Interferentie van een Parallelle Werkgeheugentaak op Rekenprestaties
Summary
Background. The aim of this study was to examine the role of working memory in arithmetic fact production. When working memory is being occupied by a verbal or visual-spatial working memory task, it is possible to look at whether this interferes with arithmetic performance. The main research question was: To what extent does a parallel working memory task interfere with performance on subtraction items? This involved two sub-questions, for a verbal and a visual-spatial work memory task. In addition, the last sub-question was: To what extent do boys and girls differ with or without a parallel visual-spatial work memory task in terms of arithmetic performance on subtraction items? Hypotheses. The hypothesis for the first two sub-questions was that a difference can be seen, because working memory is necessary to calculate. For the last sub-question the hypothesis was that there is a difference between boys and girls where the scores of boys differ less from the interference task in relation to the baseline. Method. Data from 162 primary school students from grades 2 to 5 between the age of 7;2 and 12;7 years was analyzed with a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test and a Repeated Measures ANCOVA. Results and Conclusion. The analysis showed that children did not perform significantly differently with a visual-spatial or verbal interference task with in comparison to the baseline task. It also showed that there was no difference between boys and girls in terms of interference effects. So, the arithmetic skills were being automated well.