Working memory, processing speed, and verbal comprehension weaknesses are shared across reading and math deficits¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2013 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In multiple regression models including all neuropsychological composites simultaneously, verbal comprehension, working memory, and processing speed significantly predicted both reading and math scores. → Willcutt 2013

Evidence¶

Willcutt 2013¶

Willcutt, E. G., Petrill, S. A., Wu, S., Boada, R., DeFries, J. C., Olson, R. K., & Pennington, B. F. (2013). Comorbidity between reading disability and math disability: Concurrent psychopathology, functional impairment, and neuropsychological functioning. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 46(6), 500-516. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219413477476

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Final multiple regression analyses (Table 6) entered all ten neuropsychological composites simultaneously as predictors of the reading and math composites; the article reports that "weaknesses in verbal comprehension, working memory, and processing speed were significantly associated with both reading and math."

"Weaknesses in verbal comprehension, working memory, and processing speed were significantly associated with both reading and math."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Learning Disabilities and Developmental Differences — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• Processing Speed — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Reading deficits are uniquely associated with phoneme awareness and naming speed, whereas math deficits are uniquely associated with set shifting — related
• The comorbid RD+MD group is more impaired than groups with RD only or MD only on seven of ten neuropsychological composites — related
• IQ and working memory are reliable predictors of academic achievement at the beginning of school when domain knowledge is not controlled — a broader claim this one bears on
• Visuo-spatial working memory and inhibition jointly predict mathematics performance in 9–10-year-old children — related
• Phonological decoding, verbal knowledge, visuo-spatial STM/WM, spatial orientation and trail-making performance are robust simultaneous predictors of math in 9-year-olds — related
• Age differences in text processing are examined in terms of the roles of working memory, inhibition, and processing speed — related
• Working memory and processing speed, but not inhibition or non-alphanumeric naming speed, uniquely predict both word reading and reading comprehension in children ages 8 to 16 — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Verbal STM/WM and several executive and sensorimotor measures show no robust relation with math in children with normal reading skill — related
• Full-scale IQ predicts reading comprehension more strongly than word reading, and working memory and processing speed remain significant predictors after IQ is controlled — related
• Phonological awareness and verbal working memory are the most consistently unique domain general predictors of grade 1 math outcomes — related
• Working-memory task type moderates MLD deficits: processing speed and updating yield larger effects than inhibition, independent of numerical content — related