Assessing The Visuospatial Working Memory Of School Children Undergoing Abacus Training

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Date

2022-01

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University Of Ghana

Abstract

The main aim of abacus training is to enable children perform fast, accurate arithmetic using an imaginary abacus. The ability to do that accurately, comes from the development of an aspect of working memory called, the visuospatial working memory. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence abacus training has on the visuospatial working memory of school children. A quasi-experiment research with a quantitative approach was used to conduct the study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 4 schools at New Achimota in the Greater Accra region for the study and all the children in classes 4, 5 & 6 participated in the study. Out of the 4 schools, 2 were exposed to abacus training (experimental group), while the other 2 were not exposed to abacus training (control group). The sample size used for the study was 90 for the experimental group and 100 for the control group with 10 dropping out of the study. At the beginning of the study, 3 different cognitive test; Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices test (RCPM), Digit Memory test (DMT) and Letter Cancellation test (LCT) as well as a questionnaire on the demographic of the children was administered. After that, the experimental group were trained in abacus 2hours per week in addition to the normal school curriculum for a period of 4months, while the control group was taught the normal school curriculum only. The 3 cognitive tests; RCPM, DMT and LCT, were administered again to the children at the end of the four-month period. With the aid of SPSS version 23, the data was analyzed using bivariate correlation, independent t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of the study showed that, gender, age and parents’ socioeconomic status had no effect on the visuospatial working memory (VSWM) of school children. Also, in comparing the VSWM of the experimental and control group, there was a significant change favoring the experimental group. The findings prove that, when children learn to use their imaginary abacus for mental calculations, it trains and develops their VSWM as well.

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MPhil. Home Science

Keywords

Visuospatial, School Children, Abacus, Working Memory

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