The role of verbal and nonverbal memory in the Family Pictures Subtest: Data from children with specific language impairment

Figures & data

Table 1  Summary Statistics for Participant’s Age and Standard Scores from the CELF-4 and WASI

	SLI Group (n = 58)			Control Group (n = 57)			Comparison of Means
Variable	M	SD	Range	M	SD	Range	t	Cohen’s d
Age (Years)	9.8	0.7	8.58 – 11.42	9.8	0.7	8.92 – 11.42	0.029	0.01
WASI PIQ	98.1	7.6	85 – 115	99.5	8.0	85 – 115	0.997	0.18
CLS	72.9	9.3	48 – 85	99.2	5.9	90 – 114	18.130^**^a	3.39

Note. Abbreviations: CLS = Core Language Score; WASI PIQ = Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Performance Intelligence Quotient. CLS and WASI PIQ standardized to a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.

^aAdjusted for unequal variances.

*p < .05. **p < .001.

Table 2  Summary Statistics for Family Pictures, Central Executive Component Score, and CMS Core Subtests Reported by Group

	SLI Group			Control Group
Domain/Subtest	M	SD	Range	M	SD	Range	Effect Size (Cohen’s d)	p value^c
Verbal Working Memory
Central Executive Component Score^a	80.5	15.9	55 – 118	101.2	14.3	73 – 139	1.37	<.001**
Family Pictures Subtests
Family Pictures Immediate Recall^b	8.8	2.3	4 – 13	10.0	2.3	4 – 14	0.51	.002*
Family Pictures Delayed Recall^b	8.4	2.1	2 – 12	10.0	2.7	4 – 16	0.63	.008*
Declarative Memory for Verbal Information
Stories
Immediate Recall^b	6.2	3.1	1 – 16	9.2	3.2	2 – 16	0.97	< .001**
Delayed Recall^b	6.3	3.0	1 – 16	9.7	3.4	2 – 17	1.05	< .001**
Delayed Recognition^b	6.6	2.6	1 – 12	8.6	2.8	1 – 14	0.75	< .001**
Word Pairs
Immediate Total Score ^b	7.3	2.8	1 – 14	9.5	2.7	4 – 17	0.80	< .001**
Delayed Recall^b	7.5	2.9	1 – 14	9.4	2.6	3 – 16	0.69	< .001**
Delayed Recognition^b	7.0	3.9	2 – 12	9.7	3.1	2 – 12	0.76	< .001**
Declarative Memory for Visual/Nonverbal Information
Dot Locations
Immediate Total Score ^b	10.1	3.6	1 – 16	10.8	2.9	4 – 16	0.22	.668
Delayed Recall^b	8.6	3.5	1 – 14	9.5	3.1	3 – 14	0.28	.575
Faces
Immediate Recognition^b	9.6	3.1	2 – 17	9.1	2.4	2 – 15	0.18	.704
Delayed Recognition^b	9.5	3.3	2 – 19	8.7	2.3	4 – 16	0.28	.575

^aScore standardized to a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.

^bScore standardized to a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 3.

^cCorrected for multiple comparisons using the Holm’s (1979) Procedure.

*p < .05. **p < .001.

Table 3  Summary of Regression Analyses Investigating Predictors of Family Pictures Scores

Dependent Variable/Predictor Variables in the Model	b	SE b	β	% of unique variance explained^c	Zero-order correlations
Family Pictures Immediate Recall^a
CLS (Core Language Score; General Language)	−.004	0.021	−0.028	0.04%	.187
Central Executive Component Score (Verbal Working Memory)	.034	0.016	0.262*	3.57%	.296
Stories (Immediate Recall)	−.041	0.083	−0.061	0.20%	.080
Word Pairs (Immediate Total Score)	.119	0.097	0.149	1.25%	.221
Dot Locations (Immediate Total Score)	.061	0.066	0.085	0.71%	.120
Faces (Immediate Recall)	−.056	0.081	−0.066	0.40%	−.020
Family Pictures Delayed Recall^b
CLS (Core Language Score)	−.015	0.022	−0.090	0.35%	.272
Central Executive Component Score	.034	0.016	0.250*	3.61%	.336
Delayed Verbal Recall (Delayed Recall from Word Pairs & Stories)	−.043	0.217	−0.027	0.03%	.316
Delayed Verbal Recognition (Delayed Recognition from Word Pairs & Stories)	.598	0.207	0.374*	6.15%	.409
Dot Locations (Delayed Recall)	.016	0.066	0.021	0.04%	.083
Faces (Delayed Recognition)	.026	0.077	0.030	0.08%	.066

^aConstant = 5.881; SE = 1.621.

^bConstant = 6.959, SE = 2.054.

^cValue obtained by squaring part correlation.

*p < .05. **p < .001.

Appendix Correlations between Memory Subtests Reported by Group

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
	SLI Group
1. Central Executive Component Score (Verbal Working Memory)	−
2. Family Pictures Immediate Recall	.322*	−
3. Family Pictures Delayed Recall	.405*	.659*	−
4. Stories: Immediate Recall	.089	−.102	.074	−
5. Stories: Delayed Recall	.269	.106	.234	.780**	−
6. Stories: Delayed Recognition	.162	−.104	.123	.583**	.616**	−
7. Word Pairs: Total Score (Learning & Immediate Recall)	.380*	.089	.311*	.470**	.492**	.309*	−
8. Word Pairs: Delayed Recall	.364*	.124	.173	.125	.170	.143	.472	−
9. Word Pairs: Delayed Recognition	.305*	.136	.340*	.118	.206	.103	.552	.552**	−
10. Dot Locations: Total Score (Learning & Immediate Recall)	−.017	.157	.060	.020	.053	.035	.080	−.042	−.019	−
11. Dot Locations: Delayed Recall	−.043	.247	.103	.056	.018	−.002	.078	.000	−.063	.615**	−
12. Faces: Immediate Recognition	.301*	−.061	.079	.260*	.245	.270*	.272*	.097	.344*	−.057	.049	−
13. Faces: Delayed Recognition	.229	.072	.162	.104	.079	.004	.187	.273*	.263*	.073	.135	.627**	−
	Control Group
1. Central Executive Component Score (Verbal Working Memory)	−
2. Family Pictures Immediate Recall	.056	−
3. Family Pictures Delayed Recall	.038	.873**	−
4. Stories: Immediate Recall	−.021	.032	.082	−
5. Stories: Delayed Recall	−.028	.058	.119	.928**	−
6. Stories: Delayed Recognition	.041	.212	.284*	.728**	.676**	−
7. Word Pairs: Total Score (Learning & Immediate Recall)	.289*	.196	.178	.494**	.392*	.415**	−
8. Word Pairs: Delayed Recall	.216	.105	.107	.201	.117	.166	.547**	−
9. Word Pairs: Delayed Recognition	.080	.172	.204	.086	.178	.174	.414**	.414**	−
10. Dot Locations: Total Score (Learning & Immediate Recall)	.111	.023	−.092	.099	.122	.026	.043	.203	.057	−
11. Dot Locations: Delayed Recall	.211	.111	−.011	.097	.079	.108	.074	.268*	.134	.572**	−
12. Faces: Immediate Recognition	.096	.082	.207	.146	.161	.208	.194	−.011	.117	−.073	.031	−
13. Faces: Delayed Recognition	−.093	−.130	.073	.187	.244	.143	.123	.009	.080	−.265*	−.185	.427**	−

Note: Differences in correlation matrices investigated by using the Box’s M statistic. Data submitted for this analysis were z-transformed variables. Results revealed differences in matrices were not statistically significant (Box’s M = 117.371), F(1.134, 91) = 1.134, p = .181.

*p < .05; ^**p < .001.

Holm, S. (1979). A simple sequentially rejective multiple testing procedure. Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, 6, 65–70.

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