The Contribution of Visual and Auditory Working Memory and Non-Verbal IQ to Motor Multisensory Processing in Elementary School Children
Although cognitive abilities have been shown to facilitate multisensory processing in adults, the development of cognitive abilities such as working memory and intelligence, and their relationship to multisensory motor reaction times (MRTs), has not been well investigated in children. Thus, the aim...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/13/2/270 |
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| author | Areej A. Alhamdan Melanie J. Murphy Hayley E. Pickering Sheila G. Crewther |
| author_facet | Areej A. Alhamdan Melanie J. Murphy Hayley E. Pickering Sheila G. Crewther |
| author_sort | Areej A. Alhamdan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although cognitive abilities have been shown to facilitate multisensory processing in adults, the development of cognitive abilities such as working memory and intelligence, and their relationship to multisensory motor reaction times (MRTs), has not been well investigated in children. Thus, the aim of the current study was to explore the contribution of age-related cognitive abilities in elementary school-age children (<i>n</i> = 75) aged 5–10 years, to multisensory MRTs in response to auditory, visual, and audiovisual stimuli, and a visuomotor eye–hand co-ordination processing task. Cognitive performance was measured on classical working memory tasks such as forward and backward visual and auditory digit spans, and the Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM test of nonverbal intelligence). Bayesian Analysis revealed decisive evidence for age-group differences across grades on visual digit span tasks and RCPM scores but not on auditory digit span tasks. The results also showed decisive evidence for the relationship between performance on more complex visually based tasks, such as difficult items of the RCPM and visual digit span, and multisensory MRT tasks. Bayesian regression analysis demonstrated that visual WM digit span tasks together with nonverbal IQ were the strongest unique predictors of multisensory processing. This suggests that the capacity of visual memory rather than auditory processing abilities becomes the most important cognitive predictor of multisensory MRTs, and potentially contributes to the expected age-related increase in cognitive abilities and multisensory motor processing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:05:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f72da6516aea4133b22e0a1ae118a7ca |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:05:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-f72da6516aea4133b22e0a1ae118a7ca2023-11-16T19:28:37ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252023-02-0113227010.3390/brainsci13020270The Contribution of Visual and Auditory Working Memory and Non-Verbal IQ to Motor Multisensory Processing in Elementary School ChildrenAreej A. Alhamdan0Melanie J. Murphy1Hayley E. Pickering2Sheila G. Crewther3Department of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, AustraliaDepartment of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, AustraliaDepartment of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, AustraliaDepartment of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, AustraliaAlthough cognitive abilities have been shown to facilitate multisensory processing in adults, the development of cognitive abilities such as working memory and intelligence, and their relationship to multisensory motor reaction times (MRTs), has not been well investigated in children. Thus, the aim of the current study was to explore the contribution of age-related cognitive abilities in elementary school-age children (<i>n</i> = 75) aged 5–10 years, to multisensory MRTs in response to auditory, visual, and audiovisual stimuli, and a visuomotor eye–hand co-ordination processing task. Cognitive performance was measured on classical working memory tasks such as forward and backward visual and auditory digit spans, and the Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM test of nonverbal intelligence). Bayesian Analysis revealed decisive evidence for age-group differences across grades on visual digit span tasks and RCPM scores but not on auditory digit span tasks. The results also showed decisive evidence for the relationship between performance on more complex visually based tasks, such as difficult items of the RCPM and visual digit span, and multisensory MRT tasks. Bayesian regression analysis demonstrated that visual WM digit span tasks together with nonverbal IQ were the strongest unique predictors of multisensory processing. This suggests that the capacity of visual memory rather than auditory processing abilities becomes the most important cognitive predictor of multisensory MRTs, and potentially contributes to the expected age-related increase in cognitive abilities and multisensory motor processing.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/13/2/270childrenauditoryvisualaudiovisualmultisensory processingmotor reaction times |
| spellingShingle | Areej A. Alhamdan Melanie J. Murphy Hayley E. Pickering Sheila G. Crewther The Contribution of Visual and Auditory Working Memory and Non-Verbal IQ to Motor Multisensory Processing in Elementary School Children Brain Sciences children auditory visual audiovisual multisensory processing motor reaction times |
| title | The Contribution of Visual and Auditory Working Memory and Non-Verbal IQ to Motor Multisensory Processing in Elementary School Children |
| title_full | The Contribution of Visual and Auditory Working Memory and Non-Verbal IQ to Motor Multisensory Processing in Elementary School Children |
| title_fullStr | The Contribution of Visual and Auditory Working Memory and Non-Verbal IQ to Motor Multisensory Processing in Elementary School Children |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Contribution of Visual and Auditory Working Memory and Non-Verbal IQ to Motor Multisensory Processing in Elementary School Children |
| title_short | The Contribution of Visual and Auditory Working Memory and Non-Verbal IQ to Motor Multisensory Processing in Elementary School Children |
| title_sort | contribution of visual and auditory working memory and non verbal iq to motor multisensory processing in elementary school children |
| topic | children auditory visual audiovisual multisensory processing motor reaction times |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/13/2/270 |
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