Research Section: Working memory deficits in children with special educational needs

Susan Gathercole and Susan Pickering, of the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol, compared the working memory abilities of children recognised by their schools as having special educational needs with those of children making normal curricular progress. All three components of the working memory model of Baddeley and Hitch (1974) were assessed by administering a working memory test battery when the children were aged seven and eight years. Children recognised as having special educational needs had marked impairments on the working memory measures, and in particular on the tasks tapping the central executive. These findings suggest that poor working memory capacity may be a key feature in unexpected failure to make normal curricular progress, and also indicate the potential utility of working memory assessments in identifying children at risk of low achievement in school in future years.