CC BY
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https://doi.org/10.29013/EJEAP-20-2-27-32
Marnoufi Khalid, Multidisciplinary Laboratory of Information, Communication and Education Sciences and Technology (LAPSTICE), Ben M'sik Faculty of Science, Hassan II University of Casablanca, post box 7955, Casablanca. Morocco E-mail: [email protected] Bouzekri Touri, Multidisciplinary Laboratory of Information, Communication and Education Sciences and Technology (LAPSTICE), Ben M'sik Faculty of Science, Hassan II University of Casablanca, post box 7955, Casablanca. Morocco E-mail: [email protected] Bergadi Mohammed, Multidisciplinary Laboratory of Information, Communication and Education Sciences and Technology (LAPSTICE), Ben M'sik Faculty of Science, Hassan II University of Casablanca, post box 7955, Casablanca. Morocco E-mail: [email protected] Ghazlane Imane, Higher Institute of Nursing and Health Technology Professions Casablanca-Settat, Morocco Street Faidouzi Mohamed,
20250 Casablanca. Morocco E-mail: [email protected]
WORKING MEMORY, PROCESSING SPEED & VISUOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE TESTS RESULTS COMPARED TO CLASS PERFORMANCE WITHIN MOROCCAN PUPILS
Abstract. The importance of academic success is the goal of all countries of the world. The purpose of our study is to know and specify the intelligence behind school performance among the three indexes of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children 5th Edition WISC-V: the Working Memory Index (WMI), the Processing Speed Index (PSI) and the Visuospatial Index (VSI) used for this study. It's a cognitive test administered for children in the 6-16.11 age bracket. The participants in this study are 87 pupils (39 girls and 48 boys) between the ages of12 and 13 years old. All mentioned subtests ofWISC-V are administered to urban and rural children. Results ofour samples ofpublic school pupils show a very high average ofthe working memory index compared to the other two indexes. In addition, the correlation ofthe Working Memory Index with the mid-term assessment scores showed higher values compared to the other correlations. Keyword: Working Memory, Processing Speed, Visuospatial, Intelligence, School performance.
Introduction:
Academic achievement has always remained an area of dialogue and discussion and a field for research and in-depth study. It reflects the importance attached to the activity by educational leaders, administrators, teachers and parents, dictated by the urgent need to prepare the young and new generations to be able to give, contribute and achieve social goals. Several researchers' link school performance to communication disorders constraints as mentioned in a survey in Moroccan schools. According to this study that has tried to investigate constraints to education in Morocco (Sabir B., Touri B., & Moussetad M., [15]). it revealed that the sample investigated scored 20% of students with fluency disorders, 15% with articulation disorders, 21% with swallowing disorders, 19% had dysphasia, 1% of the students had hearing loss, 14% had attention disorders, 10% had dyslexia, and 6% had dysphonia. The major finding of the paper was that 54% of the investigated samples were identified as having a language delay. Still this survey did not run any cognitive test to check whether there exist any other causes that stand against pupils' school performance.
Other researchers linked academic achievements to several cognitive factors such as crystallized intelligence and working memory in the later years of the development of intelligence tests. Working memory commonly defined as a system or set of processes. That processes information and temporarily holds it while performing various cognitive tasks (Baddeley and Hitch [2; 3]). Assessments of processing speed appeared in the first batteries of human mental tests (Cattell [4]; Galton [9; 10]). In addition to being one of the many domains of cognitive-function. Some have also advocated the processing speed as a critical component across cognitive domains. In that, it has been suggest as a foundation for the competence of cognitive abilities and as influence the quality of processing, they are ageing (Jensen [12]; Salthouse [17]; Verhaeghen [19]). Psychology embodies the perpetual composition of processing speed, an idea
that there are measurable limits to the rate at which humans can correctly perform simple psychological tasks. Processing speed tests generally assess how well people can perform mental tasks that, in the absence of time constraints, would rarely be answer incorrectly. Visuospatial ability is different. It involves perceiving, generating and operating visual patterns and stimuli, and characterized by tasks that require the perception and manipulation of visual forms (Mc Grew [14]). One of the most robust findings in the literature is a male advantage on visuospatial aptitude tests, particularly mental rotation (Linn & Petersen [13]; Voyer & Bryden [20]).
This study has used the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and Adolescents, a cognitive test composed of five leading indexes. Still, in this work we were limited to three indexes: the Working Memory index WMI(Gsm short-term memory: the ability to memorize information for a short period), the Processing Speed index PSI(Gs processing speed: the ability to perform repetitive and straightforward cognitive tasks quickly and fluently over a short time) and the Visuospatial index VSI (Visual Processing Gv: the ability to analyze visual patterns and solve problems using simulated mental imagery). These tests results were compared to class performance within Moroccan pupils to find out the existing relationship and correlations in order to enhance the intelligences below average.
Method:
Participants:
The study carried on 87 Moroccan pupils with consent of ministry of education and their tutors. The aim is the administration ofall sub-tests ofWISCV on Moroccan pupils. The children participating in this study aged between 12 and 13 years (mean age = = 13 years 2 months 25 days with a standard deviation of 00years 7months & 15days). The sample consists of 39 girls and 48 boys. The participants are pupils from rural and urban areas of Safi province (25 urban and 42 rural pupils). This study has focused on the use of three indexes: the working memory index, the
processing speed index and the Visuospatial index together with collection ofpupils class performance grades.
Procedure:
When administering the entire WISC V subtests to each pupil individually, we processed the results of the following three indexes: Working Memory Index, Processing Speed Index and Visuospatial Index. Respectively, the latter's use two subtests to calculate the Working Memory Index WMI: Digit span and Picture Span, the Processing Speed Index PSI is calculating by coding and symbols search, the Block Design and Visual Puzzles calculate the Visuospatial Index VSI Wechsler D. [22]. The tests administered
during non-school hours on the premises ofvarious secondary schools in the Safi region in Morocco.
Results:
The mean values and standard deviations of the three indexes and the class scores of the pupils participating in this study are present in (Table 1). It shows that the Working Memory index WMI is slightly higher than the theoretical average, while the Processing Speed index PSI and the Visuospatial index VSI is lower than the theoretical average.
In the Figure, the grey color in percentage of students with index scores greater than or equal to 100 and in black, the percentage of students with index scores less than 100.
Figure 1. percentage of
The difference between WMI and the two indexes is 15 points that is more than one standard deviation. The standard deviation of the two indexes WMI and PSI is equal and it is greater than the standard deviation ofVSI.
To make the observation about the superiority of mean WMI over the other mean factor indexes more subtle, we notice that the three figures show the different percentages of children scoring high and low on the three indexes.
Table 1.
pupils in index scores
The percentage of children scoring above the theoretical mean in WMI is equal to the percentage of children scoring below the theoretical mean in the PSI and VSI indexes.
The correlations between the three WISC V indexes and class scores presented in Table 2 with average positive correlations.
Table 2.
WMI PSI VSI CS
M 109.3 94.63 94.02 13.71
SD 12.72 12.02 9.58 2.65
WMI PSI VSI
PSI 0.32
VSI 0.41 0.28
CS 0.36 0.22 0.28
M=Mean, SD=Standard Deviation, WMI = = Working Memory Index, PSI = Processing Speed Index, VSI = Visuospatial Index, CS = Class Scores
- WMI = Working Memory Index, PSI = Processing Speed Index, VSI = Visuospatial Index, CS = Class Scores
Table 3 presents the correlation between the results of the six subtests that make up the three indexes in this study and the class scores. The correla-
tions between the subtests are positive but for the correlations of the subtests with the class scores are both positive and negative.
Table 3.
BD VP DS PS CD SS
VP 0.38
DS 0.32 0.24
PS 0.28 0.36 0.46
CS 0.26 0.13 0.33 0.23
SS 0.36 0.11 0.39 0.14 0.71
CS -0.09 -0.21 0.05 0.07 0.21 0.28
BD=Block Design, VP=Visual Puzzles, DS=Digit Span, PS=Picture Span, CD=Coding, SS=Symbols Search, CS=Class Score
The correlation between the speed ofprocessing index (code and symbols) subtests and class scores is a weak positive relationship although the correlation between the two subtests is strong & positive.
Discussion:
According to our results, the average value of the working memory index WMI is higher than the theoretical one hundred averages in comparison to the other indexes, as is the number of pupils scoring above the one hundred averages. This index assesses the child's concentration, listening ability, and self-control. We found that children with below-average academic achievement and learning disabilities had deficits in memory functioning that required more repetition to record. They will need more time to assimilate the information. On the other hand, children with regular school results did not have deficits in working memory. Also, the standard deviation is higher than the three standard deviations of the other indexes. This index can be a good indicator of pupils intelligence. Stauffer et al [18] found a correlation of+.995 between a factor representing general intelligence (g) and a factor representing working memory (Colom, Flores-Mendoza & Rebollo [5]).
The mean value of the processing speed index PSI is lower than the theoretical mean 100 so the
standard deviation is closer to the standard deviation of the working memory indexes so we note that the percentage of pupils scoring below the theoretical mean 100 is higher than two thirds of the pupils participating in this study. This index estimates the speed and accuracy with which a child assimilates information, by maintaining attention and concentration. Teachers and parents of pupils with very low scores are very shy. However, since working memory and processing speed are essential components of overall intellectual capacity, they may not be ignore. Indeed, numerous studies have shown that high working memory capacity and effective processing speed facilitate learning and the resolution of complex and cognitive tasks (Acker-man, Beier & Boyle [1]; de Ribaupierre, Fagot & Lecerf [6]; de Ribaupierre & Lecerf [6]; Gignac [11]; Salthouse [16]).
The pupils participating in this study are children from families with a very low household income, and the parents are illiterate. The mean value of the vi-suospatial index VSI is the lower of the two other indexes compared to the theoretical mean 100. This index measures visual processing, representing the ability to generate, perceive, analyze and manipulate visual stimuli to solve problems. A low score could be a harbinger of difficulties in school mathematics. The standard deviation of this index is less than the other two indexes.
The mean value and standard deviation of the visuospatial index VSI is the lower of the two other indexes relative to the theoretical mean 100, which evidenced by the large percentage of pupils scoring below average. This index is a measure of visual processing, representing the ability to generate, perceive, and analysis and manipulate visual stimuli to solve problems. Pupils with low scores may predict difficulties in mathematics at school, indicating their academic performance in mathematics. Not to mention that the pupils participating in this study are children from families with very low household incomes, so the parents and their family circle are il-
literate. Especially the participants from rural areas never received pre-school education, so they suffer from the absence of all the social activities that serve to develop their intellectual levels.
On a theoretical level, there is no link between the three indexes and the class marks, and there is almost no link between the six index tests and the class marks. The link between the two subtests of each index is in the direction of good congruence: they seem to solicit the same cognitive aspect. The results of the three indexes, which are many domains of intelligence, would therefore guide us more towards models where the intelligences should considered independently of each other.
Conclusion:
Very clearly, our results support the idea that working memory functioning plays a vital role in school performance according to the administration of the three WISC V indexes in urban and rural
settings. We conclude that differences in working memory may explain school performance regardless of parental education level. Working memory appears to be the most important predictor of school performance. There was no significant interaction between academic achievement and the other two indexes and their subtests. In spite of the very low and severe social and economic environment of the participants, there are pupils who scored above the theoretical average. The other challenge was the fact that they didn't have pre-school education and absence of all sorts of social activities.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of interest:
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Informed Consent:
The corresponding author states give consent for information to be published.
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