Iranian Journal of Learning and Memory

Abstract Objective: The Persian writing system is characterized by features such as the optional omission of short vowels (diacritics) and obligatory letter connectivity, which may increase its orthographic complexity. This study investigated the impact of this inherent complexity on working memory capacity and cognitive load during reading texts. Method: A within-subjects design was employed with 45 skilled adult Persian readers. Participants read texts under two conditions: (a) Vowelized (with full diacritics), and (b) Non-Vowelized (standard script). Working memory capacity was assessed using a reading span task administered after each condition. Cognitive load was measured via a self-report 9-point Likert scale and a dual-task paradigm (secondary reaction time task). Eye-tracking metrics (fixation duration and regressions) were also recorded. Results: Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of script type across all measures. Reading non-vowelized texts led to significantly higher subjective cognitive load scores (p < .001), longer reaction times in the dual-task paradigm (p < .001), and lower performance on the reading span task (p < .001) compared to vowelized texts. Eye-tracking data showed significantly longer average fixation durations (p < .001), more regressions (p < .001), shorter forward saccades (p < .01), and longer first-pass reading times (p < .001) for non-vowelized texts. Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons confirmed these effects, and hierarchical regression analyses indicated that working memory capacity moderated the impact of script type on reaction time but not on accuracy. Qualitative analysis further revealed that readers employed compensatory strategies such as rereading and context-based vowel inference during non-vowelized reading. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that the orthographic complexity of standard Persian script, particularly the omission of short vowels, imposes substantial cognitive demands on working memory and increases overall cognitive load. Non-vowelized reading requires greater top-down processing and less automatic visual word recognition, affecting reading fluency and comprehension efficiency. Both quantitative and qualitative evidence indicate that readers adopt adaptive strategies to cope with this complexity. These results have implications for reading instruction, text design, and theoretical models of reading in vowel-optional scripts, highlighting the importance of orthographic transparency and cognitive resource allocation.

Abstract This study explores the metacognitive abilities of students with high working memory capacity in the context of solving mathematical problems. The measuring instruments include two researcher-developed tests, a structured interview, and the Working memory index from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. The total 262 nine-year-old female students from Tehran were randomly selected to participate in the study. From this group, 31 highly proficient students with strong working memory were selected. Data analysis indicated that the students rarely engaged in conscious retrieval of prior knowledge during problem-solving. Approximately 61% of participants showed no evidence of strategic effort when encountering unfamiliar mathematical tasks. Moreover, 90% reported that they never asked themselves reflective questions. While students recognized practice as a helpful factor, their approach was largely imitative, often modeled after teachers or parents. These findings suggest a predominant reliance on automatic, habitual strategies rather than deliberate, goal-directed engagement with the problem-solving process. The findings highlights a significance gap between cognitive capacity and metacognitive strategy use in high-working-memory students. Despite their cognitive advantage, these students rarely employed reflective practices when solving problems, indicating that current instructional approaches may emphasize rote repetition over strategic thinking. This tendency appears particularly pronounced within teacher-centered educational contexts. To address this imbalance, curricula should incorporate explicit metacognitive training, including guided strategy-transfer exercises, problem classification activities, and structured reflection protocols. Such interventions may enhance students’ ability to engage in adaptive problem-solving and could contribute to improved outcomes in international mathematics assessments, particularly within educational systems like Iran’s.

Abstract Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of foreign language anxiety (FLA) on English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students’ cognitive processing of linguistic stimuli.
Methods: The participants were 179 upper-intermediate or advanced EFL learners from different branches of an English language teaching institute. They were asked to fill out the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) questionnaire and then, considering their scores, were randomly assigned to high-anxiety and low-anxiety groups. To analyze the EFL learners’ cognitive processing of linguistic stimuli, a semantic decision task was used in the present study. In this task, participants saw a pair of words presented one after each other and were asked to decide whether the target word was related in meaning to the preceding prime word. Mixed Factorial Repeated Measure ANOVA was run on error rate (ER) data to establish the potential interaction between primes and targets. To reveal any potential anxiety effects, anxiety was run as a between-subject factor in the analysis.
Results: The findings showed a statistically significant effect of anxiety on cognitive processing of linguistic stimuli with respect to ER. More specifically, the EFL students in the low-anxiety group made fewer errors in comparison to their counterparts in the high-anxiety group.
Conclusion: The findings are attributed to the attentional control theory and cognitive overload of working memory, cognitive interference theory, and the specific nature of the task used in the present study. The results emphasize the fact that FLA could result in deficits in cognitive processing of linguistic stimuli by foreign language learners. 

Abstract ABSTRACT
The current study examined the effectiveness of the educational Lego “More Math” on the mathematical progress, spatial understanding, working memory, and processing speed of students in female first grade of elementary school. female first-grade students. The research employed a quasi-experimental design incorporating a pre-test and post-test framework, with the inclusion of a control group. The population of this study consisted of female first-grade students studying in the schools of Tehran District 14 in the academic year 2022-2023. Among the available schools in District 14, Mihrab Girl’s Elementary School was selected as the sample. Then, 30 students were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to the experimental (15 students) and control (15 students) groups. The data were collected by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V), which consisted of ten sub-tests comprising five sub-scales for fluency, language comprehension, visual-spatial reasoning, processing speed, and working memory, and the teacher-made math test. The Lego More to Math educational protocol consisted of weekly training sessions over the course of 15 weeks, with each session lasting for 60 minutes. The data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses of covariance by SPSS26.The analysis revealed significant differences between groups for spatial perception (F = 1.48, p = 0.00, η² = 0.36), working memory (F = 12.13, p = 0.00, η² = 0.32), processing speed (F = 18.16, p = 0.00, η² = 0.42), and math progress (F = 5.78, p = 0.00, η² = 0.29, test power = 0.9), with non-significant pre-test results (p = 0.88) and significant group differences (F = 11.36, p = 0.00). The study demonstrated that the Lego "More to Math" educational program significantly enhanced first graders' mathematical progress, spatial understanding, working memory, and processing speed. These findings suggested that incorporating structured, play-based learning tools like Lego into early education effectively boosted cognitive and mathematical skills in young students

Abstract The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of metacognitive learning strategies in working memory among university students. This quasi-experimental research adopted a pretest-posttest control group design with follow-up. The statistical population included 268 students at Applied Sciences and Technology University in Tehran in 2022. The convenience sampling method was employed to select 30 students randomly assigned to two groups with 15 participants, i.e., the metacognitive training (experimental) and the control groups. The experimental group received 10 sessions of metacognitive strategy training based on the protocol of Wells (2011). Daneman and Carpenter's (1980) working memory test was conducted to collect data which were then analyzed using the repeated measures analysis of variance in SPSS. According to the findings, the pretest mean scores of the experimental group for storage and processing differed significantly from those of the posttest and follow-up stages (p<0.01). Furthermore, in terms of information storage and processing, there was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental group and those of the control group (p<0.05). Thus, it can be stated that metacognitive learning strategies had a positive effect on improving the working memory of university students. University instructors can enhance students’ learning by creating conducive conditions for acquiring metacognitive strategies and fostering an engaging and appropriate educational environment.

Abstract This study aimed to determine the effect of educational packages based on executive functions on students' working memory. This was a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study with a control group. In this study, the statistical population was all fifth-grade male students of Shahreza city located in Iran in the academic year 2020-2021. A boys' primary school and 40 students were selected using the available sampling method randomly. Experiments and controls were replaced in two groups of 20 people. The experimental group underwent 10 sessions of training based on executive functions; The control group did not receive any intervention. The data collection process was performed in the pre-test and post-test stages with Daniman and Carpenter's (1980) working memory scale for all participants in two groups. The collected data were analyzed by the ANCOVA method. ANCOVA results showed that performance-based education increased the working memory of students in the experimental group compared to the control group in the post-test (P<0.05). According to the results, the educational package based on executive functions can be used to increase the working memory of students in schools and educational centers.

Abstract In order to better understand the relationship between problem solving and empathy, this study looked into the mediating roles of working memory and attentional control. The descriptive-correlation research design was used for this study. All of the students in Zahedan city who were enrolled in classes made up the statistical population of the study With roughly 40,000 students. 500 Zahedan City students were chosen as participants in this study using the cluster sampling method. The problem-solving questionnaire by Hepner and Petersen(1982), the attentional control scale(2013), the empathy questionnaire by Jolliffe and Farrington(2006), and the working memory questionnaire(2012) were all used to gather data. The data were analyzed using SPSS and Amos software using descriptive and inferential statistical methods like Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling. The direct approach to problem solving is detrimental and requires attention (-0.518). Additionally, the non-significant direct relationship between working memory and cognitive emotional empathy (-0.060). There is a negative and significant direct path of attention to cognitive emotional empathy (0.219). The direct correlation between cognitive emotional empathy and problem solving is negative and significant (-0.463). the indirect effect of problem solving on empathy with the mediation of attentional control is favorable and significant (P < 0.01). In general, the findings of the research indicate that paying attention to the role of mediating factors in the relationship between problem solving and empathy is of particular importance, and considering the indirect effects of problem solving on empathy, interventions can be designed to promote empathy.

Abstract The present study aimed to investigate the effect of domain-specific and domain-general precursors of mathematical training on preschoolers' number sense and estimation. This study adopted a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest-follow-up design. The statistical population comprised all preschoolers in Kermanshah (Iran) in 2020. Using multi-stage cluster random sampling, a sample of 45 was selected and allocated to three groups (15 per group). The data were collected using the short form of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), the Number Sense Screener, and the PLUS test (number estimation). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The mean (SD) of IQ was 95.91 (4.21) in the working memory group and 97.78 (3.38) and 96.66 (4.03), respectively, in the number estimation and control groups. In the linear combination of number estimation variables in terms of group membership, the group x time interaction was significant on the pretest, posttest, and follow-up (p<0.01). The difference in the mean scores of the working memory, number estimation, and control groups was also significant on the variable of number sense (p<0.01). There was no significant difference in the effectiveness of the two training methods on the posttest and follow-up, and both interventions exerted the same effect on improving number sense and estimation.

Abstract Students with attention disorders face many challenges in the educational process, which also affects their academic future. The goal of this study was to compare the effect of the Cup Stacking Method and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on the working memory and information processing rate on students with attention deficits. The research population included all fifth and sixth grade students in public schools in Tehran in 2019-2020. Forty-five students with attention deficit were purposefully selected and then randomly divided into three groups of 15: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; Cup Stacking; and Control groups. The Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation group was given a 10-session therapeutic trial; a 30-minute cup stacking game was played for 10 sessions by the second group. The Symbol Digit Modalities Test and the Digit Span subtest were used to assess the study variables. The results of mixed variance analysis showed that although both cup stacking and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation improved the information processing rate and working memory of students with attention deficit, the two methods did not have a significant difference in their impact on these functions of the research subjects. It is recommended that school teachers use cup stacking in their daily interaction with the students, and that clinical professionals use Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to address executive function issues.

Abstract Today, education experts mostly aim to detect significant causal variables leading to students’ achievements in educational settings. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between executive functions and self-regulated academic learning regarding the mediating role of metacognition and working memory among university students. This research was a correlational study using structural equation modeling. The statistical population included of all students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in the academic year 2018-2019. A total of 351 students were selected by multi-stage cluster random sampling. The research instrument included the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30), Cognitive Abilities Questionnaire, the Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ), and the Test of Information Processing Skills (TIPS). The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings revealed no significant and direct relationship between executive functions and self-regulated academic learning (P>0.05). However, there was a significant and direct relationship between executive functions with metacognition and working memory (p <0.01). Moreover, a significant relationship was observed between metacognition and working memory with academic self-regulated academic learning (p <0.01). In this regard, metacognition and working memory fully mediated the relationship between executive functions and self-regulated academic learning. The study findings provide university students and experts with an appropriate model since, as the theoretical foundations of the proposed model documented, academic achievement and well-being are mainly dependent on executive functions. Accordingly, metacognitive skills, including self-regulated academic learning, can be improved by promoting the executive functions among university students.

Abstract This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of yoga training with emotion regulation training on students' working memory and cognitive flexibility. The research methodology was quasi-experimental designed as pretest and posttest with control and follow-up groups. Entire second-grade female high schoolers in the 2nd District of Tehran, during 2018-19 academic year, constituted study’s statistical population, of whom 54 students were chosen using cluster random sampling method, and randomly assigned into three groups. The pretest of N-back and Denis and Wenderval’s cognitive flexibility (2010) was administered for all three groups; and then the experimental groups received yoga training and emotion regulation intervention and finally posttest was implemented followed by 4-week follow-up test. Data analysis used by analysis of variance with repeated measurements exhibited that, both trainings significantly resulted in an increase in components of Different recognition and recognition time of working memory and cognitive flexibility (p≤/001). Yoga training had more effect on the component of different recognition and psychological flexibility than on emotional regulation training (p≤/001), while the impact of both two interventions had not a significant difference on the component of recognition time.
 

Abstract This study explored the relationship among working memory (WM), speaking accuracy and length of utterance of Iranian Intermediate EFL learners. The data were collected from 38 female EFL learners whose age range was between 12 and 15 studying English at a language institute in Tehran. First, an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was administrated to ensure the homogeneity of the participants and based on the results of the test thirty homogenous learners were selected as the main participants of the study. Next, a working memory capacity test developed by Daneman and Carpenter (1980) was administered to the participants. Later, the researcher administered a speaking test on a topic appropriate to the level of the participants which was taken from Top Notch 1 (Saslow & Ascher, 2011). Then, the researcher recorded their voices and transcribed them in order to calculate the number of lexical words the students could articulate based on a formula developed by Gilmore (2004). Speaking accuracy was also measured using a formula developed by Gilabert (2004); In fact, the students' performance was rated by two experienced teachers.  Then, the Pearson correlation formula was utilized to analyze the obtained data. The results revealed a significant correlation between working memory capacity and speaking accuracy. Based on the findings, no significant correlation was shown between working memory and length of utterance. And finally, no significant correlation was depicted between length of utterance and speaking accuracy.

Abstract This study aimed at determining the effect of forehead cortex electric current stimulation on inhibitory control and working memory in people with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), using TDCS device. The method used was quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The participants were 24 children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder aged 7-11 who referred to Baqiyatallah Hospital in 1397. Children were randomly divided into experimental (n = 12) and control (n = 12) groups. The experimental group was intervened in 10 sessions, 3 times a week, and each session was 20 minutes. Assessments were performed in 3 steps, a day before the intervention, and a day after the intervention ended, and finally at the follow-up phase, two months after the intervention was accomplished. Go/no Go and N-back tests were used to evaluate inhibitory control and working memory, respectively.  A repeated measurement method was applied to analyze the data. Findings revealed that brain electric stimulation program improves working memory and inhibitory control in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Therefore, brain electric stimulation program can be used to enhance the working memory and inhibitory control of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Abstract The present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of working memory training on reading difficulties of students with reading disorder.  The design of this study was experimental with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of all elementary school children with reading disorder, who had attended counseling centers of Tehran Education Department in the spring of 2017. Then, these students were randomly assigned to two groups of 15 (one control group and one experimental group) and the intervention program of working memory training was performed on the experimental groups over a period of 10 sessions, with each session lasting for half an hour. Both Simple Random Sampling and Convenience Sampling methods were applied. To measure reading difficulties, WISC- R (3rd edition) and Reading and Dyslexia Test (NEMA) were used. The obtained data were analyzed using the statistical method “Covariance Analysis”.  The results of Covariance Analysis showed that working memory training intervention is effective on all sub-components of Reading and Dyslexia Tests (p <0.01), with its greatest impact being on picture naming, sound elimination and category mark. Accordingly, it was concluded that the experimental group`s interventions based on working memory training, as a useful intervention method, can be effective on reducing reading difficulties of students with learning disorder, and can be applied as a complementary exercise to reduce reading difficulties among this group of students.