Short-term and working memory in specific language impairment

Abstract

Background: Investigations of the cognitive processes underlying specific language impairment (SLI) have implicated deficits in the storage and processing of phonological information, but to date these abilities have not been studied in the same group of children with SLI.

Aims: To examine the extent to which deficits in immediate verbal short-term and working memory may co-occur in a group of children with SLI.

Methods & procedures: Twenty children aged 7-11 years with SLI completed a comprehensive battery of short-term and working memory, as well as two phonological awareness tasks.

Outcomes & results: The majority of the group had deficits in both verbal short-term and working memory, which persisted after the general language abilities of the children were taken into account. A substantial minority showed deficits on visuospatial short-term memory, while impairments of phonological awareness were less marked.

Conclusions: The data indicate dual deficits in verbal short-term and working memory that exceed criterial language abilities characteristic of SLI and may plausibly underpin some of the language learning difficulties experienced by these children.