dynamic spatial reasoning

Developmental dyscalculia is defined as a selective impairment in mathematical skills of developmental origin. One of the valid theoretical models to explain the etiology of specific learning disorder is the deficiency in neuro-psychological mechanisms in these children; So that some researchers consider learning disorder as a type of mild brain damage that is accompanied by cognitive defects. Children with Developmental dyscalculia is usually confused in spatial perception and perception of concepts such as up-down, left-right, below-up, beginning-end, front-back, far-near and between. These problems create disturbances in the mental image of the number system and cause this group of people to face difficulties in recognizing the distance between numbers and their respective places.
Also, the problems of people with learning disabilities are rooted in different components of active memory; In other words, the phenotypic signs of learning disorder can be best understood and investigated in the form of active memory architecture, which somehow plays the role of language learning mechanism and supports verbal and written language acquisition. In recent decades, for the treatment of developmental disorders, there is an increasing interest in using computers in the field of cognitive problems, which has led to the expansion of cognitive training programs based on computers; So that these programs have the ability to adjust the difficulty level of the task from simple to difficult based on individual differences and create continuous cognitive challenges for the individual.Neuropsychological rehabilitation is a method created by the integration of cognitive neuroscience with information technology and is used to improve the capabilities of the brain in the field of cognitive functions such as perception, ate
ntion, alertness, and memory. Cognitive rehabilitation of Captain Log's cognitive-computer program can be used as an efficient method to improve geometric thinking (dynamic spatial reasoning and static spatial reasoning) and active memory of 7-12-year-old children with Developmental dyscalculia. The current study was conducted with the aim of investigating the efficacy of cognitive-computer program on geometric thinking (spatial and static reasoning) and working memory of 7-12-year-old children with Developmental dyscalculia.

The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group and a 2-month follow-up phase. The statistical population of this study was all children aged 7-12 years old with Developmental dyscalculia in Isfahan city in 1402-1401. A quantitative sample included all children (7-12) years old with Developmental dyscalculia in Isfahan city who referred to the Comprehensive Psychology Clinic of Islamic Azad University of Isfahan in 1401-1402, whose parents had agreed to their participation in the research, and in the diagnostic interview based on the guide Statistics and Diagnostics of Mental Disorders Version 5. Diagnosed with Developmental dyscalculia was purposefully selected based on the inclusion criteria and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups (15 people each). In this study, based on the logic proposed by Cohen (1986), and Sarmad, Bazargan and Hijazi, (2016) assuming that a = 0.05 and the effect size equal to 0.50 to achieve the power of the statistical test equal to 90. 0, for each of the two experimental groups and one control group, a sample equal to 15 participants was selected. The criteria for entering the research include the age of 7-12 years, receiving a disorder diagnosis based on an interview according to the statistical and diagnostic manual of mental disorders, edition 5, not receiving medication, having an IQ above 90 based on the Wechsler IQ test, fifth edition (Wechsler, 2014); and parental consent were required to participate in the research and the exit criteria included the absence of more than two sessions of the participants in the training sessions and the presence of any problems and disturbances in the process of the experiment (failure to complete homework) by the participants.
The intervention group received 10 60-minute sessions of cognitive-computer program Captain Log, while the control group was waiting to receive the intervention and did not receive these interventions during the implementation of the research. The instrument used included Wechsler's five test (The Wechsler scale 5 is the latest version of the Wechsler scales for children. This scale is a comprehensive clinical tool for evaluating the cognitive abilities and intelligence of children aged 6 to 16 years and 11 months, which was presented by the Pearson Institute in 2014 and adapted and standardized by the psychometric collection. This version has many differences compared to its previous versions) and the analysis of the data obtained from the study was done by SPSS software (version 26) using analysis of variance with repeated measurements. To observe ethical principles, the research was approved by the Research Committee of the University with the ethics code IR.IAU.KHUISF.REC.1401.044 was obtained.

In order to check the hypotheses, the method of analysis of variance with repeated measures has been used. In this section, group membership is considered as an independent variable and the scores of the research variables including geometric thinking and active memory in the post-test and follow-up phases are considered as dependent variables and the pre-test scores of these variables are considered as control variables. The results showed that Captain Log computer cognitive software significantly affected on static spatial reasoning, and working memory (p<0.001).

The data related to the research has been analyzed at two descriptive and inferential levels and the results show that the exercises presented in Captain Log cognitive software strengthen active memory and geometric thinking at the level of static spatial reasoning and improve the visual and spatial understanding of affected children. It is considered a disorder. These exercises are different according to the cognitive level of the child, and with the increase of the cognitive level, the exercises also improve. With this in mind, exercises tailored to learning styles in successive stages are effective in improving children's cognition and improving basic mind processes that are important in high-level learning. In this regard, these results can be used as a guide to design and implement treatment programs to improve the condition of children with Developmental dyscalculia.