Investigating the predictive roles of working memory and IQ in academic attainment

Tracy Packiam Alloway, Ross G. Alloway

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

There is growing evidence for the relationship between working memory and academic attainment. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether working memory is simply a proxy for IQ or whether there is a unique contribution to learning outcomes. The findings indicate that children's working memory skills at 5 years of age were the best predictor of literacy and numeracy 6 years later. IQ in contrast, accounted for a smaller portion of unique variance to these learning outcomes. The results demonstrate that working memory is not a proxy for IQ but rather represents a dissociable cognitive skill with unique links to academic attainment. Critically, we find that working memory at the start of formal education is a more powerful predictor of subsequent academic success than IQ. This result has important implications for education, particularly with respect to intervention. (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)20-29
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Experimental Child Psychology
Volume106
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2010

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