Cognitive capacities and success in formal adult learning

Cilj istraživanja sprovedenog u okviru doktorske disertacije jeste utvrđivanje povezanosti, kao i prediktivnosti više kognitivnih kapaciteta sa uspehom u formalnom učenju dve grupe odraslih – univerzitetskih studenata i učenika funkcionalnog osnovnog obrazovanja odraslih (FOOO) na teritoriji Republike Srbije. Od više kognitivnih kapaciteta, poput kratkoročnog i radnog pamćenja, kristalizovane i fluidne inteligencije, poseban fokus posvećen je vezi radnog pamćenja i obrazovnog uspeha učenika FOOO. Do sada tematika povezanosti kognitivnih kapaciteta i uspeha u programima FOOO nije bila istraživana u dovoljnoj meri, te je ova oblast bila od posebnog interesa za aktuelno istraživanje. Značajnost date veze ogleda se i u tome što učenike FOOO, prema normativnim kriterijumima, pre uspešnog završetka programa, odlikuje funkcionalna nepismenost, koja je u poslednje vreme u centru interesovanja andragoških i drugih disciplina. Poseban fokus istraživanja predstavlja mesto radnog pamćenja među ostalim kognitivnim kapacitetima, kao prediktora uspeha učenika u okviru FOOO programa. U tu svrhu, uz korišćenje već postojećih standardizovanih testova i zadataka za merenje kognitivnih sposobnosti, specijalno za potrebe istraživanja kreirano je i nekoliko kompleksnih, odnosno dualnih zadataka radnog pamćenja, kao i kratkoročnog pamćenja (KI zadaci) a za koje su utvrđene i statističke i psihometrijske karakteristike. Korišćeno je više statističkih metoda za utvrđivanje veze kognitivnih kapaciteta i obrazovnog uspeha, kako univerzitetskih studenata, tako i učenika FOOO, poput neparametrijskih testova korelacije i više vrsta linearnih regresija. Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju da je verbalno-vizuelno radno pamćenje značajan prediktor uspeha u formalnom učenju kod univerzitetskih studenata, zatim da svi utvrđivani bazični kognitivni kapaciteti jesu značajno povezani sa uspehom u obrazovanju kod učenika FOOO, te da među njima, najvažniji prediktori datog uspeha jesu kristalizovana, odnosno verbalna inteligencija i složeno verbalno-vizuelno radno pamćenje. Opštiji zaključci koji zahtevaju dalju verifikaciju bi se odnosili na tvrdnju da funkcionalna pismenost igra značajnu posredničku ulogu između kognitivnih kapaciteta i uspeha u funkcionalnom osnovnom obrazovanju odraslihThe goal of the research conducted within the doctoral dissertation is to determine the relation, as well as the predictivity of several cognitive capacities for a success in formal learning of two groups of adults - university students and students of functional basic adult education (FABE) in the Republic of Serbia. Among several cognitive capacities that are of the study interest, such as short-term and working memory, crystallized and fluid intelligence, a particular focus was put on the relation between the working memory and educational success of FABE students. Until now, the topic of a relation of the cognitive capacities and success in FABE programs has not been sufficiently explored, and this area has been of particular importance for current research. The significance of the given relation is also reflected by the conclusion that FABE students, according to normative criteria (before the successful completion of the program) are also individuals who are functionally illiterate, and by the fact that functional literacy has recently been at the center of interest of andragogical and other disciplines. A special focus of the research is the position of working memory among other cognitive capacities, as a predictor of students' success within the FABE program. For this purpose, and in addition to utilizing already existing standardized tests and tasks for measuring cognitive abilities, several complex or dual tasks of working memory, as well as short-term memory (KI tasks) were specially constructed for the research purpose, and their statistical and psychometric characteristics were determined. Several statistical methods were used to determine the relationship of cognitive capacities and educational success, for both, university students and FABE students, such as nonparametric correlation tests and several types of linear regressions. The obtained results indicate that: verbal-visual working memory is a significant predictor of success in formal learning of university students, all chosen basic cognitive capacities are significantly related to educational success of FABE students, and that among them, the most important predictors of this success are crystallized, i.e. verbal intelligence and complex verbal-visual work memory. The more general conclusion that would require further validation would be the one in regards to the claim that functional literacy plays a significant intermediary role in the relation of cognitive capacities and success in functional basic adult educatio