The Deficit in Visuo-spatial Working Memory in Dyslexic Population? A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Development dyslexia (DD) is a common language disorder, that significantly affects children. Despite having ordinary intelligence, dyslexic people struggle with reading, writing, and comprehension in their native tongue. It is still unclear whether dyslexic kids have difficulties with visuo-spatial working memory. Using meta-analysis, this gap was filled. Applying a Boolean search on Web of Science was necessary to find the pertinent papers. Thirteen studies were analyzed. The average, standard deviation, and sample size for each task were extracted. There were large effect sizes between children with DD and their age-matched peers in terms of their visuo-spatial working memory. The findings imply that visuo-spatial working memory deficiencies in dyslexic children indicate that dyslexia might exhibit domain-general characteristics. We discovered during our research that the type of language used and the testing procedure could have an impact on the test outcomes. Therefore, future research should focus on the type of tasks or language.