Adaptation en langue française du « Reading Span Test » de Daneman et Carpenter (1980)

Some models of working memory are often used as a theoretical framework for empirical studies. We present a french version of the Reading Span Test (RST) that Daneman and Carpenter (1980) proposed as a measure of working memory involved in language use. The french version meets the following criteria : (a) the procedure is essentially the same that the one originally used by Daneman and Carpenter ; (b) the length of the sentences is controlled, ranging from 22 to 26 syllables ; (c) the length, the frequency and the mental imagery value of the ending words to be memorised are also controlled ; and (d) the distribution of these words throughout the series is counterbalanced to avoid any bias on recall performance. The Reading Span Test is proposed in a long version of 5 series of 20 sentences each, from which a shorter version of 3 series can be derived.