

The Digit Span Task (Backwards-Only Child Version) measures working memory. The core Working Memory subtests are Digit Span (DS) and Arithmetic (AR). It assesses children’s ability to hold information in short-term memory and manipulate that information to produce some result.
#Backward digit span running span trial
Both trials of each item are administered, even if the child gets Trial 1 correct. What does digit span measure on the WAIS?įor Digit Span Sequencing, the examinee is read a sequence of numbers and recalls the numbers in ascending order. This subtest measures working memory, mental manipulation, cognitive flexibility, rote memory and learning, attention, and encoding. The digit span test consists of telling the person that you are going to give him a short test. The digit span test can also be given visually by displaying a series of numbers and then asking the person taking the test to verbally state the numbers and then to write them down in the correct order. The person is then told to listen carefully because you will say a series of numbers and ask him to repeat them back to you in the same order you say them. This is called the d igit span test backward. The average digit span for normal adults without error is seven plus or minus two. However, memory span can be expanded dramatically – in one case to 80 digits – by learning a sophisticated mnemonic system of recoding rules by which substrings of 5 to 10 digits are translated into one new chunk. How Many Digits? A digit span can be increased by practice-you start at five and work your way up. Assesses attention, short-term memory and working memory. A normal adult digit span is between five and seven. What is the Digit Span backwards subtest? For children, the ability to memorize one digit per year of age is normal, so a two-year-old can remember two digits, a three-year-old can remember three, and so on. The Digit Span test is a subtest of both the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Wechsler Memory Scales (WMS). What does Digit Span measure on the WAIS IV? Subjects are read a sequence of numbers and asked to repeat the same sequence back to the examiner in order (forward span) or in reverse order (backward span).
#Backward digit span running span manual
In the technical and interpretative manual of the WAIS- IV (Wechsler, 2008, p.
