Visual and spatial working memory skills implicated in copying and drawing from memory of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure: what relationship in school-aged children?

The impact of age-related factors on the development of visual and spatial Working Memory (WM) and drawing skills implicated in the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test was examined in school-aged children. Additionally, this study investigated the role of non-verbal WM processes in shaping drawing performance. Ninety-four 7-, 10-, and 13-year-old children completed a battery of tasks assessing the efficiency of passive and active visual and spatial WM, visuo-constructive, visuo-motor, and visuo-spatial long-term memory functions. Results showed that WM, copy and drawing from memory of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure performances were impacted by developmental factors, that is, 7-year-old pupils were outperformed by 10-, and 13-year-old participants in many of the investigated measures. Finally, active visual WM processes predicted the accuracy of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure copying, whereas the copy of that geometric pattern and the efficiency of active simultaneous spatial WM accounted for the accuracy of the drawing from memory performance.