Working memory, updating and vocabulary development in Albanian-speaking children aged 8 and 10: The primacy of socioeconomic status

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between receptive vocabulary, working memory processes, non-verbal intelligence, and socioeconomic status (SES) in Albanian-speaking children during middle childhood. The research was motivated by the linguistic characteristics of Albanian, a morphologically rich and orthographically transparent language that provides an informative context for examining how cognitive resources and environmental factors contribute to vocabulary acquisition. A sample of 168 children aged 8-10 years completed measures of receptive vocabulary (British Picture Vocabulary Scale), verbal working memory (Listening Recall), updating ability (N-back task), and non-verbal intelligence (Raven's Progressive Matrices). Descriptive statistics, correlational analyses, multiple regression, and moderation analyses were conducted to examine the associations among these variables. Results indicated that receptive vocabulary was positively correlated with age, SES, intelligence, and verbal working memory. Multiple regression analysis revealed that parental SES was the only significant predictor of receptive vocabulary performance, accounting for the largest unique proportion of variance. Working memory showed a modest association with receptive vocabulary, whereas updating ability was not a significant predictor. Moderation analyses further demonstrated that SES significantly moderated the relationship between working memory and receptive vocabulary, such that the association was stronger among children from higher SES backgrounds.