engleski

Age related changes and gender differences in working memory capacity: Developmental study of elementary school children

Working memory (WM) is defined as a limited capacity processing resource that enables us to hold information in an active state while integrating it with other information, until the current problem is solved. Age related changes of WM capacity strongly determine the dynamics of intellectual development during childhood and adolescence. While these changes are well documented, possible gender differences and their developmental pattern are rarely reported, primarily due to the methodological requirements such as individual testing and large number of participants in each age group. The data presented in this research are part of a larger study of education in Croatia, which included 4132 male and 4078 female elementary school students, aged 8 through 15 years, with sub-samples not less then 660 participants per age group. Such a large sample enabled us to overcome previously mentioned methodological obstacles. The students were tested on two occasions separated by a time interval of 7 months, using parallel forms of Demetriou et al’ s developmental WM-test. The test consisted of numerical-verbal tasks adapted for group administration, with remembering and answering times strictly defined. The results show clear developmental increments in WM, and small but statistically significant gender differences, with girls showing somewhat greater WM capacity than boys, especially in pubertal years. These age and gender related patterns of results were confirmed by the retest. Also, a significant shift towards higher values is observed in the results of both genders (effects of maturation and practice), and this shift was more pronounced in younger age groups.

working memory; elementary school children

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