# Profiles of Working Memory for Educational Research

> **NIH NIH R01** · ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE CAMPUS · 2021 · $659,313

## Abstract

We need new approaches for reducing the academic failure rate of children with learning disabilities that
causes many to drop out of school. The long-term effects of dropping out of school include poor employment
opportunities linked to poor health outcomes (Egerter et al., 2009) and lower life expectancy (Begier, Li, &
Meduro, 2013). We propose that new instructional approaches based on a child's working memory profile can
improve learning. Working memory encompasses an individual's ability to process and store incoming
information over short periods. It is a powerful predictor of learning (Alloway, 2009; Maehler & Schuchardt,
2016). We think that by knowing a child's working memory profile, interventions and instructional approaches
can be tailored to take advantage of working memory strengths and weaknesses. This approach aligns with
new initiatives promoting precision medicine whereby basic science, diagnostic testing, and evidence-based
knowledge are used to individualize treatment (Porche, 2015). The success of this precision approach rests on
(a) our ability to comprehensively assess working memory in children, (b) a clear understanding of how
working memory develops over time in children with and without learning disabilities, and (c) how working
memory and other cognitive abilities, such and oral language and intelligence, interact over the course of
development. These goals and the steps to achieve them are the focus of our project. In our initial R01 we
developed and tested a new, comprehensive, computer-administered working memory battery for children with
second graders from three states. In this renewal project we will utilize an accelerated longitudinal design to
follow children with typical development (TD), dyslexia, and comorbid dyslexia and developmental language
disorder (DLD) from kindergarten through 6th grade. Our project will shift current research and clinical practice
paradigms by providing (a) new, empirically tested longitudinal models of working memory in children; (b) new
information about the initial status and growth trajectory of working memory from kindergarten through 6th
grade; (c) new information about the longitudinal relations among working memory, cognitive abilities, and
academic performance over time, and (d) norms for the Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children –
Working Memory so that results can be used by researchers, educators, and clinicians to tailor interventions
and instruction. This will be the first comprehensive, longitudinal study of working memory in children in the
U.S.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10194442
- **Project number:** 5R01DC010784-09
- **Recipient organization:** ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Shelley I, PHD, CCC-SLP Gray
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $659,313
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2011-02-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10194442

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10194442, Profiles of Working Memory for Educational Research (5R01DC010784-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10194442. Licensed CC0.

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