La memoria operativa como capacidad predictora del rendimiento escolar. Estudio de adaptación de una medida de memoria operativa para niños y adolescentes

Abstract

Among the factors involved in school attainment, the construct “working memory” (WM) has gained particular significance, given that it is considered a basic capacity probably related to essential components of fluid intelligence. This paper presents the adaptation and validation of a WM span test (the PAR-a), based on a correlational study in a sample of high school students. In order to examine the empirical and theoretical consistency of the new measure, we assessed its predictive power on school qualifications, as well as its relations with another WM span test and an intelligence g Factor measure. The results support the construct and criterion validity of PAR-a, confirming its predictive and discriminative power regarding general cognitive ability as well as specific performance in academic subjects. This confirms, therefore, the usefulness of the test in educational contexts as a suitable tool to predict school achievement.