A Movement-Based Working Memory Measure Rooted in Observational Learning: Relevance for Cognitive Skills and Everyday Behaviors

Measures of children’s working memory (WM) need to reflect their diverse learning methods. This study validated a novel embodied WM task—the Body Span—that relies on observational learning and minimizes the need for academic concepts or digital tools. The Body Span was administered alongside verbal and visuospatial WM tasks to 448 children, ages 5 to 11 years old (M = 7.96, SD = 1.99; 50% female), in rural Bangladesh. Children observed and tapped different culturally appropriate body parts in sequences of increasing length in the Body Span. The novel Body Span showed strong convergence with existing WM measures and showed unique predictive validity across cognitive and behavioral outcomes, underscoring its value as both a complementary and stand-alone assessment.