Verbal Working Memory Training and the Transfer to Comprehension for First Graders With Low Comprehension Skills: Drill and Practice Versus a Rehearsal Strategy Approach

• In Event: Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: Special Education Research SIG Poster Session

Abstract

Increasingly, researchers are interested in the effects of working memory (WM) training. However, it remains unclear whether WM training affects WM and transfer to academic skills. We investigated whether direct training of verbal WM would improve verbal WM and passage comprehension among first graders with low comprehension, and whether training effects differed between training approaches: Drill & Practice vs. Rehearsal Strategy. Results showed the strategy group showed more improvement on verbal WM, listening comprehension, and retell as compared to controls. Further, the drill & practice group showed more improvement on comprehension, which was also positively related to children’s rehearsal strategy use. Findings support the WM strategy mediation theory, suggesting that strategy plays a critical role in verbal WM training.

Authors

• Peng Peng, UT Austin

• Douglas Fuchs, Vanderbilt University