Posted December 2, 2014 by Tristan Colasito

Remember that one kid in grade school that was just really good in Math? Give him an equation you find difficult and that kid will accurately solve the equation faster than you thought he could. Well other than love for numbers, there is another factor that could prove advantageous to that kid’s math sorcery – and this is Working Memory1. In psychology, one of the models for working memory show that there are three components for working memory, namely: (1)Phonological Loop2, (2)Visuospatial Sketchpad3, and (3)Episodic Buffer. These three components are governed by the Central Executive.

A study has found that some of the working memory components can predict one’s ability to solve mathematical word problems. The participants of the study included 120 students in their 4th, 5th, and 6th grade studying in public and private schools located in Nueva Ecija. These students were asked to do certain tasks in order to measure their ability for each working memory component. Afterwards, they were tasked to solve a mathematical word problem.

Results showed that the working memory components that could predict accuracy in solving mathematical word problems are Phonological Loop and Visuospatial Sketchpad. The more developed these working memory components are, the higher the accuracy for solving mathematical word problems. This is reasonable since the Phonological Loop and Visuospatial Sketchpad is responsible for how one mentally solves an orally worded problem. Additionally, the results showed that participants in a higher grade level had better working memory abilities compared to lower grade levels. 

1 – The ability to retain information while performing a task.

2 – The component responsible for spoken and written material like phone numbers.

3 – The component responsible for visual and spatial material.

To read more on working memory: http://www.simplypsychology.org/working%20memory.html

Three papers were presented during the fourth session of the second day of the PSSP Conference under the category “Mga Eksperimentong Sikolohikal”. The papers were entitled (1) “Ang Lider na Katanggap-tanggap”, (2) “Mga Bahagi ng Working Memory bilang Prediktor sa Mathematical Word Problem Solving Accuracy ng mga Bata sa Elementarya” and (3) “Epekto ng Aggression sa Hand-Eye Coordination”. These papers were presented by Mr. Darren Dumaop, Mr. Wawie Ruiz, and Ms. Enrilen Pascual respectively.