Working memory functioning in children with learning disabilities: does intelligence make a difference?
IQ level does not change working-memory deficits in children with learning disabilities, so skip IQ-based grouping and test memory directly.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team split kids with learning disabilities into two groups. One group had IQ scores in the normal range. The other group had lower IQ scores.
They gave both groups the same working-memory tests. They also tested kids without disabilities for comparison.
What they found
Both groups with learning disabilities scored equally low on working-memory tasks. IQ level did not change the result.
Kids without disabilities scored higher than both disability groups. The gap was the same size no matter the IQ.
How this fits with other research
Maehler et al. (2016) later showed that these working-memory gaps predict report-card grades. Low scores link to poor math and reading marks.
Belacchi et al. (2014) found the same IQ-independence pattern in math skills. Kids with math trouble scored low on number tasks whether their IQ was average or low.
Bouck et al. (2016) looked only at children with mild intellectual disability. They saw that working memory and flexibility, not IQ, drove math scores once behavior problems were high.
Why it matters
Stop using IQ cut-offs to decide who gets memory support. A child with normal IQ but weak working memory still needs help. Add a quick memory screener to every evaluation. Teach memory tricks, chunking, and visual aids to any learner who struggles, no matter the IQ label.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Children with learning disabilities are identified by their severe learning problems and their deficient school achievement. On the other hand, children with sub-average school achievement and sub-average intellectual development are thought to suffer from a general intellectual delay rather than from specific learning disabilities. The open question is whether these two groups are characterised by differences in their cognitive functioning. The present study explored several functions of working memory. METHOD: A working memory battery with tasks for the phonological loop, the visual-spatial sketchpad and central executive skills was presented in individual sessions to 27 children with learning disabilities and normal IQ (ICD-10: mixed disorders of scholastic skills), 27 children with learning disabilities and low IQ (intellectual disabilities), and a control group of 27 typically developing children with regular school achievement levels and normal IQ. RESULTS: The results reveal an overall deficit in working memory of the two groups with learning disabilities compared with the control group. However, unexpectedly, there were no differences between the two groups of children with disabilities (normal vs. low IQ). CONCLUSIONS: These findings do not support the notion of different cognitive functioning because of differences in intelligence of these two groups. In the ongoing discussion about the role of intelligence (especially as to the postulated discrepancy between intelligence and school achievement in diagnosis and special education), our findings might lead to rethinking the current practice of treating these two groups as fundamentally different.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2009 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2008.01105.x