Abstract：
Math difficulties (MDs) occur in about 3-7 % of children and have been associated with academic, health, and occupational challenges. To date, findings about the role of working memory in MDs have been conflicting. The Automated Working Memory Assessment Battery (AWMA), which assesses all components of Baddeley and Hitch\'s model of working memory, was used to investigate which component of the model was most related to math calculation skills in elementary-school children. Participants were 94 (52 male) children (M age = 9 years 1 month; Range = 6 years 0 months to 11 years 8 months). As hypothesized, math calculation scores were correlated with all four working memory components (phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, verbal and visuospatial central executive). After accounting for age, phonological processing, and attention, the visuospatial sketchpad was the only memory component that contributed to the prediction of math calculation scores, explaining an additional 10.2 % of unique variance. Short-term visuospatial memory should be assessed in children having difficulty with math and children could benefit from interventions that include attention to the development of both visuospatial memory and math calculation skills. This study did not use a longitudinal design and so we cannot conclude that weak visuospatial memory impedes the development of math calculation skills. Future research should use longitudinal designs and investigate other types of math skills.
摘要：
数学困难（MD）发生在约3-7％的儿童，并已与学业有关，健康,职业挑战。迄今为止,关于工作记忆在MD中的作用的发现是相互矛盾的。自动工作记忆评估电池(AWMA)评估Baddeley和Hitch的工作记忆模型的所有组成部分，用于调查模型的哪个组成部分与小学生的数学计算技能最相关。参与者为94名（52名男性）儿童（M年龄=9岁1个月；范围=6岁0个月至11岁8个月）。正如假设的那样，数学计算分数与所有四个工作记忆成分(语音循环，视觉空间画板，口头和视觉空间中央执行)。在考虑了年龄之后，语音处理，和注意,视觉空间画板是唯一有助于预测数学计算分数的记忆组件，解释了额外10.2%的独特方差。短期视觉空间记忆应该在有数学困难的儿童中进行评估，儿童可以从干预措施中受益，包括注意视觉空间记忆和数学计算技能的发展。这项研究没有使用纵向设计，因此我们不能得出结论，弱的视觉空间记忆会阻碍数学计算技能的发展。未来的研究应该使用纵向设计并研究其他类型的数学技能。
