A measure of verbal working memory for children from second to fifth grade: norms and validation

The aim of the present study was to obtain reliable norms of a simplified version of the Listening Span Test for children from second to fifth grade. The test evaluates verbal working memory with a double task requiring to read and judge series of senteces and recall in serial order the last word of each sentence. A measure of verbal working memory is useful in order to express clinical profile of learning disabled children. Troubles in verbal working memory appear to be associated with few types of learning disabilities and with sub-types and sub-groupof other disorders (for a review see Swanson e Siegel, 2001). A group of 352 children has been examined. Children attended regularly school from grade 2 to grade 5, age range 8-11 years. The simplified version of the Listening Span Test was adeguate to children' cognitive level, easily to administer and highly related to reading comprehension measures.