working memory

Although investigating the factors that influence test scores is important, a majority of stakeholders show a paucity of attention towards individual learner differences due to having large classes of L2 learners. This study sought to explore the possible effect of working memory and cognitive style on L2 learners’ metaphorical test performance. The study was conducted in 2 phases. The first phase was quantitative, and the second consisted of a series of case studies using “think-aloud protocol” and “retrospection.” In the statistical phase, aimed at shedding light on the effect of the cognitive style of field (in)dependence (FI/FD) on metaphorical test performance, 80 senior undergraduates majoring in English Translation were selected through a truncated test of TOEFL adopted from Barron (2004). Metaphorical test performance was analyzed through recognition, text-based true-false, and scripturally implicit questions, refined by conducting factor analysis. Moreover, the participants’ cognitive style of FI/FD was identified via GEFT. In the qualitative part, after analyzing the verbal reports of 8 informants, the participants’ strategy preferences were examined. Results revealed the impact of the cognitive style of FI/FD and working memory on the participants’ strategy preferences. Due to the advent of learner-centered approaches, this study has some implications for L2 pedagogy discussed in the paper.

This paper presented two complex span tasks in Persian as measures of working memory capacity (WMC). Firstly, the construct of working memory (WM) and possible WM measures that could assess this construct efficiently were critically reviewed. Accordingly, as measures of domain-general components of WM, a reading span task and an operation span task which were documented to assess this construct efficiently were chosen and developed. Following this, the developed tasks were conducted on 151 teenage learners in a foreign language institute in West Azerbaijan Province. Then, the administration and scoring of the measures were described step by step. The tasks were validated against each other as well as against a digit span task which assessed the domain-specific aspect of WMC as well. The result showed a strong correlation between the reading span task and the operation span task, and a moderate correlation of either of the functions with the digit span task. Consequently, both of the developed span tasks can be valid indicators of WM capacity for Iranian individuals and can be used in a wide array of research domains in second language acquisition studies.

Purpose: the present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of working memory training on reading difficulties of students with reading disorder. Method: the method of this study was experimental with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of all elementary school children with reading disorder, who had attended counseling centers of Tehran Education Department in the spring of 2017. Then, these students were randomly assigned to two groups of 15 (one control group and one experimental group) and the intervention program of working memory training was performed on the experimental groups over a period of 10 sessions, with each session lasting for half an hour. Both Simple Random Sampling and Convenience Sampling methods were applied. To measure reading difficulties, WISC- R (3rd edition) and Reading and Dyslexia Test (NEMA) were used. The obtained data were analyzed using the statistical method “Covariance Analysis”. Findings: the results of Covariance Analysis showed that working memory training intervention is effective on all sub-components of Reading & Dyslexia Test (p <0.01), with its greatest impact being on picture naming, sound elimination and category mark. Conclusion: accordingly, it was concluded that the experimental group`s interventions based on working memory training, as a useful intervention method, can be effective on reducing reading difficulties of students with learning disorder, and can be applied as a complementary exercise to reduce reading difficulties among this group of students.

This study aimed at determining the effect of forehead cortex electric current stimulation on inhibitory control and working memory in people with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), using TDCS device. The method used was quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The participants were 24 children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder aged 7-11 who referred to Baqiyatallah Hospital in 1397. Children were randomly divided into experimental (n = 12) and control (n = 12) groups. The experimental group was intervened in 10 sessions, 3 times a week, and each session was 20 minutes. Assessments were performed in 3 steps, a day before the intervention, and a day after the intervention ended, and finally at the follow-up phase, two months after the intervention was accomplished. Go/no Go and N-back tests were used to evaluate inhibitory control and working memory, respectively.  A repeated measurement method was applied to analyze the data. Findings revealed that brain electric stimulation program improves working memory and inhibitory control in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Therefore, brain electric stimulation program can be used to enhance the working memory and inhibitory control of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

This study explored the relationship among working memory (WM), speaking accuracy and length of utterance of Iranian Intermediate EFL learners. The data were collected from 38 female EFL learners whose age range was between 12 and 15 studying English at a language institute in Tehran. First, an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was administrated to ensure the homogeneity of the participants and based on the results of the test thirty homogenous learners were selected as the main participants of the study. Next, a working memory capacity test developed by Daneman and Carpenter (1980) was administered to the participants. Later, the researcher administered a speaking test on a topic appropriate to the level of the participants which was taken from Top Notch 1 (Saslow & Ascher, 2011). Then, the researcher recorded their voices and transcribed them in order to calculate the number of lexical words the students could articulate based on a formula developed by Gilmore (2004). Speaking accuracy was also measured using a formula developed by Gilabert (2004); In fact, the students' performance was rated by two experienced teachers.  Then, the Pearson correlation formula was utilized to analyze the obtained data. The results revealed a significant correlation between working memory capacity and speaking accuracy. Based on the findings, no significant correlation was shown between working memory and length of utterance. And finally, no significant correlation was depicted between length of utterance and speaking accuracy.

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of yoga training with emotion regulation training on students' working memory and cognitive flexibility. The research methodology was quasi-experimental designed as pretest and posttest with control and follow-up groups. Entire second-grade female high schoolers in the 2nd District of Tehran, during 2018-19 academic year, constituted study’s statistical population, of whom 54 students were chosen using cluster random sampling method, and randomly assigned into three groups. The pretest of N-back and Denis and Wenderval’s cognitive flexibility (2010) was administered for all three groups; and then the experimental groups received yoga training and emotion regulation intervention and finally posttest was implemented followed by 4-week follow-up test. Data analysis used by analysis of variance with repeated measurements exhibited that, both trainings significantly resulted in an increase in components of Different recognition and recognition time of working memory and cognitive flexibility (p≤/001). Yoga training had more effect on the component of different recognition and psychological flexibility than on emotional regulation training (p≤/001), while the impact of both two interventions had not a significant difference on the component of recognition time.

Today, education experts mostly aim to detect significant causal variables leading to students’ achievements in educational settings. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between executive functions and self-regulated academic learning regarding the mediating role of metacognition and working memory among university students. This research was a correlational study using structural equation modeling. The statistical population included of all students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in the academic year 2018-2019. A total of 351 students were selected by multi-stage cluster random sampling. The research instrument included the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30), Cognitive Abilities Questionnaire, the Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ), and the Test of Information Processing Skills (TIPS). The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings revealed no significant and direct relationship between executive functions and self-regulated academic learning (P>0.05). However, there was a significant and direct relationship between executive functions with metacognition and working memory (p <0.01). Moreover, a significant relationship was observed between metacognition and working memory with academic self-regulated academic learning (p <0.01). In this regard, metacognition and working memory fully mediated the relationship between executive functions and self-regulated academic learning. The study findings provide university students and experts with an appropriate model since, as the theoretical foundations of the proposed model documented, academic achievement and well-being are mainly dependent on executive functions. Accordingly, metacognitive skills, including self-regulated academic learning, can be improved by promoting the executive functions among university students.

Working memory is believed to interact with a second language (L2) learning at the cognitive level. The present study sought to explore the impact of L2 readers’ prior knowledge on the contribution of working memory to reading comprehension. Eighty Iranian English learners were divided into two groups of high and low by their scores on L2 knowledge and the topic knowledge tests. Their working memory spans, and reading comprehension abilities were measured via a working memory test and a reading comprehension test respectively. The results indicated that working memory significantly predicted L2 reading comprehension only when the readers had sufficient topic knowledge. The results also show that the learners’ comprehension was mostly determined by their L2 linguistic knowledge, even when they had considerable working memory capacity. The findings imply that readers’ prior knowledge could moderate the contribution of working memory in L2 reading comprehension. A certain level of knowledge in the target language and on the topic is required for L2 readers to help working memory work more efficiently.

Students with attention disorders face many challenges in the educational process, which also affects their academic future. The goal of this study was to compare the effect of the Cup Stacking Method and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on the working memory and information processing rate on students with attention deficits. The research population included all fifth and sixth grade students in public schools in Tehran in 2019-2020. Forty-five students with attention deficit were purposefully selected and then randomly divided into three groups of 15: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; Cup Stacking; and Control groups. The Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation group was given a 10-session therapeutic trial; a 30-minute cup stacking game was played for 10 sessions by the second group. The Symbol Digit Modalities Test and the Digit Span subtest were used to assess the study variables. The results of mixed variance analysis showed that although both cup stacking and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation improved the information processing rate and working memory of students with attention deficit, the two methods did not have a significant difference in their impact on these functions of the research subjects. It is recommended that school teachers use cup stacking in their daily interaction with the students, and that clinical professionals use Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to address executive function issues.

Purpose: The main goal of the philosophy education program is to create intellectual challenges for students, which plays an important role in the ability of cognitive skills. Methodology: The present study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of teaching philosophy in the form of a curriculum on the working memory of elementary school students in Mashhad in the academic year 1391-1396. Twenty-eight female and female students were voluntarily selected and randomly divided into two groups: control and Experiments were conducted. Then all the participants responded to the Wechsler memory test. The research method was experimental and pre-test and post-test design with control group. Then, the classroom method was used in a circle method with the help of the stories of Sharp Lepman and Robert Fisher. Seven training sessions were conducted for the experimental group and the control group was performed on the waiting list They were. After completing the training sessions again, "all participants responded to the Wechsler memory test. To test the hypotheses, the covariance analysis method was used. Findings: The results showed a significant difference in the working memory of the experimental group. Therefore, it seems that training with Slow-hole technique can have a positive effect on the blindness of blind children. Conclusion: The workload of the motor-driven motor is in many complex cognitive activities requiring hard-coded controlled processing. Encourages the use of high-level cognitive skills in students, and this can be done Depending on the workload, it is related to work memory.

This study explored the impact of task complexity on task performance of Iranian lower-intermediate and advanced language learners. It also investigated how working memory was related to task performance and mediated the influence of complexity conditions on language performance. Task complexity was operationalized by designing differing tasks along the +/- reasoning and the +/- few elements dimensions. Eighty Iranian EFL learners (40 lower-intermediate and 40 advanced) carried out argumentative tasks which differed in complexity level. Working memory capacity was measured by applying the Persian translation of Wechsler's (1987) working memory test, and task performance was measured in terms of accuracy and fluency. The results revealed that for lower-intermediate learners, task complexity led to decrease in accuracy in the complex tasks, while fluency was boosted in simple task condition. For advanced learners, task complexity resulted in improved accuracy, while fluency decreased in complex condition. The results of multivariate analyses revealed that learners' language performance in the complex group significantly differed from that of the simple group on the combined dependent variables for both lower-intermediate and advanced learners. There was no significant correlation between working memory and any performance measures.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of domain-specific and domain-general precursors of mathematical training on preschoolers' number sense and estimation. This study adopted a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest-follow-up design. The statistical population comprised all preschoolers in Kermanshah (Iran) in 2020. Using multi-stage cluster random sampling, a sample of 45 was selected and allocated to three groups (15 per group). The data were collected using the short form of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), the Number Sense Screener, and the PLUS test (number estimation). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The mean (SD) of IQ was 95.91 (4.21) in the working memory group and 97.78 (3.38) and 96.66 (4.03), respectively, in the number estimation and control groups. In the linear combination of number estimation variables in terms of group membership, the group x time interaction was significant on the pretest, posttest, and follow-up (p<0.01). The difference in the mean scores of the working memory, number estimation, and control groups was also significant on the variable of number sense (p<0.01). There was no significant difference in the effectiveness of the two training methods on the posttest and follow-up, and both interventions exerted the same effect on improving number sense and estimation.

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.

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.

The present paper synthesizes the germane studies on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ motivation and foreign language anxiety (FLA) and their role in working memory. Earlier investigations have proved that learner motivation accelerates the learning process in working memory. Literature shows that learners prioritize some typical information based on their learning motivation. Nonetheless, specific strategies can be employed in order to augment learner motivation, which per se speeds up cognitive processing. Furthermore, earlier studies indicate a negative relationship between learners’ FLA and working memory. Learners’ FLA limits the attentional control system, which negatively affects learners’ working memory. Furthermore, the study offered some implications and future directions for the individuals like EFL teachers, teacher educators, and foreign language scholars. The postulations can improve their awareness of learner motivation and FLA and their role in working memory.

This study investigated the interplay of working memory capacity and language proficiency in the context of vocabulary acquisition through word-focused tasks. The involvement load hypothesis served as a theoretical framework, positing that the degree of cognitive engagement influences lexical learning outcomes. A total of 100 EFL learners participated in this study. They were divided into distinct groups based on varying levels of working memory capacity, language proficiency, and aspects of working memory (phonological short-term memory and executive working memory). The participants engaged in receptive and productive vocabulary tasks under different experimental conditions, including reading-only, reading plus blank-fill, and reading-plus production. The results revealed intricate relationships between working memory capacity, language proficiency, and vocabulary acquisition. While the efficacy of the hypothesis varied across conditions, its predictions were influenced by the nuances of individual cognitive capabilities and language competence. Learners with higher proficiency levels acquired more lexical items, both receptively and productively.  Although the difference with the phonological short-term memory was not significant, executive working memory was more facilitative of lexical gain. Additionally, the role of input modality in shaping vocabulary learning outcomes was highlighted. That is, reading plus production and blank-fill tasks resulted in more lexical gain than reading-only tasks.  The study contributes to the theoretical understanding of vocabulary acquisition by underscoring the complex interplay of cognitive processes and language factors. These insights hold implications for foreign language pedagogy, guiding educators in crafting more effective interventions for enhancing both receptive and productive lexical knowledge.

The area of Individual Differences (IDs) and their interactions with instructional conditions have recently been a point of interest in second language acquisition. However, the effect of such interaction on aural implicit grammar knowledge has not been researched exhaustively. This study thus examined the interactive effects of aptitude and treatment conditions on implicit grammar knowledge as elicited aurally. Grammar knowledge was operationalized as the ability to comprehend past/present simple passive verbs. To this end, 120 EFL learners were randomly assigned to four groups: three teacher-generated experimental (Isolated Form-Focused Instruction, henceforth FFI, Integrated FFI, and Incidental) conditions, each lasting for six treatment sessions, and a control group receiving the same content with no instruction. Initially, learners took a pre-test and cognitive tests (LLAMA-D, LLAMA-F, and LSPAN). They then received the treatments, and three days after the treatments, they took an Aural Timed Grammaticality Judgment Test as a measure of implicit grammar knowledge. Results of a general linear model revealed a significant effect for treatment. Additionally, LSPAN was found to mediate the effectiveness of instruction, with the highest effect on implicit grammar knowledge under the Isolated FFI condition. Post-hoc analyses also demonstrated that instruction made a significant difference compared with no instruction, though, in comparison with other conditions, Integrated FFI proved to be more effective. Results provide EFL teachers and curriculum developers with awareness concerning the interaction between instruction and cognitive differences. For improving the effectiveness of instruction and acquiring implicit knowledge, cognitive tasks, especially those boosting working memory, are suggested.

The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of metacognitive learning strategies in working memory among university students. This quasi-experimental research adopted a pretest-posttest control group design with follow-up. The statistical population included 268 students at Applied Sciences and Technology University in Tehran in 2022. The convenience sampling method was employed to select 30 students randomly assigned to two groups with 15 participants, i.e., the metacognitive training (experimental) and the control groups. The experimental group received 10 sessions of metacognitive strategy training based on the protocol of Wells (2011). Daneman and Carpenter's (1980) working memory test was conducted to collect data which were then analyzed using the repeated measures analysis of variance in SPSS. According to the findings, the pretest mean scores of the experimental group for storage and processing differed significantly from those of the posttest and follow-up stages (p<0.01). Furthermore, in terms of information storage and processing, there was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental group and those of the control group (p<0.05). Thus, it can be stated that metacognitive learning strategies had a positive effect on improving the working memory of university students. University instructors can enhance students’ learning by creating conducive conditions for acquiring metacognitive strategies and fostering an engaging and appropriate educational environment.

Acknowledging the critical role of working memory in language acquisition, this study examines the effects of multimodal input enhancement on working memory capacity (WMC) and collocation learning in adolescent and adult EFL learners. A cohort of 117 participants was randomly assigned to either experimental groups, receiving enhanced textual and auditory inputs, or control groups, experiencing standard inputs. Assessments included the Preliminary English Test, n-back test, and immediate and delayed collocation posttests. The results indicated that multimodal input significantly improved WMC and the recall and retention of collocations for all learners. Adolescents, in particular, excelled in both immediate and delayed tests and adapted their WMC more effectively in a multimodal context than adults. Additionally, an interaction between age and WMC was noted, affecting collocation recall and retention. These findings affirm the benefits of multimodal materials in enhancing cognitive functions and memory resources, thus improving language learning. The study offers practical insights for educational practices, advocating for the use of varied modalities in teaching materials to cater to different learning styles and cognitive needs. It also highlights the significance of designing age-appropriate materials and managing cognitive load in curriculum development, providing a tailored approach to language education for diverse learner populations.