Working memory influences on dyslexic university students’ writing

One explanation for lower quality texts produced by some dyslexic students in university is the indirect relationship that poorer working memory (WM) has on the link between spelling ability and academic writing. The current study compared 51 students with and without dyslexia on phonological WM capacity, executive function, and integration of sound and visual features (episodic buffer) relative to measures of the process and quality of writing. Participants with dyslexia completed significantly less in-text revisions and scored lower on grammatical accuracy. However, no significant differences were discovered in WM. The persistence of challenges in the process and quality of writing implies that university students need targeted support with specific learning strategies to ameliorate them.