Sebastian and Hernandez A03

• Control of Variables


  • Several Standardised Procedures
  • Digits read audibly, with 1 second intervals
  • Therefore good degree of Internal Validity
• Competing Arguement to Control of Variables

  • No testing of Cognitive Impairments in children
  • Performance could've hindered their performance
  • Undermines the Ecological Validity
• Small Sample Size


  • Only 9 participants with fvFTD
  • Lacks statistical power
  • Conclusions can't be drawn on the Phonological Loop because of this
• Application


  Verbal Digit Span can show intelligence and cognitive impairments
• Issues and Debates


  • Study revealed cultural differences in Verbal Digit Span
  • Effected by structure in languages rather than culture
  • Chen and Elliot found Chinese-speaking children had higher Verbal Digit Spans than Malaysian-speaking children because numbers have fewer syllables in Chinese