The relationship between text complexity and executive functions: text complexity facilitates working memory

Examinations of relations between executive functions and reading have been guided by assumptions that executive functions develop outside reading and contribute to its development. However, recent theoretical accounts propose the opposite, holding that complex tasks, like reading, are contexts that foster executive function development. Little work has tested these accounts to examine how, and whether, reading itself may also play a role in the development of executive functions. This study examined whether exposure to complex texts facilitated working memory in a sample of 122 university students. Individuals with high prior exposure to complex texts scored significantly higher on composite measures of working memory backward span tests than individuals with low prior exposure to complex texts, even after controlling for reading comprehension and relevant demographic variables. No effects of exposure to simpler texts emerged. The act of reading complex texts may draw on, and train, working memory processes specific to reading.