On the Association between Phonological Memory and Receptive Vocabulary in Five-Year-Olds

A large data set was analyzed to reinvestigate the hypothesis that phonological memory, but not phonological sensitivity, accounts for significant variation in young children's receptive vocabulary, against the view that both phonological memory and phonological sensitivity are manifestations of a latent phonological processing ability. Data from 5-year-old preschool children revealed a unitary phonological processing factor underlying phonological memory and phonological sensitivity performance. With age and performance IQ effects controlled, phonological memory was no more strongly associated with receptive vocabulary than was phonological sensitivity. Overall, results were broadly consistent with the latent phonological processing factor account.