Following instructions in a virtual school: Does working memory play a role?

Accumulating evidence that working memory supports the ability to follow instructions has so far been restricted to experimental paradigms that have greatly simplified the practical demands of performing actions to instructions in everyday tasks. The aim of the present study was to investigate wheth...

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Published in:Memory & Cognition Vol. 44; no. 4; pp. 580 - 590
Main Authors: Jaroslawska, Agnieszka, Gathercole, Susan, Logie, Matthew, Holmes, Joni
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature May2016
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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          Jaroslawska, Agnieszka
          Gathercole, Susan
          Logie, Matthew
          Holmes, Joni
        affil: MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road Cambridge CB2 7EF UK
      su:
        Computer simulation
        Memory
        Paradigms (Social sciences)
        School environment
        Schools
        Virtual reality
        Task performance
        Children
        Information resources management
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          Computer simulation
          Memory
          Paradigms (Social sciences)
          School environment
          Schools
          Virtual reality
          Task performance
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          All Other Information Services
          Elementary and Secondary Schools
          All Other Miscellaneous Schools and Instruction
          Information resources management
      keyword:
        Following instructions
        Virtual environment
        Working memory
        Following instructions
        Virtual environment
        Working memory
      ab: Accumulating evidence that working memory supports the ability to follow instructions has so far been restricted to experimental paradigms that have greatly simplified the practical demands of performing actions to instructions in everyday tasks. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether working memory is involved in maintaining information over the longer periods of time that are more typical of everyday situations that require performing instructions to command. Forty-two children 7-11 years of age completed assessments of working memory, a real-world following-instructions task employing 3-D objects, and two new computerized instruction-following tasks involving navigation around a virtual school to complete a sequence of practical spoken commands. One task involved performing actions in a single classroom, and the other, performing actions in multiple locations in a virtual school building. Verbal working memory was closely linked with all three following-instructions paradigms, but with greater association to the virtual than to the real-world tasks. These results indicate that verbal working memory plays a key role in following instructions over extended periods of activity.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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    language: English
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