The relationship between working memory and mathematical skills in third-grade primary school students

Abstract

Working memory is an important factor that accounts for individual differences in mathematics achievement among children. A specific component of working memory is the visuospatial working memory, responsible for maintenance and processing of visual and spatial information significant for successful task completion. This research was aimed at examining whether there is a link between visuospatial working memory and the level of acquisition of mathematical skills. The research was conducted in primary schools in Belgrade in the second academic term of the year 2016. The sample included 103 students of both genders, aged 9 to 10. In order to assess the visuospatial working memory we used the Houses Recognition test and the Jigsaw Puzzle task. Bearing in mind the results of the Neuropsychological Test Battery for Number Processing and Calculation in Children, a group of children with learning difficulties in mathematics was formed. The results indicated that the capacity of visuospatial working memory was directly proportional to the results of the test of mathematical skills. The analysis of the results of mathematical skills has shown that there was a significant correlation between the children with difficulties and those without difficulties in learning mathematics (p<0.05). Furthermore, there is a difference between these two groups at the level of both active and passive visuospatial working memory, with the better results achieved by the students with no learning difficulties in mathematics. Visuospatial working memory is very significant for the acquisition of mathematical skills and achievement in mathematics.