A meta-analysis on the relation between reading and working memory.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relation between reading and working memory (WM) in the context of 3 major theories: the domain-specificity theory (debate) of WM, the intrinsic cognitive load theory, and the dual process theory. A meta-analysis of 197 studies with 2026 effect sizes found a significant moderate correlation between reading and WM, r = .29, 95% CI [.27, .31]. Moderation analyses indicated that after controlling for publication type, bilingual status, domains of WM, and grade level, the relation between WM and reading was not affected by types of reading. The effects of WM domains were associated with grade level: before 4th grade, different domains of WM were related to reading to a similar degree, whereas verbal WM showed the strongest relations with reading at or beyond 4th grade. Further, the effect of WM on reading comprehension was partialed out when decoding and vocabulary were controlled for. Taken together, the findings are generally compatible with aspects of the domain-specificity theory of WM and the dual process theory, but, importantly, add a developmental component that is not currently reflected in models of the relation between reading and WM. The findings suggest that the domain-general central executive of WM is implicated in early reading acquisition, and verbal WM is more strongly implicated in later reading performance as readers gain more experience with reading. The implications of these findings for reading instruction and WM training are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Development of Academic Achievement and Cognitive Abilities: A Bidirectional Perspective

“…Such facilitation is especially important for children with disadvantages, who often lack the resources or foundational skills to trigger and benefit from the interaction between cognitive skills and academic performance. But the relations between reading/mathematics and cognitive abilities (working memory, reasoning, and executive function) are moderate ( r s = .30~.45, 10 ~ 20% variance overlap; Jacob & Parkinson, ; Peng et al, ), and the effect of age on these relations is small though significant (Peng et al, , ). Thus, short‐term cognitive training may be insufficient to improve academic performance.…”

Working Memory Profiles of Children With Dyslexia, Developmental Language Disorder, or Both

“…A recent meta-analysis of reading and working memory by Peng et al (2018) sheds some light on these findings. Overall, they found significant relations between working memory and measures of reading decoding/fluency and reading comprehension in children (r = .29), but this was influenced by working memory domain and grade level.…”

Cognitive Training Does Not Enhance General Cognition

“…WM is the cognitive system used to store and manipulate the information needed to perform cognitive tasks [38]. WM capacity -the amount of information WM can handleis correlated with measures of fluid and general intelligence, cognitive control, and mathematical and reading abilities [39,40]. Due to its fundamental role in cognitive function, it has been claimed that increasing WM capacity through training can foster several domain-general cognitive skills and, hence, GCA.…”