The Monkey game: A computerized verbal working memory task for self-reliant administration in primary school children

Behav Res (2016) 48:756–771 DOI 10.3758/s13428-015-0607-y The Monkey game: A computerized verbal working memory task for self-reliant administration in primary school children Eva Van de Weijer-Bergsma 1 & Evelyn H. Kroesbergen 1 & Shahab Jolani 2 & Johannes E. H. Van Luit 1 Published online: 20 June 2015 # The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract In two studies, the psychometric properties of an online self-reliant verbal working memory task (the Monkey game) for primary school children (6–12 years of age) were examined. In Study 1, children (n = 5,203) from 31 primary schools participated. The participants completed computerized verbal and visual–spatial working memory tasks (i.e., the Monkey game and the Lion game) and a paper-andpencil version of Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices. Reading comprehension and math achievement test scores were obtained from the schools. First, the internal consistency of the Monkey game was examined. Second, multilevel modeling was used to examine the effects of classroom membership. Multilevel multivariate regression analysis was used to examine the Monkey game’s concurrent relationship with the Lion game and its predictive relationships with reading comprehension and math achievement. Also, age-related differences in performance were examined. In Study 2, the concurrent relationships between the Monkey game and two tester-led computerized working memory tasks were further examined (n = 140). Also, the 1- and 2-year stability of the Monkey game was investigated. The Monkey game showed excellent internal consistency, good concurrent relationships with the other working memory measures, and significant age differences in performance. Performance on the Monkey game was also predictive of subsequent reading comprehension and mathematics performance, even after controlling for * Eva Van de Weijer-Bergsma 1 Department of Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands 2 Department of Methodology and Statistics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands individual differences in intelligence. Performance on the Monkey game was influenced by classroom membership. The Monkey game is a reliable and suitable instrument for the online computerized and self-reliant assessment of verbal working memory in primary school children. Keywords Verbal working memory . Psychometric properties . Children . Computerized assessment Working memory is the ability to temporarily store and manipulate information simultaneously and is considered an important predictor for academic performance in areas such as reading (De Weerdt, Desoete, & Roeyers, 2013; Gathercole, Alloway, Willis, & Adams, 2006; Swanson, Xinhua, & Jerman, 2009) and mathematics (Bull, Espy, & Wiebe, 2008; Friso-van den Bos, Van der Ven, Kroesbergen, & Van Luit, 2013; Geary, Hoard, Byrd-Craven, Nugent, & Numtee, 2007; Swanson, 2006; Swanson, Jerman, & Zheng, 2008; Toll, Van der Ven, Kroesbergen, & Van Luit, 2011). Children who are better able to hold relevant information in mind and manipulate this information have an advantage in integrating information from different passages while reading a written text, as well as an advantage in choosing and carrying out strategies while solving math problems. Working memory in children is usually assessed with computer- or paper-and-pencil tests in a one-to-one testing situation led by a test assistant, which is very time-consuming and costly. Computerized (online) working memory tests that can be administered self-reliantly or in groups could be of great value for studying working memory in large-sample studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of a verbal working memory task for self-reliant (group) administration in primary school children. Behav Res (2016) 48:756–771 Working memory is generally viewed as a multicomponent system, in which domain-specific storage and rehearsal components or processes interact with a domain-general attentional control component (Baddeley, 2000; Baddeley & Hitch, 1974; Engle, 2002; Engle, Tuholski, Laughlin, & Conway, 1999; Kane, Hambrick, Tuholski, Wilhelm, Payne, & Engle, 2004). Baddeley’s model of working memory, for example—which is the most frequently referred-to model— includes the central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and episodic buffer (Baddeley, 2000; Baddeley & Hitch, 1974). The central executive is a domain-general attentional control system involved in several processes, such as the selection and execution of strategies, monitoring of input, retrieval of information from longterm memory, storing and processing of information, and coordination of the other components of the working memory system. The two domain-specific slave systems, the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad, involve the temporary storage and rehearsal of phonological and auditory information and visual and spatial information, respectively. The episodic buffer—a temporary storage system that is responsible for the integration of information from a variety of sources—is the third slave system (Baddeley, 2000). The functioning of the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad is typically measured using simple span tasks, in which increasingly longer strings of information are immediately recalled without further processing. The functioning of the central executive is usually measured with complex span tasks, requiring the storage as well as the processing or manipulation of information (Kail & Hall, 2001). In other words, working memory can be distinguished from short-term memory, which only involves the temporary storage of information by the slave systems, whereas working memory involves the storage as well as processing of information. Although the central executive is a domain-general component of working memory, the tasks used to assess its functioning also tap into one (or both) of the domainspecific slave systems. According to Engle and colleagues (Engle, 2002; Engle et al., 1999; Kane et al., 2004), working memory capacity is mainly determined by the domaingeneral executive component. Using a latent-variable approach with an adult sample, Kane et al. (2004) found that a two-factor working memory model with separable verbal and spatial factors provided the best fit. However, the large proportion of variance shared between the two factors (70 %) indicated that performance on working memory tasks is primarily determined by a domain-general mechanism. So, even though the domain-specific storage components also play roles, the shared variance between measures of working memory primarily reflects the contribution of the domain-general executive component according to this view. Nevertheless, the multicomponent nature of these working memory models allows researchers to examine whether the 757 contributions of different subcomponents vary (...truncated)