The Effect of the Cognitive-Emotional-Social Working Memory Training Package on the Improvement of Metacognition and Emotional Creativity in Students

Considering the significance of working memory in academic performance, cognitive and metacognitive skills and creativity of students, this study was done to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-emotional-social working memory training package on the improvement of metacognition and emotional creativity in female students with poor working memory. 

This study was a quasi-experimental research with control group pretest-posttest design. The study population included all the 10 to 12 year old female students at the 5th grade of the primary school in Tehran city in the academic year 2015-2016. Among this population, a sample consisted of 40 students with poor working memory was selected by multi-stage (cluster) random sampling and then randomly assigned to the experimental or control group (20 students per group). Metacognition Questionnaire for Children (Bacow, 2009) and Emotional Creativity Inventory (Averill, 1999) were used to collect the data. Both groups were assessed by the mentioned tools at the pretest phase. Then, the experimental group received twenty 90-min sessions of cognitive-emotional-social working memory training for three month, while the control group received no training. Data were analyzed by Analysis of Covariance using SPSS 20. 

Data analysis showed that cognitive-emotional-social working memory training improved significantly metacognitive performance (F=89.18, P<0.01) and emotional creativity (F=23.09, P<0.01).

Based on the results of this study, it seems that the cognitive-emotional-social package of working memory due to having multidimentional and diverse tasks, is effective on the improvement of metacognition and emotional creativity in female students with poor working memory performance.