Auditory Working Memory According to Listening Environment of Typically Developing Children and Specific Language Impaired Children Aged 4 to 5

Purpose: This study aimed to confirm the characteristics of auditory working memory in typically developing children and children with specific language impairment, considering to the listening environment. We also examined differences in the sub-domains of the auditory working memory task, including digit span, competing language processing tasks, blank filling in continuous words, and a single processing load condition task. Methods: The study included a total of 40 children: 20 children with specific language impaired and 20 typically developing children aged 4 to 5 years old living in Busan and Gyeongnam. To examine potential differences in auditory working memory based on listening environments and groups, the auditory working memory task was conducted in both noisy and quiet environments. Results: Children with specific language impairment showed statistically significantly lower auditory working memory than typically developing children, regardless of the presence of noise. In addition, typically developing children performed better noisy environments compared to quiet ones, whereas children with specific language impairment did not show differences in performance depending on the listening environment. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that effective language intervention for children with specific language impairment can be provided if auditory working memory is checked and systematically provided for each sub-domain of auditory working memory. For typically developing children, studying in a noisy environment may improve academic ability and attention.