Working Memory Structure in Atypical Development: HIV-infected and HIV-exposed, Uninfected School Beginners

ABSTRACT

Not much is known about the structure of working memory in atypical development. We undertook a detailed comparison of the functional organization of working memory in HIV-infected (n = 95; M_age = 7.42 years), and HIV-exposed (n = 86; M_age = 7.36 years) children, together with an uninfected, unexposed typically developing comparison group (n = 92; M_age = 7.05 years). Participants were in their first year of formal education. Within-group comparisons of five models showed that a four-factor model with separate verbal and visuospatial storage and processing accounted for the typically developing group, while working memory was structurally undifferentiated in the HIV-affected groups.

Acknowledgments

The financial assistance of the National Research Foundation (NRF) toward this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the authors and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NRF.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation South Africa [COC001].