Measuring visual-spatial working memory among schoolchildren: Accuracy, capacity, and efficiency in educational outcomes

Context and relevance. Visual-spatial working memory is the key to successful learning throughout general education, and its measurement using the “Corsi Block Test” is practiced not only by researchers, but also by school psychologists. Typically, only the accuracy measure (number of correct responses) has been examined, which fails to capture both the capacity of visual-spatial working memory and the efficiency of task performance. Objective: to identify the performance indicator of the visual-spatial working memory (measured via the “Corsi Block Test”) that best correlates with educational outcomes in primary and secondary schoolchildren. Hypothesis. The strength of association between each of the three measures derived from the “Corsi Block Test” and mathematical learning outcomes will vary depending on the grade level of the schoolchildren (fourth vs. ninth grade), as well as the nature of the educational outcome being evaluated (examination results vs. teacher evaluations). Methods and materials. The study included two groups of schoolchildren: 505 fourth graders (M_age = 10.8 years; SD = 0.4; 50.4% female) and 496 ninth graders (M_age = 15.8 years; SD = 0.4; 50.1% female). Participants' visual-spatial working memory was assessed using the “Corsi Block Test”, while their mathematics performance data were collected through standardized exams and teacher evaluations. Results. Three performance indicators of visual-spatial working memory — accuracy, capacity, and efficiency — assessed using the “Corsi Block Test”, exhibit differential associations with mathematics learning outcomes during primary and secondary general education. Among fourth-grade pupils, the greatest inter-group disparities in learning outcomes were observed for the accuracy metric, accounting for up to 24% variance. Conversely, among ninth-grade pupils, the efficiency indicator explained the highest proportion of variability in learning outcomes, reaching up to 10%. Conclusions. It is concluded that researchers and school psychologists should focus not only on the number of correct answers in the “Corsi Block Test”, but also consider the total number of attempted tasks, which reveals the zone of proximal development of visual-spatial working memory, as well as the ratio of correct solutions to the total number of attempts, which provides insight into the child's problem-solving efficiency.