Page 92 - Children’s mathematical development and learning needs in perspective of teachers’ use of dynamic math interviews
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Chapter 3
stopped automatically. The total number of correct answers for the two AMWA subtests was used as a measure of visuospatial updating. The reliability coefficients for the Dot matrix (.83) and Backward Dot Matrix (. 82) were judged to be good in the past and also in the present study (α =.85 and .84).
Verbal updating. The Digit Span subtest from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) was used to measure verbal updating (Wechsler, 2003). First, the child is asked to repeat a sequence of digits in forward order as read aloud by the examiner. The number of digits of a sequence increases from two to nine digits on subsequent trials. Then, the child is asked to repeat different sequences of digits in backward order. This task increases in difficulty from two to eight digits on subsequent trials. Every item on the Digit Span consists of two trials, each of which is scored 1 or 0 points. The test was completed when the child failed both trials of the same length. The sum of scores was calculated. Higher scores indicate better performance. The reliability coefficient for this test has found to be .88 in the past (Kaufman et al., 2006) and was .65 in the present study, which is acceptable. Forward digit span requires rote memory and auditory sequential processing while backward digit span also requires the use of working (i.e., short- term) memory for the transformation and manipulation of information.
Inhibition and shifting in combination with inhibition (shifting + inhibition).
To assess inhibition and shifting, the Color Word Interference Test (CWIT) was used. This test is part of the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System (DKEFS; Delis et al., 2001), an age-normed battery of tests designed to measure executive functions in children and adults, ages 8-89. The Color Word Interference Test (CWIT) has four conditions: Color Naming (condition 1), Word Reading (condition 2), Inhibition (condition 3), and Shifting + Inhibition (condition 4). Condition 1 involves naming the color of colored squares and condition 2 involves reading words (names of colors) aloud. Conditions 3 and 4 were used to measure inhibition and shifting. In the inhibition condition (condition 3), children must suppress a prepotent response (i.e., predisposition) by stating the color of the ink used to present a word rather than reading the word itself (which may be a color word). For example, the word ‘green’ is printed in red ink. The correct answer in this case is ‘red’, not
 




























































































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