Two scoring procedures to evaluate memory and sequencing in auditory, visual and auditory-visual combined modalities

Abstract

Aim: The present study was carried out to evaluate whether there exists a relation between two scoring procedures (score and span) to evaluate memory as well as sequencing within three modality conditions (auditory, visual and auditory-visual).Methods: The auditory memory and sequencing abilities of 30 typically developing children aged ?7 to <9 years were determined using ‘Revised Auditory Memory and Sequencing Test in Indian-English’ (RAMST-IE) developed by Yathirajet al. Visual as well as auditory-visual memory and sequencing were assessed using visual and auditory-visual tests that were analogous to the auditory test. ‘Scores’ and ‘span’ were estimated for all three modality conditions, with the former scoring procedure being longer than the latter.Results: It was observed in all three modality conditions that the children performed better on the memory skill when compared to the sequencing skill. Further, after elimination of two outliers, Pearson’s correlation was carried out to check the relation between the two scoring procedures. It was observed that there was a significant moderate correlation between the two scoring measures (score and span) for the visual and auditory-visual modality conditions. This was seen for both memory and sequencing skills. However, for the auditory modality, a significant moderate correlation was observed for the sequencing skill and not for the memory skill.Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that the calculation of ‘span’ could be used instead of calculation of ‘scores’, when time is a constrain. This can be done only for the visual and for the auditory-visual modality conditions. However, it is recommended that if subtle memory problems are to be detected, the calculation of ‘scores’ would yield better results.