Developmental trends for object and spatial working memory: a psychophysiological analysis.

Full Abstract

This study examined developmental trends in object and spatial working memory (WM) using heart rate (HR) to provide an index of covert cognitive processes. Participants in 4 age groups (6-7, 9-10, 11-12, 18-26, n=20 each) performed object and spatial WM tasks, in which each trial was followed by feedback. Spatial WM task performance reached adult levels before object WM task performance. The differential developmental trends for object and spatial WM found in this study are taken to suggest that these WM components are separable. Negative performance feedback elicited HR slowing that was more pronounced for adults than for children. The development of performance monitoring as indexed by covert HR slowing following performance feedback contributes to WM performance.

Author information

Author/s: Van Leijenhorst, Linda (L); Crone, Eveline A (EA); Van der Molen, Maurits W (MW);

Affiliation: Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands. lleijenhorst(-atsign-)fsw.leidenuniv.nl

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Child development (Child Dev), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2007 May-Jun; vol 78 (issue 3) : pp 987-1000

Dates: Created 2007/05/22; Completed 2007/10/02;

PMID: 17517017, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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