Dados normativos do teste pictórico de memória em crianças e adolescentes de Natal/RN

Abstract

Memory, as a cognitive process, allows the acquisition, the maintenance as well as the recall of information already stored of information may originate from an external or internal event. It’s possible to identify the different classifications for memory, considering aspects related to the duration of the information, the content of the stored material and the function. Within the mnemonic system we have the short-term memory, which displays temporary storage of a reduced number of information for a short period of time, playing a crucial role in everyday activities such as object recognition, mental imagery, spatial orientation, including the learning process and visual spatial reasoning. However, despite of their importance in the domains of education process and work activities, research instruments are still scarce, especially those that allow the separate investigation of short-term visual memory and working memory. This situation is aggravated if one considers the context of childhood and adolescence. Considering the relevance of MCPV to the typical and atypical processes of development and learning of children and adolescents, as well as a shortage of normative instruments for the Brazilian population, the present study had as objective the construction of normative data of the Pictorial Test of Visual Memory (TEPIC-M), for children and adolescents from six to 16 years of age in the city of Natal / RN. Farther, Investigated the interference of variables age, sex, and school type on test performance. TEPIC-M investigates the individual's ability to retrieve information in a short period of time. A total of 542 students from the city of Natal participated in the study, 301 of whom were female and 241 were male. Of this total, 256 belong to public school and 286 to private school. The data obtained in the experiment were submitted to descriptive and inferential statistical analyzes inspired by the authors' instrument. In order to verify the magnitude of discrepancy between the performances obtained according to gender and school type variables, a statistic inferential test - the U de Mann-Whitney - was performed indicating that there was no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.808). However, the analyses of the type of school showed a significant difference towards the benefit of the private school system (p <0.001). Subsequently, a Spearman correlation test was performed to verify the existence of a correlation between age variables (p <00.01). Also regarding age variables, a multi-varied analysis (n-Anova) and a post-hoc analysis (LSD Test) were performed, seeking to verify if there was a significant difference between the performances, according to age groups, to the whole sample. Based on the significance found in the post-hoc analysis, this study suggests the grouping of children and adolescents into age groups, proposing the categorization into four age groups: 6 and 7; 8 and 9; 10 and 11; 12 to 16, as well as the division of these by type of school, since the inferential analysis of this variable has a significant result (p <0.001). The data presented in this study attest to the developmental validity of the Pictorial Memory Test (TEPIC-M), exhibiting normative data for the age group of 6 to 16, hence extending the potential scope of the test since its original proposition. As a result, it makes available to Brazilian professionals currently working with psychological evaluation, an instrument with evidence of efficacy and that proposes to investigate the visual short-term memory system, for which a shortage of instruments are currently available.