Mechanical reasoning, working memory and processing speed

• Autores: Injoque-Ricle, Irene, Formoso, Jésica, Calero, Alejandra, Caruso, Guido, Álvarez Drexler, Andrea, Barreyro, Juan Pablo
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2019
• Institución: Universidad de San Martín de Porres
• Repositorio: Liberabit
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:ojs2.ojs3.revistaliberabit.com:article/204
• Enlace del recurso: http://www.revistaliberabit.com/index.php/Liberabit/article/view/204
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: razonamiento mecánico; memoria de trabajo; memoria de corto plazo; velocidad de procesamiento

Background: Mechanical reasoning (MR) is the ability to identify the components of a system and understand how they interact in order for the system to work. Different mechanical systems, such as those of wheels and gears, require different types of reasoning. Objective: This study seeks to analyze the relationship that working memory (WM) and processing speed (PS) have with MR. Method: One hundred seventy-three (173) university students were assessed through the DAT test which consisted of 30 MR problems, the symbol search subtest of the WAIS-III battery for assessing the PS, and the BIMET-V and BIMET-VE batteries to evaluate the WM verbal and visuospatial components. Results: Regression analyses showed that the proposed variables do not predict the performance in gear problems, while the visuospatial WM and the PS predict the performance in wheel problems. Discussion: The results suggest that gear problems have a low executive demand as they can be solved in a fractional way, while wheel problems require to hold in memory all the components that are part of the system and, at the same time, require a higher attentional load.