۱.
Students with specific learning disorders (SLD) have major difficulties in learning and using listening, speaking, reading, writing, and math skills. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of proprioception-enhancing exercises on dyslexia and dysgraphia in students with SLD. The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The study population consisted of all girl and boy elementary school students (2nd and 3rd grades) with SLD who received educational and rehabilitation services from public and private centers for learning disorders in Ahvaz, Iran in 2022. Using convenience sampling, 30 students were selected and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups (n= 15 per group). The participants in the experimental group received proprioception-enhancing exercises in twelve 45-minute sessions, whereas those in the control group received no intervention. The research instruments included the Reading and Dyslexia Test and Dysgraphia Test. The data were statistically analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). According to the demographic results, the mean age of the students in the experimental and control groups was 8.64±2.31 and 8.30±2.47 years, respectively. The results showed that proprioception-enhancing exercises were effective in improving dyslexia and dysgraphia in students with SLD (p<0.01). It can be hence concluded that proprioception-enhancing exercises improve not only dyslexia and dysgraphia in students with SLD but also their academic performance.
۲.
The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System (D–KEFS) and Dawson–Guare program on neuropsychological functions in students with dyslexia. This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design, a control group, and a follow-up period. The statistical population included all boy and girl third-graders in Tehran within the 2018–2019 academic year. Based on the inclusion criteria, convenience sampling was employed to select 45 dyslexic students from all the boy and girl third-graders with dyslexia. The Raven IQ Test for Children (1983) and the Reading and Dyslexia Test (2016) was conducted for screening, and the Conners’ Continuous Performance Test (2004) was utilized for assessment before and after interventions. The first experimental group received 17 sessions based on the D–KEFS, whereas the second experimental group received 17 sessions in the Dawson–Guare Program. The ANCOVA was then used in SPSS-24 for data analysis. The mean of the post-test and follow-up scores of neuropsychological functions in the D–KEFS and Dawson–Guare Program groups significantly decreased compared to the control group (p<0.01). Moreover, the D–KEFS intervention improved neuropsychological functions further than the Dawson–Guare Program (p<0.05). Based on the findings, it can be concluded that there is a high correlation between enhancing executive skills in dyslexic children and improving their neuropsychological functions. It is possible to enhance neuropsychological functions, which underlie the reading skill, in dyslexic children through interventions that target a wide variety of executive functions.
۳.
Purpose: This study intended to investigate the effectiveness of personal wisdom therapy approach in reducing internet addiction in adolescent female students. Method: The present study was a semi-experimental study and its statistical population was 200 adolescent female students studying in high schools in the city of Hamadan in the academic year 1399-1400 from which 34 female students, selected based on convenience sampling procedure, were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The participants in the experimental group received 10 training sessions using a wisdom-therapy approach. In order to assess the participants’ internet addiction, the internet Addiction Scale developed by Young (2007) was used. The effect of the provided trainings was assessed using pre-test, post-test and two-month follow-up. In order to analyze the obtained data, a set of ANCOVA was run. Findings: The results revealed that personal wisdom-therapy had a statistically significant positive effect on reducing the level of internet addiction among adolescent female students. Impact and implication statement: since wisdom therapy has been effective in reducing internet addiction, all those involved in education, including teachers and school principals can design wisdom-based lessons and programs to help students in this regard and improve the quality of education.
۴.
This study aimed to determine the effect of educational packages based on executive functions on students' working memory. This was a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study with a control group. In this study, the statistical population was all fifth-grade male students of Shahreza city located in Iran in the academic year 2020-2021. A boys' primary school and 40 students were selected using the available sampling method randomly. Experiments and controls were replaced in two groups of 20 people. The experimental group underwent 10 sessions of training based on executive functions; The control group did not receive any intervention. The data collection process was performed in the pre-test and post-test stages with Daniman and Carpenter's (1980) working memory scale for all participants in two groups. The collected data were analyzed by the ANCOVA method. ANCOVA results showed that performance-based education increased the working memory of students in the experimental group compared to the control group in the post-test (P<0.05). According to the results, the educational package based on executive functions can be used to increase the working memory of students in schools and educational centers.
۵.
In order to better understand the relationship between problem solving and empathy, this study looked into the mediating roles of working memory and attentional control. The descriptive-correlation research design was used for this study. All of the students in Zahedan city who were enrolled in classes made up the statistical population of the study With roughly 40,000 students. 500 Zahedan City students were chosen as participants in this study using the cluster sampling method. The problem-solving questionnaire by Hepner and Petersen(1982), the attentional control scale(2013), the empathy questionnaire by Jolliffe and Farrington(2006), and the working memory questionnaire(2012) were all used to gather data. The data were analyzed using SPSS and Amos software using descriptive and inferential statistical methods like Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling. The direct approach to problem solving is detrimental and requires attention (-0.518). Additionally, the non-significant direct relationship between working memory and cognitive emotional empathy (-0.060). There is a negative and significant direct path of attention to cognitive emotional empathy (0.219). The direct correlation between cognitive emotional empathy and problem solving is negative and significant (-0.463). the indirect effect of problem solving on empathy with the mediation of attentional control is favorable and significant (P < 0.01). In general, the findings of the research indicate that paying attention to the role of mediating factors in the relationship between problem solving and empathy is of particular importance, and considering the indirect effects of problem solving on empathy, interventions can be designed to promote empathy.
۶.
The use of technology-based instructions and treatment tools to compensate for deficiencies in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is evidently increasing. The present study that performed during 2021-2022 was a systematic review and meta-analysis concerning the efficacy of digital technologies in improving the deficient communication skills in language learners with ASD. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria. The results revealed that the overall effect size (Cohen’s d) was 0.12 for both fixed effect model and random-effect model (z = 1.155, p >0.05). The effect size was statistically non-significant. We also considered Magnitudes of Cohen’s d fixed at 0.2, 0.5, and 0.8 which commonly accepted for small, medium and large quantities. Again, the result approached the small magnitude (1.12 > 0.2). Despite estimation of variances of effect sizes across studies (Q index, I2 and T2 values) approved homogeneity in study results, due to small number of studies included in this meta-analysis they\ results may not be generalizable (Q= 8.780, I= 0.00, T= 0.00, p> 0.05). For future comparisons, we therefore recommend use of more evidence-based experimental studies with modifications in their technology devices to secure higher statistical gains. We also recommend considering moderator variables which affected the effect size of included publications consisting age, IQ level, treatment durations and validity rate of technology devices.
