Comparison of working memory and processing speed in male and female students with and without UCMAS mental abacus training

Subject Areas : فصلنامه تحقیقات روانشناختی

Kobra Asghari ¹ , Abdorrahim Kasaei Esfahani ²

1 - Master's degree, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Tehran, Iran.
2 - Faculty member of Kharazmi University, Consulting Department, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2023-05-29 Accepted : 2023-05-29 Published : 2020-01-21

Keywords: active memory, processing speed, UCM, mental abacus,

Abstract :

Abacus-based mental calculation is a mental calculation skill based on the manipulation of beads on a mental abacus that activates preparietal areas that mainly overlap with the working memory network. The purpose of the present study was to compare the active memory and processing speed of students with and without UC Mes training. The comparative causal research method and the statistical population included all primary students of the fourth grade in Islamshahr city. 160 students were selected from this community, including 80 regular students (40 girls and 40 boys) using random cluster sampling and 80 UC Mes students (40 girls and 40 boys) using purposive sampling. Children's Wechsler Intelligence Test-4 was used to measure active memory and processing speed. The results of two-way analysis of variance showed that active memory and processing speed of UC Copper students are significantly higher than normal students (p<0.001). Also, the working memory of UC Mes girls was higher than its boys and the processing speed of UC Mes boys was higher than its girls (p < 0.001). Conclusion: UC Mes can be used as an intervention method to improve working memory and processing speed of children.