Letter-number sequencing, which consists of a series of items with alternating digits and letters presented orally or visually, is also considered a measure of WMC (Gold, Carpenter, Randolph, Goldberg, & Weinberger, 1997). A classic measure of WMC is the reading span task, which requires one to read a list of sentences and remember words presented at the end of each sentence (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980). For example, WMC tasks have been suggested to require the coordination and transformation of information (Oberauer et al., 2000). By contrast, measures of WMC require processing parallel to storage and retrieval (Conway et al., 2005, Redick et al., 2012). Theoretically, measures of STMC are considered to involve storage and retrieval over a brief period of time (seconds). A non-negligible amount of research has been conducted on the distinction between DSF and DSB, particularly within the context of short-term memory capacity (STMC) and working memory capacity (WMC Conway & Kovacs, 2013). In the backward version of the test, the participant is instructed to recall the digits in the reverse order with which they were presented. In the forward version of the test, the participant is instructed to recall the digits in the order with which they were presented. The participant is requested to recall as many of the digits as possible in a certain order. In the Wechsler scales (e.g., WAIS-IV Wechsler, 2008), the Digit Span subscale involves the oral presentation of digits to the participant at 1 s intervals. Additionally, the hypothesis that individual differences in visuospatial ability may differentially relate to DSF and DSB was tested. First, to investigate whether the psychometric distinction between forward span and backward span extends to test content modalities other than digits (i.e., three-syllable words and visual shapes). Consequently, the purpose of this investigation was twofold. It has also been proposed that DSB may draw more heavily upon visuospatial processing, in comparison to DSF (Reynolds, 1997).Īlthough a relatively substantial amount of research has supported the psychometric distinction between forward and backward span with digits, little differential psychology research has been conducted with other types of stimuli. Specifically, while DSF has been proposed to involve storage and retrieval processes, DSB has been hypothesized to involve additional executive processes (Oberauer, Süß, Schulze, Wilhelm, & Wittmann, 2000). Theoretically, it has been contended that DSF and DSB tap partly different psychological processes. However, the process distinction does not appear to be visuospatial ability.ĭigit Span Forward (DSF) and Digit Span Backward (DSB) are very similar tasks, however, they share approximately only 45% of their true score variance (Gignac, 2015, Wechsler, 2008). The results suggest that there may be a process distinction that is unique to the recall of digits in forward and backward formats. Finally, visuospatial ability was not observed to relate to DSB uniquely ( λ = .07 BF 01 = 8.65). The DSF and DSB factors were related moderately at r = .40. Based on a factor analysis, four factors were identified: visuospatial memory span, three-syllable word span, DSF, and DSB. Additionally, a mental rotation test was administered to the participants ( N = 211). Consequently, the purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the factorial validity of forward and backward span across three stimulus modalities: single digits, three-syllable words, and visual shapes. Furthermore, some experimental research suggests that performance on verbal backward span may be affected differentially by visuospatial ability. To-date, little research has examined the association between forward and backward recall across other stimulus modalities (e.g., words, shapes). 50), but surprisingly small given the highly similar nature of the tests. The correlation between Digit Span Forward (DSF) and Digit Span Backward (DSB) scores from the Wechsler scales is moderate ( r ≈.
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