Interrelationships of perceptual modality, short-term memory and reading achievement.

Visual and auditory components of short-term memory and perception were used as predictors of vocabulary and comprehension components of reading for 72 children from Grades 2 to 5 in a low socio-economic rural school. All six variables were significantly intercorrelated (with the exception of visual short-term memory and auditory perception). When canonical correlation analysis was applied using the four scores measuring short-term memory and perception as predictors of the two reading scores, one was significant, and each variable made a significant contribution. Not only are short-term memory and perception a part of learning to read but both visual and auditory channels are important.