Reading Span is a widely used measure of working memory that assesses an individual’s ability to store and process information simultaneously (Sanchez, 2011). The test consists of a series of sentence-pair tasks that require participants to remember both the sentence and the last word of the sentence. Participants are then asked to recall the last words in the correct order. The Reading Span task has been demonstrated to be a reliable and valid measure of working memory (Alloway et al., 2004).
The Reading Span task has been used to measure working memory in both children and adults (Alloway et al., 2004). It is commonly used in research on reading comprehension, language processing, and executive functioning (Alloway et al., 2004; Sanchez, 2011). Studies have found that the Reading Span task is a reliable measure of working memory in both children and adults (Alloway et al., 2004; Sanchez, 2011).
Studies have also found that performance on the Reading Span test is related to academic ability (Alloway et al., 2004). Higher Reading Span scores are associated with better reading comprehension and better academic performance (Alloway et al., 2004). Additionally, performance on the Reading Span task is related to reading fluency (Alloway et al., 2004).
In sum, the Reading Span task is a reliable and valid measure of working memory in both children and adults. Performance on the Reading Span task is related to academic ability, reading comprehension, and reading fluency.
References
Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., Willis, C., & Adams, A. M. (2004). A structural analysis of working memory and related cognitive skills in young children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 87(2), 85-106.
Sánchez, E. M. (2011). Working memory and reading comprehension in Spanish-speaking children: The role of the reading span task. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(2), 152-159.