Cognitive approaches to the development of short-term memory

doi:10.1016/S1364-6613(99)01388-1

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

Volume 3, Issue 11, 1 November 1999, Pages 410-419

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(99)01388-1 Get rights and content

Abstract

The capacity to retain information for brief periods of time increases dramatically during the childhood years. The increases in temporary storage of speech-based material that take place in the period spanning the pre-school years and adolescence reflect complex changes in many of the different component processes, including perceptual analysis, construction and maintenance of a memory trace, retention of order information, rehearsal, retrieval and redintegration. Another crucial capacity that undergoes a similar striking development is complex working memory, the ability to manipulate and store material simultaneously. Possible sources of age-related changes in working memory include increases in processing efficiency and attentional capacity, and task-switching. These two short-term memory systems might play significant but distinct roles in supporting the acquisition of knowledge and skills during childhood. Whereas phonological short-term memory is linked specifically with the learning of the phonological structures of new words, complex working memory appears to support processing and learning in a wide range of contexts, in both childhood and adulthood.

Section snippets

Developmental changes in phonological short-term memory

Research on adult memory has identified many distinct processes involved in remembering verbal information over short periods of time (see Box 3). To pinpoint the source or sources of improved phonological memory performance with age, it is necessary to apply specialized empirical methods that allow the isolation of individual processes. Below, evidence is summarized for development in each of these specific short-term memory processes.

Does phonological short-term memory support new word learning?

Why do children need the capacity to store phonological material for short periods of time? And, given the sizeable differences across age groups and between individuals of the same age in phonological memory capacity, what are the consequences for a child with relatively weak phonological memory skills? One claim has been that phonological short-term storage plays a highly specific role in supporting the acquisition of new vocabulary, based on evidence that phonological memory skills are

Developmental changes in complex working memory

Two principal theoretical frameworks have been used to characterize the development of working memory. The major distinction between these frameworks is the extent to which, either the processing demands of specific activities, or a general capacity for controlling attention, are viewed as imposing the major constraint on working-memory capacity.

The role of working memory in cognitive development

As complex working-memory tasks are typically devised to mimic the competing mental demands of many of our everyday activities, it is perhaps unsurprising that children’s performance on these tasks has been found to be related to attainments in many key intellectual domains as well as measures of general intelligence¹¹. Some specific hypotheses concerning the contribution of working memory to the acquisition of skill and knowledge in some domains have, however, been explored and are summarized

Conclusion

The abilities to hold and manipulate information over short periods of time undergoes substantial changes through the childhood years, with estimates of maximum capacity almost trebling in the period between the pre-school years and early adolescence. Age-related changes in phonological short-term memory appear to reflect increased efficiency in a whole range of processes including the storage of item and order information, rehearsal, retrieval and reconstruction of memory traces. Changes

Outstanding questions

•
Is there actually a functionally distinct system or set of systems serving short-term memory? Some argue that temporary representations that support performance on immediate memory tasks merely reflect persistence of products within highly specific processing domains, such as phonological processing. On this view, developmental changes in memory performance through childhood arise from changes in the detailed nature of the processing domains themselves rather than in ‘short-term memory’.

Acknowledgements

The preparation of this work was supported by the Medical Research Council of Great Britain.

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Trends in Cognitive Sciences

ReviewCognitive approaches to the development of short-term memory

Abstract

Section snippets

Developmental changes in phonological short-term memory

Does phonological short-term memory support new word learning?

Developmental changes in complex working memory

The role of working memory in cognitive development

Conclusion

Outstanding questions

Acknowledgements

J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res

Int. J. Psychol

Psychol. Rev

J. Mem. Lang

Q. J. Exp. Psychol

J. Mem. Lang

J. Exp. Child Psychol

Pattern span: a tool for unwelding visuospatial memory

Neuropsychologia

Working memory: a view from neuroimaging

Cognit. Psychol

Individual differences in working memory and reading

J. Verb. Learn. Verb. Behav

Working memory and language comprehension: a meta-analysis

Psychonomic Bull. Rev

Assessment of working memory in six- and seven-year old children

J. Educ. Psychol

Working Memory

Visuospatial Working Memory

Random generation and the executive control of memory

Q. J. Exp. Psychol

A capacity theory of comprehension: Individual differences in working memory

Psychol. Rev

Individual differences in working memory capacity and what they tell us about controlled attention, general fluid intelligence, and functions of the prefrontal cortex

Working memory capacity as long-term activation: an individual differences approach

J. Exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cognit

Long-term working memory

Psychol. Rev

Individual differences in working memory and complex cognition

J. Educ. Psychol

The separability of working memory resources for spatial thinking and language processing: an individual differences approach

J. Exp. Psychol. Gen

On the association between phonological memory and receptive vocabulary in five-year olds

J. Exp. Child Psychol

Young children’s phonological awareness and non-word repetition as a function of vocabulary development

J. Educ. Psychol

The role of attention in the development of short-term memory: age differences in the verbal span of apprehension

Child Dev

Electrophysiological evidence of developmental changes in the duration of auditory sensory memory

Dev. Psychol

Word length effects in immediate memory: overwriting trace-decay theory

Psychonomic Bull. Rev

Working Memory and Language

Verbal and visuospatial short-term memory in children: evidence for common and distinct mechanisms

Mem. Cognit

Working memory in children

Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London Ser. B

Review
Cognitive approaches to the development of short-term memory