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Abstract:
Auditory working memory deficiencies in children with
language impairments have been well-documented. Previously, we
demonstrated significant improvement on standardized language
measures with an intensive, interactive computer program designed
to ameliorate receptive language problems (Fast ForWord(r)). In
this study, we investigated whether improvements in receptive
language skills and phonological processing were associated with
improvements in auditory working memory capacity. Children (32
female, 63 male; mean age = 8.69) trained for approximately 100
minutes per day, 5 days per week, for 7 weeks. The memory subtests
of the Test of Auditory-Perceptual Skills-Revised (TAPS-R) were
administered as part of a comprehensive language battery pre- and
post-training. Standard scores were analyzed with a repeated
measures MANOVA. Significant improvements were found across all
memory measures F(4, 91) = 10.87, p < .0001. Findings support
the premise that gains in language processing are related to
improvements in auditory working memory. The bidirectional
relationship between components of language and memory subsystems
will be discussed.
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