La relación de la memoria de trabajo, la función ejecutiva y el estilo cognitivo con el rendimiento académico

Abstract

The constructs Working Memory (WM), Executive Function (EF), Field Dependence-Independence Cognitive Style (FDI CS) have been related to Academic Performance (AP) in different compulsory and fundamental areas, especially in mathematics and language. The objective was to analyze the relationship between the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial agenda of the WM, the cognitive flexibility of the EF and the FID CS and its prediction with the AP in the areas of natural sciences, language and mathematics. The sample consisted of 96 children and adolescents between the ages of 9 and 14 from Medellín. The instruments to assess WM were: Digits and Letters and Numbers from the WISC-IV Intelligence test (Wechsler, 2003) and Series of Drawings (Injoque-Ricle and Burin, 2013); the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Heaton et al., 1993) assessed cognitive flexibility (EF); the FDI CS was evidenced by means of the Embedded Figures Test (Witkin et al., 1971). Through the academic bulletin issued by the Educational Institutions, the AP was measured. The results showed a low and almost moderate relationship, as well as evidence of the prediction of cognitive flexibility with the AP in natural sciences, language and mathematics, without observing a relationship between the AP in these areas with the WM and the FID CS. The predictive value of cognitive flexibility for the scope of the competences in each of the areas studied is verified.