Abstract:
The present study focused on exploring the relationships of the WCST with certain working memory (WM) and fluid intelligence (FI) tasks. Specifically, the study aimed a) to examine the relationship between executive functioning (EF) and WM, b) to explore the relationship between WM and FI, c) to probe the relationship between verbal and nonverbal WM capacities, d) to investigate the effects of certain family (mothers’ education and number of siblings) and child (age and gender) characteristics on EF performance. Eighty-nine 6- to 7-year-old Turkish children participated in the study. The WCST was applied to assess EF. Verbal and visuospatial WM capacities were measured by Digit Span Backward (DSB) and Finger Windows (FW), respectively. The nonverbal battery of Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT®-NB) was used to evaluate FI. Certain scores of the WCST were found to be significantly correlated with verbal and visuospatial WM scores indicating that WM is required for some executive functions operated by the WCST. Further, WM tasks showed moderate correlations with the CogAT®-NB score, which appears to be consistent with the argument that WM and FI are related but distinct constructs. Finally, mothers’ education was a significant predictor for children’s EF, WM and FI performances.|Keywords: executive functions, working memory, fluid intelligence, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, CogAT®
