Can verbal working memory training improve reading?

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to determine whether poor verbal working memory is associated with poor word reading accuracy because the former causes the latter, or the latter causes the former. To this end, we tested whether (a) verbal working memory training improves poor verbal working memory or poor word reading accuracy, and whether (b) reading training improves poor reading accuracy or verbal working memory in a case series of four children with poor word reading accuracy and verbal working memory. Each child completed 8 weeks of verbal working memory training and 8 weeks of reading training. Verbal working memory training improved verbal working memory in two of the four children, but did not improve their reading accuracy. Similarly, reading training improved word reading accuracy in all children, but did not improve their verbal working memory. These results suggest that the causal links between verbal working memory and reading accuracy may not be as direct as has been assumed.

Keywords:

• verbal working memory
• poor reading
• reading accuracy
• training

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the children and parents who gave their time and effort to this research. We would like to thank MultiLit® for allowing us to modify their training programme for this trial. Finally we would like to thank our reviewers for their valuable contributions to this article.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Macquarie University Cognitive Science Postgraduate Research Grant.