Existing studies have demonstrated the usefulness of dynamic training in developing children’s various cognitive abilities, such as cognitive flexibility and reasoning. Additionally, research has...Show moreExisting studies have demonstrated the usefulness of dynamic training in developing children’s various cognitive abilities, such as cognitive flexibility and reasoning. Additionally, research has also shown dynamic measures, such as posttest performance and the amount of training prompts to be significant predictors for children’s academic performance in reading and mathematics. However, there is little information about the effectiveness of dynamic training on the working memory performance of typically developing and younger primary school children. The current study was performed using a dynamic task of working memory with a pretest-training-posttest design. The participants of this study were 103 typically developing Dutch children between the ages of 8 and 9 years old (mean age = 8.55 years, 50.50% girls). Children were allocated into a control and experimental group, where the experimental group received dynamic training following the pretest using a graduated prompts approach, while the control group did not receive training. Our study found a statistically significant difference between the children’s performance at the pretest and posttest measures of the dynamic working memory task in both experimental groups. Inconsistent with previous research, children’s working memory performance regressed from pretest to posttest in both groups. Furthermore, in-line with previous research, we found that higher performance at posttest predicted higher academic performance in reading and mathematics for the experimental group. However, the number of prompts children received during dynamic training was not a significant predictor for their academic performance. Our findings indicated that the dynamic task for working memory profited children in both experimental groups to a limited extent. Additionally, dynamic measures of working memory, such as posttest score, had a predictive effect on children’s reading and mathematical performance in school. Future research should evaluate the effectiveness of a shorter dynamic training procedure and the specific type of prompts that are most useful for children’s performance progression. Another implication for future research is to examine children’s concentration during dynamic testing. Practical implications include the application of dynamic testing along with static testing for a more comprehensive understanding about children’s learning needs and cognitive abilities.Show less
Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
closed access
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a newly developed dynamic test for phonological and prosodic awareness in children with and without dyslexia. Additionally, the impact of...Show moreThis study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a newly developed dynamic test for phonological and prosodic awareness in children with and without dyslexia. Additionally, the impact of reading self-concept was investigated. 30 children with dyslexia and 48 without dyslexia (Mage = 10.55) were included. The study consisted of two sessions: In the first session, all children completed a reading self-concept questionnaire. In the second session, the children were randomized into an experimental or control condition for a test-training-test design. Children in the experimental condition received a dynamic training between pre-test and post-test, the control condition did not. Results indicated that trained children had improved more on prosodic awareness than non-trained children. This effect was not found for phonemic awareness. Dyslexia diagnosis did not influence improvement. Furthermore, children with dyslexia had lower reading self-concept compared to children without dyslexia. However, reading self-concept was not related to improvement during a dynamic test, and dyslexia diagnosis did not moderate this relationship.Show less
