This study investigated executive function deficits among Chinese children with reading difficult... more This study investigated executive function deficits among Chinese children with reading difficulties. Verbal and numerical measures of working memory, inhibition, updating, and processing speed were examined among children with only reading difficulties (RD), children with reading and mathematics difficulties (RDMD), and typically developing peers (TD). Results showed that compared to the TD group, children with RD exhibited deficits in verbal working memory, inhibition, and processing speed, whereas children with RDMD had deficits in all these executive functions and processing speed in both the verbal and the numerical content. Processing speed mediated working memory and inhibition differences between the TD and the reading impaired groups, but processing speed could not explain the group differences in updating or the numerical working memory difference between children with RD and children with RDMD. The findings suggest that the executive function deficits of Chinese children with reading difficulties vary by task modality (verbal and numerical) and subtype (RD and RDMD). Implications of the findings for executive function training are also discussed.► We investigated executive functions among Chinese children with reading difficulties. ► We investigated executive functions with paired verbal and numerical tasks. ► Executive function deficits varied by reading difficulty subgroups and task modality. ► Processing speed explained group differences on working memory and inhibition.
We examined the effects of the processing and the storage in English and Chinese working memory o... more We examined the effects of the processing and the storage in English and Chinese working memory on English reading comprehension among Chinese middle school students. Ninety-eight students in Grade 8 completed tasks of general cognitive ability,English reading comprehension,Chinese working memory,and English working memory. Using an interference paradigm to cross the processing and storage demands of span tasks,we separated the processing and storage components in working memory. Results showed both the processing and the storage in English working memory significantly accounted for unique variances in English reading comprehension. The processing in English working memory partially mediated the effect of the storage in English working memory and completely mediated the effect of the processing in Chinese working memory on English reading comprehension. The storage in Chinese working memory didn‘t have significant effects on English reading comprehension. This study supported the mu...
The current meta-analysis synthesized findings from profiling research on Chinese children with r... more The current meta-analysis synthesized findings from profiling research on Chinese children with reading difficulties (RD). We reviewed a total of 81 studies published between 1964 and May 2015, representing a total of 9735 Chinese children. There are 982 effect sizes for the comparison between children with RD and age-matched typically developing (A-TD) children and 152 effect sizes for the comparison between children with RD and reading-level-matched typically developing (R-TD) children on multiple linguistic and cognitive skills. Results showed that compared to A-TD children, children with RD have severe deficits in morphological awareness, orthographic knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid naming, working memory, and visual skills and moderate deficits in short-term memory and motor skills. Compared to R-TD children, children with RD only have moderate deficits in rapid naming and mild deficits in orthographic knowledge. Moderation analyses for the comparison between RD and A-TD children revealed that children with more severe RD show more severe deficits in morphological awareness, phonological awareness, rapid naming , and visual skills. However, neither location (Mainland vs. Hong Kong) nor type of reading screening (character recognition vs. character recognition combined with reading comprehension) emerged as a moderator of the deficit profiles. These findings indicate that Chinese children with RD have deficits on a wide range of cognitive and linguistic skills. Deficits in rapid naming and orthographic knowledge may be
Children with mathematics difficulties suffer from working memory
deficits. This study investiga... more Children with mathematics difficulties suffer from working memory
deficits. This study investigated the deficit profile of phonological
storage and executive functions in working memory among
children with mathematics difficulties. Based on multiple instruments and two assessment points, 68 children were screened out of 805 fifth graders. Of these 68 children, 18 were classified as children with only mathematics difficulties (MD), 20 were classified as children with mathematics and reading difficulties (MDRD), and 30 were typically developing (TD) peers matched on age and general ability. Measures for phonological storage, dual-task performance, inhibition, and updating of verbal and numerical materials were administered individually. Results showed that compared with the TD group, children with MD exhibited storage and inhibition deficits specific to numerical information and dual-task deficits of both verbal and numerical information, whereas children with MDRD showed extensive deficits on phonological storage and executive functions on both verbal and numerical tasks. Moreover, executive function deficits were not confined to phonological storage deficits. Implications of the findings for the working memory deficit profile and working memory training among children with mathematics difficulties were discussed.
This study investigated executive function deficits among Chinese children with reading difficult... more This study investigated executive function deficits among Chinese children with reading difficulties. Verbal and numerical measures of working memory, inhibition, updating, and processing speed were examined among children with only reading difficulties (RD), children with reading and mathematics difficulties (RDMD), and typically developing peers (TD). Results showed that compared to the TD group, children with RD exhibited deficits in verbal working memory, inhibition, and processing speed, whereas children with RDMD had deficits in all these executive functions and processing speed in both the verbal and the numerical content. Processing speed mediated working memory and inhibition differences between the TD and the reading impaired groups, but processing speed could not explain the group differences in updating or the numerical working memory difference between children with RD and children with RDMD. The findings suggest that the executive function deficits of Chinese children with reading difficulties vary by task modality (verbal and numerical) and subtype (RD and RDMD). Implications of the findings for executive function training are also discussed.► We investigated executive functions among Chinese children with reading difficulties. ► We investigated executive functions with paired verbal and numerical tasks. ► Executive function deficits varied by reading difficulty subgroups and task modality. ► Processing speed explained group differences on working memory and inhibition.
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deficits. This study investigated the deficit profile of phonological
storage and executive functions in working memory among
children with mathematics difficulties. Based on multiple instruments and two assessment points, 68 children were screened out of 805 fifth graders. Of these 68 children, 18 were classified as children with only mathematics difficulties (MD), 20 were classified as children with mathematics and reading difficulties (MDRD), and 30 were typically developing (TD) peers matched on age and general ability. Measures for phonological storage, dual-task performance, inhibition, and updating of verbal and numerical materials were administered individually. Results showed that compared with the TD group, children with MD exhibited storage and inhibition deficits specific to numerical information and dual-task deficits of both verbal and numerical information, whereas children with MDRD showed extensive deficits on phonological storage and executive functions on both verbal and numerical tasks. Moreover, executive function deficits were not confined to phonological storage deficits. Implications of the findings for the working memory deficit profile and working memory training among children with mathematics difficulties were discussed.
deficits. This study investigated the deficit profile of phonological
storage and executive functions in working memory among
children with mathematics difficulties. Based on multiple instruments and two assessment points, 68 children were screened out of 805 fifth graders. Of these 68 children, 18 were classified as children with only mathematics difficulties (MD), 20 were classified as children with mathematics and reading difficulties (MDRD), and 30 were typically developing (TD) peers matched on age and general ability. Measures for phonological storage, dual-task performance, inhibition, and updating of verbal and numerical materials were administered individually. Results showed that compared with the TD group, children with MD exhibited storage and inhibition deficits specific to numerical information and dual-task deficits of both verbal and numerical information, whereas children with MDRD showed extensive deficits on phonological storage and executive functions on both verbal and numerical tasks. Moreover, executive function deficits were not confined to phonological storage deficits. Implications of the findings for the working memory deficit profile and working memory training among children with mathematics difficulties were discussed.