Comparing Three Factors of Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices between Two Groups of Students with Weak and Strong Visuospatial Working Memory

Author
seyed mohammad saeid sahaf
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Abstract
According to the existing classifications of Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM) test, it is shown that RCPM is not a homogeneous test and various cognitive factors are involved in it. Moreover, success in RCPM is influenced by working memory ability. Therefore, the present study aims to compare the three factors of the RCPM test in two groups of students with weak and strong visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and examine their role in each of the existing components.

This research evaluated a sample of 150 female students aged 6 to 10 years. Initially, after obtaining consent from the students, the school, and the parents, each student took the RCPM test. The score for each question was recorded as either correct or incorrect, and the total correct responses for each factor were calculated. Subsequently, the Corsi block span test was conducted to assess VSWM, and the score for each participant was recorded. Based on the scores of Corsi block span test, the participants were divided into two groups with strong and weak VSWM, and each factor was individually examined in these two groups.

The results showed that the differences in two factors of the RCPM test in the two groups with strong and weak VSWM are statistically significant. Reviewing the literature shows that differences in VSWM can explain success in the first (involving similarity) and second (Gestalt principles) factors. However, the examination of the third factor (involving concrete and abstract reasoning) yields contradictory results in previous research. This research is the first study to focus on the difference in VSWM in the triadic factors of the RCPM test. It is recommended that in future research, the relationship between the factors of the RCPM test and other cognitive functions be examined, and the roles of gender and age be considered.
Keywords
Executive Functions
visuospatial working memory
Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices
Intelligence
Abdullahi, Abbas (1391). Inferential statistics and SPSS in psychology and educational sciences with SPSS 26 software and SPSS and Excel practice files. Arajmand Publications, Tehran. [In presian].
Beatty, E., & Vartanian, O. (2015). The prospects of working memory training for improving deductive reasoning. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00056.
Burgaleta, M., & Colom, R. (2008). Short-term storage and mental speed account for the relationship between working memory and fluid intelligence.. Psicothema, 20 4, 780-5.
Cattell, Raymond B. (1987). Intelligence : its structure, growth, and action. Raymond B. Cattell. Amsterdam: North-Holland. ISBN 978-0-08-086689-5. OCLC 305506880.
Christophel, T., Klink, P., Spitzer, B., Roelfsema, P., & Haynes, J. (2017). The Distributed Nature of Working Memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 21, 111-124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.12.007.
Coifman, K., Kane, M., Bishop, M., Matt, L., Nylocks, K., & Aurora, P. (2019). Predicting negative affect variability and spontaneous emotion regulation: Can working memory span tasks estimate emotion regulatory capacity?. Emotion. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000585.
Diamond A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual review of psychology, 64, 135–168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750
Ehrlich, D., & Murray, J. (2021). Geometry of neural computation unifies working memory and planning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115610119.
Gonthier, C. Cross-cultural differences in visuo-spatial processing and the culture-fairness of visuo-spatial intelligence tests: an integrative review and a model for matrices tasks. Cogn. Research 7, 11 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00350-w
Gray, S., Green, S., Alt, M., Hogan, T., Kuo, T., Brinkley, S., & Cowan, N. (2017). The Structure of Working Memory in Young Children and Its Relation to Intelligence.. Journal of memory and language, 92, 183-201 . https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JML.2016.06.004.
Lebedev, A., Nilsson, J., & Lövdén, M. (2018). Working Memory and Reasoning Benefit from Different Modes of Large-scale Brain Dynamics in Healthy Older Adults. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 30, 1033-1046. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01260.
Little, D. R., Lewandowsky, S., & Craig, S. (2014). Working memory capacity and fluid abilities: the more difficult the item, the more more is better. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 239. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00239
Meneghetti, C., Ronconi, L., Pazzaglia, F., & Beni, R. (2014). Spatial mental representations derived from spatial descriptions: the predicting and mediating roles of spatial preferences, strategies, and abilities.. British journal of psychology, 105 3, 295-315 . https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12038.
Miller, G. A., Galanter, E., & Pribram, K. H. (1960). Plans and the structure of behavior. Henry Holt and Co. https://doi.org/10.1037/10039-000
Moore, P., & Fitz, C. (1993). Gestalt Theory and Instructional Design. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 23, 137 - 157. https://doi.org/10.2190/G748-BY68-L83T-X02J.
Mueller, S. T., & Piper, B. J. (2014). The psychology experiment building language (PEBL) and PEBL test battery. Journal of neuroscience methods, 222, 250-259.
Pournesaei G S, Pirkhaefi A R, Sedaghati Fard M. Designing a Neuropsychological Model of Creative Mind Development in Children with Dyscalculia. MEJDS 2020; 10 :87-87 URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-1736-fa.html [In presian].
Rasouli Foshtami A, Hashemi T, Kiamarsi A, Ghaffari A. Determination of Psychometric Indicators and Standardization of Intelligence Test of Children’s Raven Colored Progressive Matrices in Elementary School Students. J Child Ment Health 2022; 9 (1) :158-175 URL: http://childmentalhealth.ir/article-1-1215-fa.html [In presian].
Schapiro, K., Josić, K., Kilpatrick, Z., & Gold, J. (2021). Strategy-dependent effects of working-memory limitations on human perceptual decision-making. eLife, 11. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.03.458917.
Schweizer, K., Goldhammer, F., Rauch, W., & Moosbrugger, H. (2007). On the validity of Raven's matrices test: Does spatial ability contribute to performance? Personality and Individual Differences, 43(8), 1998–2010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.06.008
Shin, J., Dronjic, V., & Park, B. (2018). The Interplay Between Working Memory and Background Knowledge in L2 Reading Comprehension. TESOL Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1002/TESQ.482.
Shipstead, Z., Harrison, T., & Engle, R. (2016). Working Memory Capacity and Fluid Intelligence. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11, 771 - 799. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616650647.
Smirni D. (2020). The Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices in Healthy Children: A Qualitative Approach. Brain sciences, 10(11), 877. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10110877
Spearman, C. The Nature of "Intelligence" and the Principles of Cognition; Macmillan: New York, NY, USA, 1923.
van der Maas, H. L., Dolan, C. V., Grasman, R. P., Wicherts, J. M., Huizenga, H. M., & Raijmakers, M. E. (2006). A dynamical model of general intelligence: the positive manifold of intelligence by mutualism. Psychological review, 113(4), 842–861. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.113.4.842