Memory for Digit Span

This subtest of the Wechsler (WISC-R) for children ages 7 through 11 measures short-term memory for a series of numbers, some presented in forward and some in reverse order; it is part of the Child Supplement.

Table 6.1. Digit Span: Total Raw Scores by Child Age and Race/Ethnicity (2006 Sample Cases)
Table 6.2. Digit Span: Total Standard Scores by Child Age and Race/Ethnicity (2006 Unweighted Distribution)
Table 6.3. Digit Span: Forward - Raw Scores by Child Age and Race/Ethnicity (2006 Weighted Scores)
Table 6.4. Digit Span: Backward - Raw Scores by Child Age and Race/Ethnicity (2006 Weighted Scores)

Table 6.1 Digit Span: Total Raw Scores by Child Age and Race/Ethnicity (2006 Sample Cases)

  0-4 5-7 8-10 11-13 14-16 17-28 Invalid Valid Total % Valid
AGE OF CHILD 1 24 54 14 2 2 16 97 113 85.8
7 Years
8 Years 3 24 61 45 13 4 21 150 171 87.7
9 Years 3 11 56 54 23 7 24 154 178 86.5
10 Years 2 17 47 72 24 14 18 176 194 90.7
11 Years 1 11 43 66 49 29 31 199 230 86.5
Total 10 87 261 251 111 56 110 776 886 87.6
RACE OF CHILD AGE OF CHILD   6 11 4 1   1 22 23 95.7
Hispanic 7 Years
8 Years   6 13 7 2   5 28 33 84.8
9 Years 1 2 9 8 2 1 4 23 27 85.2
10 Years 1 6 13 17 1 4 5 42 47 89.4
11 Years   2 12 12 7 4 7 37 44 84.1
Total 2 22 58 48 13 9 22 152 174 87.4
Black AGE OF CHILD   6 8 4 1   8 19 27 70.4
7 Years
8 Years 2 8 12 9 2 1 4 34 38 89.5
9 Years 2 4 14 9 4 2 6 35 41 85.4
10 Years 1 9 10 15 4 1 3 40 43 93.0
11 Years 1 6 13 22 13 1 2 56 58 96.6
Total 6 33 57 59 24 5 23 184 207 88.9
White AGE OF CHILD 1 12 35 6   2 7 56 63 88.9
7 Years
8 Years 1 10 36 29 9 3 12 88 100 88.0
9 Years   5 33 37 17 4 14 96 110 87.3
10 Years   2 24 40 19 9 10 94 104 90.4
11 Years   3 18 32 29 24 22 106 128 82.8
Total 2 32 146 144 74 42 65 440 505 87.1


Table 6.2 Digit Span: Total Standard Scores by Child Age and Race/Ethnicity (2006 Unweighted Distribution)

  1-4 5-7 8-9 10-11 12-13 14-19 Total Mean Std Dev
AGE OF CHILD 1.0 10.3 30.9 27.8 17.5 12.4 100.0 10.3 2.6
7 Years
8 Years 2.0 16.0 28.0 19.3 20.7 14.0 100.0 10.1 3.1
9 Years 2.6 17.5 25.3 22.7 22.1 9.7 100.0 10.0 3.2
10 Years 3.4 24.4 9.7 30.7 22.2 9.7 100.0 9.9 3.3
11 Years 3.0 16.1 18.6 23.1 24.6 14.6 100.0 10.5 3.3
Total 2.6 17.5 21.3 24.6 21.9 12.1 100.0 10.2 3.1
RACE OF CHILD AGE OF CHILD   13.6 22.7 36.4 18.2 9.1 100.0 10.3 2.5
Hispanic 7 Years
8 Years   21.4 39.3 10.7 14.3 14.3 100.0 9.6 2.7
9 Years 4.3 26.1 21.7 26.1 13.0 8.7 100.0 9.2 3.2
10 Years 4.8 33.3 9.5 28.6 14.3 9.5 100.0 9.3 3.6
11 Years 2.7 16.2 24.3 27.0 18.9 10.8 100.0 10.0 3.2
Total 2.6 23.0 22.4 25.7 15.8 10.5 100.0 9.6 3.1
Black AGE OF CHILD   21.1 26.3 10.5 21.1 21.1 100.0 10.6 3.0
7 Years
8 Years 5.9 23.5 29.4 20.6 11.8 8.8 100.0 9.2 3.3
9 Years 5.7 25.7 25.7 11.4 22.9 8.6 100.0 9.3 3.6
10 Years 7.5 35.0 7.5 27.5 20.0 2.5 100.0 8.6 3.3
11 Years 7.1 17.9 30.4 19.6 23.2 1.8 100.0 9.2 3.0
Total 6.0 24.5 23.9 19.0 20.1 6.5 100.0 9.2 3.3
White AGE OF CHILD 1.8 5.4 35.7 30.4 16.1 10.7 100.0 10.3 2.6
7 Years
8 Years 1.1 11.4 23.9 21.6 26.1 15.9 100.0 10.6 3.0
9 Years 1.0 12.5 26.0 26.0 24.0 10.4 100.0 10.5 2.9
10 Years 1.1 16.0 10.6 33.0 26.6 12.8 100.0 10.7 2.8
11 Years 0.9 15.1 10.4 23.6 27.4 22.6 100.0 11.4 3.3
Total 1.1 12.7 19.8 26.6 24.8 15.0 100.0 10.7 3.0


Table 6.3 Digit Span: Forward - Raw Scores by Child Age and Race/Ethnicity (2006 Weighted Scores)

  0-4 5-7 8-9 10-11 12-14 Total Mean Std Dev
AGE OF CHILD 47.0 46.0 5.3 0.4 1.3 100.0 5.0 1.7
7 Years
8 Years 24.5 52.3 19.1 4.1   100.0 5.9 1.9
9 Years 18.3 53.1 23.2 5.4   100.0 6.3 1.8
10 Years 17.1 53.1 25.2 4.2 0.4 100.0 6.6 1.8
11 Years 12.0 35.5 37.2 10.8 4.4 100.0 7.5 2.2
Total 21.2 47.7 24.2 5.6 1.4 100.0 6.5 2.1
RACE OF CHILD AGE OF CHILD 43.0 53.3 3.7     100.0 4.7 1.4
Hispanic 7 Years
8 Years 42.7 39.1 18.3     100.0 5.3 1.9
9 Years 32.8 39.8 17.9 9.5   100.0 5.8 2.0
10 Years 32.3 46.1 13.3 2.7 5.6 100.0 6.0 2.7
11 Years 8.8 53.2 23.6 7.2 7.3 100.0 7.3 2.4
Total 29.7 46.9 16.0 3.9 3.5 100.0 6.0 2.4
Black AGE OF CHILD 35.3 51.2 8.2 5.4   100.0 5.6 1.8
7 Years
8 Years 29.4 58.6 8.0 3.9   100.0 5.6 2.0
9 Years 28.0 48.7 20.8 2.5   100.0 5.9 1.9
10 Years 31.5 48.9 19.6     100.0 5.7 1.7
11 Years 21.7 38.5 32.8 7.1   100.0 6.6 2.2
Total 27.8 48.1 20.1 4.0   100.0 6.0 2.0
White AGE OF CHILD 48.5 44.8 5.1   1.5 100.0 5.0 1.6
7 Years
8 Years 22.6 52.2 20.9 4.3   100.0 6.0 1.9
9 Years 16.5 54.2 23.7 5.5   100.0 6.4 1.8
10 Years 14.2 54.2 26.8 4.8   100.0 6.8 1.7
11 Years 10.7 33.8 38.9 11.7 4.9 100.0 7.6 2.2
Total 19.8 47.6 25.3 5.9 1.4 100.0 6.5 2.1


Table 6.4 Digit Span: Backward - Raw Scores by Child Age and Race/Ethnicity (2006 Weighted Scores)

  0-4 5-7 8-9 10-11 12-14 Total Mean Std Dev
AGE OF CHILD 71.0 26.2 1.6   1.3 100.0 4.0 1.9
7 Years
8 Years 58.2 37.6 3.4 0.8   100.0 4.3 1.7
9 Years 43.0 47.5 6.3 3.1   100.0 5.1 1.9
10 Years 36.2 53.4 7.6 2.8   100.0 5.2 1.8
11 Years 27.1 48.0 19.5 3.7 1.7 100.0 5.9 2.2
Total 43.9 44.4 8.7 2.4 0.6 100.0 5.0 2.0
RACE OF CHILD AGE OF CHILD 55.2 41.1 3.7     100.0 4.2 1.6
Hispanic 7 Years
8 Years 71.7 28.3       100.0 4.2 1.3
9 Years 54.8 39.9 5.4     100.0 4.9 1.9
10 Years 46.9 44.0 9.1     100.0 4.9 1.6
11 Years 41.8 42.2 10.7 5.2   100.0 5.3 2.0
Total 52.2 39.8 6.6 1.4   100.0 4.8 1.7
Black AGE OF CHILD 76.6 23.4       100.0 3.5 1.4
7 Years
8 Years 82.1 12.1 5.7     100.0 3.6 1.8
9 Years 56.3 37.2 2.5 3.9   100.0 4.5 2.3
10 Years 56.1 35.9 8.0     100.0 4.5 2.0
11 Years 42.4 51.4 6.2     100.0 5.0 1.7
Total 59.8 34.3 5.2 0.7   100.0 4.3 2.0
White AGE OF CHILD 71.7 25.2 1.5   1.5 100.0 4.1 1.9
7 Years
8 Years 53.7 42.0 3.3 1.0   100.0 4.4 1.6
9 Years 41.0 49.0 6.8 3.2   100.0 5.1 1.8
10 Years 33.0 56.1 7.5 3.4   100.0 5.3 1.7
11 Years 23.5 47.9 22.3 4.2 2.1 100.0 6.1 2.2
Total 41.3 46.0 9.4 2.7 0.7 100.0 5.1 2.0