Psychometric evaluation of a working memory assessment measure in young children with Down syndrome.
The Garage Game is a ready-to-use working-memory test for 2- to 8-year-olds with Down syndrome.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team built a new working-memory game called the Garage Game. They tested it with children with Down syndrome aged two to eight years.
The game is short, colorful, and run on a laptop. Kids watch toy cars drive into a garage and then point to the cars in the same order.
What they found
The task worked well. Almost every child could finish it and scores spread out like a normal curve.
There was almost no floor effect and practice did not lift scores on later tries.
How this fits with other research
Porter et al. (2008) tried to boost memory span at home. Parents taught overt rehearsal. Kids made small gains on digit span but not on wider language tests. Emerson et al. (2023) now gives us a clean way to measure the same skill before and after such training.
Hamm et al. (1978) used daily changing digit lists to raise memory in one child. Their work is a direct ancestor. The new Garage Game offers the same age group a modern, scalable yardstick.
Stephens et al. (2018) tweaked digit-span backward scoring for kids with ADHD. Both papers show that tiny rule changes make classic span tasks fairer and more valid.
Why it matters
You now have a free, lab-ready working-memory tool for 2- to 8-year-olds with Down syndrome. Use it to screen, track progress, or pick kids for memory-training studies. The low floor means even toddlers can start, and the wide ceiling keeps older kids engaged.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Working memory involves the temporary storage and manipulation of information and is frequently an area of challenge for individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Despite the potential benefits of intervention, laboratory assessments of working memory that could capture intervention effects have not undergone rigorous evaluation for use with young children with DS. It is critical to evaluate assessments of working memory in young children with DS to ensure the reliable and accurate measurement of performance. AIM: This study evaluated an adapted laboratory measure of working memory for young children with DS 2-8 years old. METHOD: A self-ordered pointing task, the Garage Game, was administered to 78 children with DS (mean = 5.17 years; SD = 1.49). Adaptations were made to the task to minimize potential DS phenotype-related language and motor confounds. RESULTS: Results indicate that the measure is feasible, scalable, and developmentally sensitive, with minimal floor and practice effects for this population within this chronological and developmental age range. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate that the Garage Game is promising for use in studies of early working memory and treatment trials that aim to support the development of this critical dimension of executive functioning for children with DS.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2023 · doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00246.x