Leiden University Student Repository

Muñiz, Júlia (2024)

Examining the Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Dynamic Testing: A Study of Working Memory in Schoolchildren

Master thesis | Psychology (MSc)

The present study aimed to explore the applicability of Dynamic Testing (DT) in the measuring of the learning potential of Working Memory (WM), of 92 typically developing school children aged eight and nine in Dutch education system. Further, the study aimed to explore the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) in the results of DT when measuring WM, further investigating potential effects of SES on the instructional needs of DT, by searching for potential differences in the number of prompts used during training between the SES groups. The study was an experimental pre-test-post-test design, with experimental and control conditions in our sample, where the former received dynamic training. The measures used were a static working memory measure (Picture Span subtest of the WISC-V), an IQ screening (IDS-2), a FAS-III screener to determine the level of SES, two dynamic tasks of working memory matching in difficulty as pre-test and post-test measures, and a dynamic training based on...Show moreThe present study aimed to explore the applicability of Dynamic Testing (DT) in the measuring of the learning potential of Working Memory (WM), of 92 typically developing school children aged eight and nine in Dutch education system. Further, the study aimed to explore the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) in the results of DT when measuring WM, further investigating potential effects of SES on the instructional needs of DT, by searching for potential differences in the number of prompts used during training between the SES groups. The study was an experimental pre-test-post-test design, with experimental and control conditions in our sample, where the former received dynamic training. The measures used were a static working memory measure (Picture Span subtest of the WISC-V), an IQ screening (IDS-2), a FAS-III screener to determine the level of SES, two dynamic tasks of working memory matching in difficulty as pre-test and post-test measures, and a dynamic training based on prompts to enhance the participant’s performance in DT of WM. Repeated Measures ANOVA and One-Way ANOVA were conducted to perform the statistical analysis. Overall, the results did not indicate significant effects of DT in the measuring of WM learning potential for our sample, nor effects of SES in the results of DT. Additionally, SES did not have an effect on the number of prompts used during training, thus no significant differences were found in instructional needs based on the SES. However, subtle effects were observed in the applicability of DT, as well as in the effect of SES and slight differences in the instructional needs between SES groups. These trends suggested a subtle effect of DT and of SES. Based on our findings, suggested clinical implications would be meticulously training the testers to obtain rigorous results on the application of DT. Further, considering the effect that SES can have in a child’s perceived cognitive ability with static testing, and contemplating a cautious administration of DT could potentially bring in a more accurate representation of their actual WM ability.Show less

Working Memory, static testing, Dynamic Testing, socioeconomic status, potential for learning

Author

Muñiz, Júlia

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Child and Adolescent Psychology

Supervisors

Vogelaar, B.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en