Factors Related to Reading Span Test Results for Hearing-Impaired Students

Abstract

Working memory is crucial for a range of cognitive tasks, and the Reading Span Test is widely used to measure linguistic working memory. The present study examined links between linguistic memory scores from the Reading Span Test and results of subsystem tasks testing the phonological loop, central executive, and visuospatial sketchpad ability in 46 hearing-impaired university students. The Reading Span Test, Nonword Repetition Task, WMS-R Visual Memory Span Task, and New Stroop Test II were administered individually to participants. Reading Span Test performance was significantly associated with the Nonword Repetition Task score used to measure phonological loop capability, and with the Stroop interference ratio used to measure central executive capability. Results regarding phonological loop differed from those from studies conducted with normal-hearing students. Our findings suggest the importance of paying attention to phonological encoding when teaching reading to hearing-impaired children.