Study title

This data collection contains data from the first of four studies conducted on the associated ESRC grant (data from the other studies will be made available as separate datasets in ReShare). The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which primary memory development constrains the development of working memory in children, and whether primary memory capacity mediates the relationship between working memory and academic attainment. To that end, a sample of 101 children aged between 5 and 8 years were given three novel experimental measures of primary memory capacity that were designed to estimate the number of items in a child's immediate memory that they could spontaneously recalled in correct serial order. More traditional experimental measures of short-term and working-memory capacity were also administered, as were standardised tests of reading [Sentence Completion Forms of the NFER-Nelson (1998) Group Reading Test II Form A (6–14)] and mathematics [NFER-Nelson (1994) Mathematics 6–14]. These data underpin a paper linked here via Related Resources. The data are also available via the University of Bristol data repository (see Related Resources section).The aim of this project is to build on previous psychological research with both children and adults to provide the most comprehensive model to date of the factors involved in the development of working memory performance in children. In doing so, the project will investigate the extent to which these factors are separable or inter-related. Also the project will assess how these factors contribute to mediating the strong relationships commonly observed between working memory and academic attainment. The research has four specific objectives: To determine whether age-related changes in short-term memory capacity are related to working memory development. To determine how age-related changes in processing speed are related to working memory development. To determine whether age-related...