The Role of Short-Term Memory in Academic Achievement

by John M. Jaquith, M. Ed. Click here to read the study (PDF)

Abstract

In order to see the effects of short-term memory on standardized achievement scores, this study compared the auditory and visual digit spans of 546 students (from a private school located in the Southeastern part of the United States) to their scores on the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT). The data shows that as digit span increases, so does performance on the SAT; it also reveals higher digit spans correlating with higher grade-level function. These results imply that improving their auditory and visual processing would enable students to achieve higher levels of academic work.

Reprinted by permission of The NACD Foundation, Volume 10 No. 6, 1996 ©NACD