GENERALITY AND MODIFIABILITY OF WORKING MEMORY AMONG SKILLED AND LESS SKILLED READERS

This study investigates whether individual differences in working memory are related to a general system and whether the predictability of working memory to academic achievement is enhanced under dynamic testing conditions. Experiment 1 correlated 11 working memory tasks with short-term memory and achievement measures. Convergent and discriminant validity for the working memory measures was established. Although a confirmatory factor analysis supported the notion that the working memory tasks reflect 2 operations, these operations produced similar correlational patterns to achievement. Experiment 2 supported a 2-factor model under dynamic testing procedures, and those procedures contribute significant variance to reading performance. Overall, the results suggest that (a) working memory operates as a general system independent of reading skill and (b) dynamic testing procedures enhance predictions of reading performance.