Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 MA Student in Counseling, Khorasgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Khorasgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.
Abstract
Abstract
The aim of the research was to assess the effectiveness of Naglieri's executive function intervention on the metacognitive skills, active memory, meta- memory, and cognitive load of students aged 10 to 12 with specific learning disabilities. The research method was quasi-experimental, employing a pre-test-post-test design with a 45-day follow-up period alongside a control group. The statistical population included all 10-12-year-old students with learning disabilities in the Lordegan county during the 2021-2022 academic year. Using purposive sampling, 40 students were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (20 in each group). The experimental group received 15 sessions of Naglieri's executive function intervention (2014). Research tools included the metacognitive scale by Sperling et al. (2001), active memory test by Daneman and Carpenter (1980), the Trivich multifactorial memory questionnaire (2002), the cognitive load assessment by Paas and Van Merriënboer (1993), and the fifth edition of the WISC-V (2014). Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between students with learning disabilities who attended the training sessions and the control group (P = 0.001). The amount of this difference in research variables in the post-test stage is equal to 0.998 and in the follow-up stage it is equal to 0.977. In other words, 99.8% of the individual differences in research variables including metacognitive skills, working memory, metamemory and cognitive load in the post-test stage and 97.7% in the follow-up stage are related to group membership or the intervention of executive functions of Nagliri.Therefore, it can be concluded that Naglieri's executive function intervention had a significant impact on the metacognitive skills, active memory, long-term memory, and cognitive load of 10 to 12-year-old students with specific learning disabilities, and its effects were sustained over time. As a result, it is recommended that psychologists and counselors utilize executive function intervention strategies to enhance the metacognitive skills, active memory, matamemory, and cognitive load of students with specific learning disabilities.
Keywords: Special Learning Disorder, Cognitive Load, Active Memory, Metamemory, Nagliri Executive Functions, Metacognitive Skills.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Learning disability is a significant aspect of the field of education that pertains to the development of abilities such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, and arithmetic, which encompass the domain of mathematics (Flitch & Lyon, 2018). Amiri (2014) pointed out that learning disabilities can lead to academic struggles, thereby adversely impacting metacognitive skills. Metacognitive skills refer to higher-order knowledge or processes associated with the evaluation, monitoring, and control of one's own cognitive functions (Brintus & Valenzola). Research by Pass and Van Merinb (2020) has demonstrated that children with learning disabilities often exhibit memory and learning difficulties. Shvandi and Khalili (1399) have reported that the performance of extensive conservation among children with learning disabilities is generally low. Research conducted by Zhou and Ioost (2022) and Ziara (2022) confirmed a significant correlation between cognitive functions and learning. In other words, the variable of cognitive load involves the duration of processing information within active or short-term memory before encoding it for subsequent storage in long-term memory (Zhou & io Dost, 2022). In the context of psychological research, executive functions represent a set of cognitive capabilities that are crucial for the management, monitoring, and regulation of lower-level cognitive processes in order to achieve effective information processing during task execution (Gordon & Todder, 2020). Executive functions play a significant role in enhancing the ability to switch tasks (known as task-switching), updating memory, inhibiting irrelevant information, multitasking, and maintaining attention (Enricois-Gpert, Heroter & Herman, 2013).
Research Question(s)
The primary objective of the present study is to investigate whether the inclusion of the executive functions of the Naglieri assessment has a positive impact on the metacognitive skills, active memory, long-term memory, and cognitive load of 10- to 12-year-old students with learning disorders.
Literature Review
The literature review for this research is based on the following key references:
Metacognition Scale for Children, developed by Sperling, Howard and Miller (2002), is designed for children aged 8 to 12 years old.
The Cognitive Load Assessment tool, formulated by Paas and Van Merinbuer (1994).
Active Memory Test by Daniman and Carpenter (1980).
Multi-Factor Memory Questionnaire by Terrier and Rich (2002).
Children's Intelligence Scale 5th edition (WISC-V).
Methodology
The research methodology employed in this study was of a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-intervention-retest and follow-up phase lasting 45 days, featuring a control group.
Results
The findings of the study revealed a significant difference between students with learning disorders who participated in the training sessions and those in the control group (p = 0.001). Furthermore, the discrepancies in the research variables between the pre-test stage and the first follow-up phase amounted to 0.998, while the second follow-up phase showed a slight decrease to 0.977. This indicates that, for both the intervention group and the control group, 99.8% and 97.7% of the individual differences in the respective research variables – such as metacognitive skills, active memory, long-term memory, and cognitive load – showed noticeable improvements during the first and second follow-up phases, respectively.
Tablae1. Overall Results of Multi-Variable Analysis Analysis Analysis
Steps
Group effects
Value
F
The degree of freedom of hypothesis
The degree of freedom of error
Significant level
The amount
Impact
Power
Statistics
After the test
Pillai's Trace
0/998
3196/73
4
31
0/001
0/998
1/000
Wilks' Lambda
0/002
3196/73
4
31
0/001
0/998
1/000
Hotelling's Trace
412/48
3196/73
4
31
0/001
0/998
1/000
.Roy's Laragest Root
412/48
3196/73
4
31
0/001
0/998
1/000
followup
Pillai's Trace
0/977
322/369
4
31
0/001
0/997
1/000
Wilks' Lambda
0/023
322/369
4
31
0/001
0/997
1/000
Hotelling's Trace
41/72
322/369
4
31
0/001
0/997
1/000
.Roy's Laragest Root
41/72
322/369
4
31
0/001
0/997
1/000
Discussion
The research findings are in line with the positive effects of Naglieri's executive function intervention on metacognitive skills, corroborating previous studies by Kubota et al. (2023) and Khodari et al. (2022). According to the aforementioned account, it can be asserted that instructing students on specific abilities such as maintaining composure, thoughtfully considering their responses, observing turn-taking norms, exhibiting patience, actively focusing on diverse contextual elements, being responsible and vigilant, paying heed to visual cues, employing visualization techniques, refining perception, allocating one's attention, engaging in organized game activities, attentively listening to others, adhering to guidelines, structuring tasks, and continuously exercising mental awareness can lead to the improvement of response control in these students.
Interventions targeting the improvement of executive functions have been found to augment brain activity in the prefrontal cortex (Sardari, 2014). As evidenced by Effendi (2017), enhanced executive functioning correlates with heightened cognitive abilities, which subsequently leads to an enhancement in learning capabilities within the domain of metacognitive skills. The findings of the current study corroborate the positive impact of Naglieri's executive function intervention on active memory, consistent with the outcomes reported by previous researchers, such as those reported by liberation, nia and Rezao (2022) and Narimani et al. (2012). Based on the presented findings, it can be asserted that the teaching of executive functions plays a crucial role in the management and direction of academic behavior and success (Buck, 2014) as it equips students with the ability to initiate and complete tasks while persevering through challenges (Divin, 2014). By honing executive function skills, students can significantly bolster their active memory performance by employing techniques such as chunking, or breaking down larger information blocks into more manageable units. This process occurs through targeted practice and repetition, thereby transforming information processing into an automatic and efficient routine (liberation, nia & Rezao, 2022).
The current research findings are congruent with the positive effects of Naglieri's executive function intervention on long-term memory, aligning with earlier studies conducted by Mouti and Omar (2020) and Shvandi and Khalili (2019). According to these findings, the dominance of certain executive functions, such as attention, language, spatial processing, and memory, is essential in explaining these outcomes. These skills are developed through experience, education, and learning, and the training of executive functions, with their impact on brain hemisphere activity, enhances cognitive performance. This relationship implies that cognitive executive functions act as a necessary resource for active memory utilization in specific educational activities or learning tasks, and according to the underlying theory, learning can be negatively impacted when the active memory capacity is not sufficient to support effective task completion. The cognitive theory contends that numerous conventional educational methods overlook the limitations of human cognition by placing undue burden on the learner's active memory. To rectify this, the theory advocates for the careful selection of educational methods, taking into account active memory constraints and emphasizing the necessity of aligning educational techniques with foundational principles of the human cognitive system (Gharbi et al., 2010).
Conclusion
Given the findings of this research, it is recommended that psychologists and counselors should integrate executive function intervention methods as a means to improve the metacognitive skills, active memory, long-term memory, and cognitive load of students with specific learning disabilities.
Conflict of interest
In the conduct of this study, there was no conflict of interest. The researcher would like to express gratitude to all the 10-12-year-old students with learning disorders from Lordegan County who contributed to the research.
Abstract
The aim of the research was to assess the effectiveness of Naglieri's executive function intervention on the metacognitive skills, active memory, meta- memory, and cognitive load of students aged 10 to 12 with specific learning disabilities. The research method was quasi-experimental, employing a pre-test-post-test design with a 45-day follow-up period alongside a control group. The statistical population included all 10-12-year-old students with learning disabilities in the Lordegan county during the 2021-2022 academic year. Using purposive sampling, 40 students were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (20 in each group). The experimental group received 15 sessions of Naglieri's executive function intervention (2014). Research tools included the metacognitive scale by Sperling et al. (2001), active memory test by Daneman and Carpenter (1980), the Trivich multifactorial memory questionnaire (2002), the cognitive load assessment by Paas and Van Merriënboer (1993), and the fifth edition of the WISC-V (2014). Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between students with learning disabilities who attended the training sessions and the control group (P = 0.001). The amount of this difference in research variables in the post-test stage is equal to 0.998 and in the follow-up stage it is equal to 0.977. In other words, 99.8% of the individual differences in research variables including metacognitive skills, working memory, metamemory and cognitive load in the post-test stage and 97.7% in the follow-up stage are related to group membership or the intervention of executive functions of Nagliri.Therefore, it can be concluded that Naglieri's executive function intervention had a significant impact on the metacognitive skills, active memory, long-term memory, and cognitive load of 10 to 12-year-old students with specific learning disabilities, and its effects were sustained over time. As a result, it is recommended that psychologists and counselors utilize executive function intervention strategies to enhance the metacognitive skills, active memory, matamemory, and cognitive load of students with specific learning disabilities.
Keywords: Special Learning Disorder, Cognitive Load, Active Memory, Metamemory, Nagliri Executive Functions, Metacognitive Skills.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Learning disability is a significant aspect of the field of education that pertains to the development of abilities such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, and arithmetic, which encompass the domain of mathematics (Flitch & Lyon, 2018). Amiri (2014) pointed out that learning disabilities can lead to academic struggles, thereby adversely impacting metacognitive skills. Metacognitive skills refer to higher-order knowledge or processes associated with the evaluation, monitoring, and control of one's own cognitive functions (Brintus & Valenzola). Research by Pass and Van Merinb (2020) has demonstrated that children with learning disabilities often exhibit memory and learning difficulties. Shvandi and Khalili (1399) have reported that the performance of extensive conservation among children with learning disabilities is generally low. Research conducted by Zhou and Ioost (2022) and Ziara (2022) confirmed a significant correlation between cognitive functions and learning. In other words, the variable of cognitive load involves the duration of processing information within active or short-term memory before encoding it for subsequent storage in long-term memory (Zhou & io Dost, 2022). In the context of psychological research, executive functions represent a set of cognitive capabilities that are crucial for the management, monitoring, and regulation of lower-level cognitive processes in order to achieve effective information processing during task execution (Gordon & Todder, 2020). Executive functions play a significant role in enhancing the ability to switch tasks (known as task-switching), updating memory, inhibiting irrelevant information, multitasking, and maintaining attention (Enricois-Gpert, Heroter & Herman, 2013).
Research Question(s)
The primary objective of the present study is to investigate whether the inclusion of the executive functions of the Naglieri assessment has a positive impact on the metacognitive skills, active memory, long-term memory, and cognitive load of 10- to 12-year-old students with learning disorders.
Literature Review
The literature review for this research is based on the following key references:
Metacognition Scale for Children, developed by Sperling, Howard and Miller (2002), is designed for children aged 8 to 12 years old.
The Cognitive Load Assessment tool, formulated by Paas and Van Merinbuer (1994).
Active Memory Test by Daniman and Carpenter (1980).
Multi-Factor Memory Questionnaire by Terrier and Rich (2002).
Children's Intelligence Scale 5th edition (WISC-V).
Methodology
The research methodology employed in this study was of a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-intervention-retest and follow-up phase lasting 45 days, featuring a control group.
Results
The findings of the study revealed a significant difference between students with learning disorders who participated in the training sessions and those in the control group (p = 0.001). Furthermore, the discrepancies in the research variables between the pre-test stage and the first follow-up phase amounted to 0.998, while the second follow-up phase showed a slight decrease to 0.977. This indicates that, for both the intervention group and the control group, 99.8% and 97.7% of the individual differences in the respective research variables – such as metacognitive skills, active memory, long-term memory, and cognitive load – showed noticeable improvements during the first and second follow-up phases, respectively.
Tablae1. Overall Results of Multi-Variable Analysis Analysis Analysis
Steps
Group effects
Value
F
The degree of freedom of hypothesis
The degree of freedom of error
Significant level
The amount
Impact
Power
Statistics
After the test
Pillai's Trace
0/998
3196/73
4
31
0/001
0/998
1/000
Wilks' Lambda
0/002
3196/73
4
31
0/001
0/998
1/000
Hotelling's Trace
412/48
3196/73
4
31
0/001
0/998
1/000
.Roy's Laragest Root
412/48
3196/73
4
31
0/001
0/998
1/000
followup
Pillai's Trace
0/977
322/369
4
31
0/001
0/997
1/000
Wilks' Lambda
0/023
322/369
4
31
0/001
0/997
1/000
Hotelling's Trace
41/72
322/369
4
31
0/001
0/997
1/000
.Roy's Laragest Root
41/72
322/369
4
31
0/001
0/997
1/000
Discussion
The research findings are in line with the positive effects of Naglieri's executive function intervention on metacognitive skills, corroborating previous studies by Kubota et al. (2023) and Khodari et al. (2022). According to the aforementioned account, it can be asserted that instructing students on specific abilities such as maintaining composure, thoughtfully considering their responses, observing turn-taking norms, exhibiting patience, actively focusing on diverse contextual elements, being responsible and vigilant, paying heed to visual cues, employing visualization techniques, refining perception, allocating one's attention, engaging in organized game activities, attentively listening to others, adhering to guidelines, structuring tasks, and continuously exercising mental awareness can lead to the improvement of response control in these students.
Interventions targeting the improvement of executive functions have been found to augment brain activity in the prefrontal cortex (Sardari, 2014). As evidenced by Effendi (2017), enhanced executive functioning correlates with heightened cognitive abilities, which subsequently leads to an enhancement in learning capabilities within the domain of metacognitive skills. The findings of the current study corroborate the positive impact of Naglieri's executive function intervention on active memory, consistent with the outcomes reported by previous researchers, such as those reported by liberation, nia and Rezao (2022) and Narimani et al. (2012). Based on the presented findings, it can be asserted that the teaching of executive functions plays a crucial role in the management and direction of academic behavior and success (Buck, 2014) as it equips students with the ability to initiate and complete tasks while persevering through challenges (Divin, 2014). By honing executive function skills, students can significantly bolster their active memory performance by employing techniques such as chunking, or breaking down larger information blocks into more manageable units. This process occurs through targeted practice and repetition, thereby transforming information processing into an automatic and efficient routine (liberation, nia & Rezao, 2022).
The current research findings are congruent with the positive effects of Naglieri's executive function intervention on long-term memory, aligning with earlier studies conducted by Mouti and Omar (2020) and Shvandi and Khalili (2019). According to these findings, the dominance of certain executive functions, such as attention, language, spatial processing, and memory, is essential in explaining these outcomes. These skills are developed through experience, education, and learning, and the training of executive functions, with their impact on brain hemisphere activity, enhances cognitive performance. This relationship implies that cognitive executive functions act as a necessary resource for active memory utilization in specific educational activities or learning tasks, and according to the underlying theory, learning can be negatively impacted when the active memory capacity is not sufficient to support effective task completion. The cognitive theory contends that numerous conventional educational methods overlook the limitations of human cognition by placing undue burden on the learner's active memory. To rectify this, the theory advocates for the careful selection of educational methods, taking into account active memory constraints and emphasizing the necessity of aligning educational techniques with foundational principles of the human cognitive system (Gharbi et al., 2010).
Conclusion
Given the findings of this research, it is recommended that psychologists and counselors should integrate executive function intervention methods as a means to improve the metacognitive skills, active memory, long-term memory, and cognitive load of students with specific learning disabilities.
Conflict of interest
In the conduct of this study, there was no conflict of interest. The researcher would like to express gratitude to all the 10-12-year-old students with learning disorders from Lordegan County who contributed to the research.
Keywords
)