Keywords
cognitive planning
mathematics education
educational games
inclusive education
How to Cite
Abstract
The study aimed to understand how working memory resources come into play when children with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF) engage in solving the mathematical game La Escalera. To do so, the trajectories that each participant left recorded in the game’s digital environment were analyzed and reconstructed as graphs in order to closely observe how they planned, decided, and adjusted their strategies. The sample consisted of 100 children between 9 and 12 years old (M = 10.4; SD = 1.1); twenty of them had a BIF diagnosis, while the remaining eighty had no reported cognitive difficulties. All participants interacted with the virtual version of the game, which makes it possible to track each player’s moves step by step.Upon examining the trajectories, it became evident that children with BIF tend to produce more irregular paths: they repeat steps, return to previously visited states, and generally deviate more frequently from the most efficient route. Their sequences of actions also show more restarts and fragmentations, suggesting that maintaining attention and sustaining a plan of action requires greater effort for them. In contrast, children without a diagnosis tend to follow more direct and stable routes, even though some of them report difficulties with concentration.Analyzing these differences revealed that in-game trajectories become a sensitive indicator of the types of cognitive processes involved in planning and action control, particularly for children with BIF. Furthermore, the use of a digital game provided a more dynamic perspective: by recording each move, it makes visible decisions and errors that are not always captured by traditional assessments. This opens the door to developing interventions that are better aligned with the actual needs of this population, using tools that offer immediate feedback, adapt to children’s performance, and strengthen the components of working memory that show greater vulnerability.
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