The assessment of phonological memory skills in preschool children

Findings from a longitudinal study designed to investigate phonological working memory skills in preschool children are reported. Two phonological memory tests, digit span and nonword repetition, were given to a large cohort of children at 3,4 and 5 years of age. The majority of children at all ages cooperated on both tests even at 3 years of age, indicating that the tasks are in principle suitable for use with young children. Individual differences in nonword repetition scores at 3 years were highly stable across the following two‐year period; there was, however, less stability in differences in the children's digit span scores across the same period. It is concluded that phonological memory skills can be reliably assessed in children as young as 3 years, and that the nonword repetition paradigm is highly suitable for this purpose.