Working memory is an often studied and important psychological construct. The growth of working memory capacity (WMC) in childhood is described as linear. Average adult WMC is estimated as either four or five "chunks." Using latent curve models of data from a measure of digit span backward that was administered longitudinally to a large sample representative of the native-English-speaking U.S. kindergarten population in 2011, we found that WMC growth in childhood is curvilinear. It shows an increasing yet decelerating pattern. Scoring rules (e.g., requiring 50% or 75% of trials correct) influence age-based estimates, but WMCs have likely been underestimated in children, and the average adult WMC of five is more plausible than four, as measured by digit span backward. Developmental WMC estimates, such as those reported in this research, may help others develop prescriptive learning interventions for children and understand its growth and decline across the life span. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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童年时期的工作记忆能力发展：纵向分析。

工作记忆是一个经常被研究和重要的心理结构。儿童时期工作记忆容量 (WMC) 的增长被描述为线性增长。平均成人 WMC 估计为四个或五个“块”。使用来自 2011 年以英语为母语的美国幼儿园人口的大样本代表纵向管理的数字跨度测量数据的潜在曲线模型，我们发现儿童期的 WMC 增长是曲线的。它显示了一个增加但减速的模式。评分规则（例如，要求 50% 或 75% 的试验正确）影响基于年龄的估计，但 WMC 在儿童中可能被低估了，按照数字跨度向后测量，平均 5 岁的成人 WMC 比 4 岁更合理。发育 WMC 估计，例如本研究中报告的估计，可以帮助其他人为儿童制定规范性学习干预措施，并了解其在整个生命周期中的成长和衰退。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。