Effectiveness of Cognitive Rehabilitation of Verbal and Visuospatial Working Memory in Improving the Mathematical Performance of Students with Dyscalculia

The present study was conducted to study the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation of verbal and visuospatial working memory in improving the mathematical performance of students with dyscalculia. This research was a quasi-experimental study with experimental and control groups. The sample included 30 3rd-grade female students suffering from dyscalculia, selected using purposive sampling and classified into three groups through random assignment: verbal working memory rehabilitation, visuospatial working memory rehabilitation, and control group (n=10 each). The sample was selected on the basis of DSM-5 criteria, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Assessment of Persian Reading Ability (APRA) Test, and Child Symptom Inventory-4 (CSI-4). After conducting KayMath Mathematics Test and n-back verbal and visuospatial working memory tests in all groups, one group received verbal working memory intervention and the other one received visuospatial working memory intervention for 20 sessions of 45 minutes each. At the end of the interventions and one month later (follow-up), mathematical performance and verbal and visuospatial working memory were assessed again in all groups. The results indicated that both verbal and visuospatial working memory interventions significantly increased the scores of students’ mathematical performance. Based on findings, interventions conducted for working memory rehabilitation can be used as complementary interventions to resolve the problems of students with dyscalculia