Effectiveness of visual-spatial working memory intervention on mirror writing performance of pre-school children

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 MA student, Department of Psychology and Exceptional Child Education, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Exceptional Child Education, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

 The objective of this study was to examine effectiveness of visual-spatial working memory intervention on mirror writing performance of  pre-school children. This was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test design and a control group. The statistical population of the present study consisted of 20 students (13 girls and 7 boys) who were studying in preschool centers and kindergartens in Tehran (District 14) in 1395-96 school year and they were diagnosed with mirror writing by their teachers. From amont them 20 students with mirror writing performance were selected through purposive sampling method and were randomly divided into control and experiment groups (each group n=10). The experiment group participated in 12 therapy sessions of visual-spatial working memory program, each session took 60 minutes for 3 month (12 weeks). Tehran-Staford-Binet Intelligence Scale (T-SB(  was used to assess IQ and Researcher-made mirror writing test was used to assess mirror writing. The data resulting from the study were analyzed by SPSS22 and t-Test. The analysis of the data resulted from researcher- made mirror writing test showed that experiment group participants compared to control group have significant difference in the results of the test after participating in the intervention (Mean Difference =2/5, N =10, p = 0/001). It can be concluded that visual-spatial working memory program lead to performance improvement of the student’s mirror writing. Regarding the findings of the current study, the interference of the spatial-visual working memory may impact on mirror writing performance of pre-school children and it can use to decrease the mirror writing errors

Keywords


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