Contemporary study

• Aim: To investigate the phonological loop in children between ages 6-17 years old using digit span as a measure of capacity
• Aim:To compare finding to previous research on adult age and dementia patients 
• Sample: 570 volunteers from a school in Madrid, All native Spanish speakers
• Procedure included: Five groups

  Preschool – 5 years old, 6-8 years old, 9-11 years old, 12-14 years old, 15-17 years old
• Procedure: Method: Tested individually by reading increasing digit sequences and asked to recall. Digits read at a rate of one per second.

  Digit span was recorded as the max digit recalled in the correct order without error.
• Results: Older you are better your digit span. Dementia - no difference. English-Spanish vs English speakers better due to length of number names
• Conclusion: Digit span increases with age. Digit span of Spanish population is significantly shorter because Spanish numbers are longer so take up more room. Comparing the results with research into patients with dementia and age, its’s possible to speculate that poor digit span is a result of old age not dementia.
• (strength) High reliability- standardised procedure
• (weakness) Low generalisability- sample came from the same school and all Spanish speakers.
• (weakness) Low ecological validity- not common everyday task.