The memory‐span deficit in children with specific reading disability: Is speech rate responsible?

Memory span and articulation rates for one‐, two‐ and three‐syllable words were measured in three groups of 15 children: (i) children identified as having specific reading disability (SRD children), (ii) a group of chronological age‐matched (CA) controls and (iii) a group of younger normal readers matched to the SRD children for reading age (RA controls). All children had IQ scores in the normal range. The results showed that mean memory span for the SRD group was poor relative to CA controls, but approximately equal to the RA group. Similarly, the articulation rates of SRD children were slower than those of CA controls and approximately equal to those of RA controls. More importantly, mean articulation rate accounted for memory‐span differences between groups. The results suggest that the poor memory span observed in SRD children may be the result of slow speech rates. Possible relationships between reading ability, speech rate and memory span are discussed.