The Children's Size-Ordering Task: A New Measure of Nonverbal Working Memory

• Published in: Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology 2005-08, Vol.27 (6), p.735-745
• Main Authors: McInerney, Robert J., Hrabok, Marianne, Kerns, Kimberly A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age Factors; Attention - physiology; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - physiopathology; Attention deficit disorders. Hyperactivity; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child clinical studies; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Memory, Short-Term - physiology; Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reaction Time - physiology; Reference Values; Reproducibility of Results; Task Performance and Analysis; Techniques and methods; Verbal Learning - physiology; Visual Perception - physiology
• ISSN: 1380-3395; 1744-411X
• DOI: 10.1081/13803390490918633

We present a new measure of nonverbal working memory for children, entitled the Children's Size-Ordering Task (CSOT). Two separate studies were conducted to test the utility of and partially validate this measure. Three specific hypotheses were investigated, namely that: (1) CSOT performance would correlate with age; (2) the CSOT would correlate with established measures of working memory; and (3) children with ADHD would exhibit weaker performance on the CSOT relative to typically developing community control children. Participants across both studies included 50 children with ADHD and 50 control children matched by age and gender. Collectively, the results of both studies supported all three hypotheses. These findings lend support to the CSOT as a valid and effective measure of nonverbal working memory. We are deeply grateful to Sarah Archibald, Ph.D., who recruited most of the participants for Study 1. We also are grateful to Jennifer Michel, M.Sc. and Caryn Huppertz for diligently collecting the CSOT data in Study 2 as part of their own work. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Lee Swanson, from the University of California at Riverside, for kindly sharing the "Sentence Span Measure."