Memória de trabalho e o reconhecimento integrado de informações auditivas e visuais em adultos e crianças

Abstract

The science of working memory has consolidated a lot of evidences about factors in the development of this cognitive process, it is still necessary to describe the effects of age on the representation of integrated information. The aim of the study was to analyze the performance of children and adults in working memory tasks for the integration of auditory-visual information. Fifty people participated, half of them female, being 18 children aged 8-9 years; 16 between 10-11 years and 16 between 19-31 years. All performed memory tasks for isolated and integrated auditory and visual characteristics. The stimuli were presented for memorization in a sequential manner, and should be recovered after an interval. In the conjunction task there was a retro-cue (auditory or visual) in the test phase. The results indicated differences between the two groups of children and these with adults in the integrated representation of auditory and visual information in working memory. The independent trajectory of the information integration system seems to be identified already in the group of 10-11 years old and is consolidated in adulthood. It was possible to identify that, regardless of age, the auditory system is preponderant over the visual, that is, there is easier access to the stored verbal content, compared to the visual. This hierarchical relationship occurs in the registration of the isolated characteristic, and also when there is an obligation to maintain the integrated code (auditory and visual). The relevance of the findings for the understanding of working memory models is discussed. Knowledge about the interaction between storage components and the information integrating system is expanded. Future research may be carried out with clinical groups, such as those with specific deficits in the storage of characteristics for repercussions in experimental research and clinical applications.