Individual vs. Group Administration of Tablet-Based Working Memory Tasks – Does Setting Matter?

Abstract

Abstract. Working memory (WM) is a key determinant of academic success. Therefore, standardized assessment tools are needed. In the past, WM assessment has been time-consuming and costly, especially in children, as WM instruments could only be used in one-to-one settings. The development of automatized, self-reliant WM tasks such as the tablet-based application EI-MAG ( Oesterlen, Gade, & Seitz-Stein, 2016 ) allows for a more economic assessment of WM in groups. However, so far, only few studies have empirically validated the comparability of WM scores obtained in individual and group setting. To close this gap, N = 89 children between 7 and 10 years of age ( M = 8.8 years, SD = 0.6 years) were administered four WM tasks of EI-MAG individually as well as in groups. The analyses show that independent of WM task, there are no mean score differences between individual and group setting. It can be concluded that automatized WM assessment with EI-MAG leads to comparable results in individual and group setting.