Abstract
A comparative analysis of the phonological loop versus the visuo-spatial sketchpad in mental arith metic tasks in 7-8 y.o. children. This research analyses the relationship between two subsystems of working memory (phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad) and arithmetic achievement in a sample of 94 spanish 7-8 year-old children. Two arithmetic measures for this study, six simple measures of working memory (including verbal, quantitative and spatial measures) from Pickering, Baqués and Gathercole's "Batería de Tests de Memoria de Treball", and two complementary visual tests were used. The results show that verbal and quantitative measures were correlated with arithmetic achievement, but not spatial measures. We conclude that there is a stronger relationship between phonological loop and arithmetic achievement in spanish children, but the visuo-spatial sketchpad however seems to have a limited influence.
