Accuracy and Confidence on the Working Memory Power Test for Children: Relationships With Academic Achievement in Thai Children

Abstract

The link between working memory and academic achievement has been demonstrated across many research studies, with children who have lower working memory capacity typically also having lower levels of achievement in both literacy and numeracy. However, much of this research has been conducted in Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic (WEIRD) populations. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between accuracy and confidence in working memory performance and academic achievement in a sample of 115 Thai school children. We demonstrated that Thai students performed as expected on a working memory assessment, with accuracy and confidence scores decreasing significantly with increased working memory load and both accuracy and confidence predicting academic achievement in the areas of numeracy and literacy. The present results represent the first direct demonstration of the link between working memory confidence and accuracy ratings and academic achievement in Thai students of primary school age.