Long-term Memory Retrieval Patterns Among Fifth-grade science Students And Their Relationship To Scientific Thinking In Physics

The research aims to identify patterns of long-term memory retrieval among fifth-grade science students in physics and their relationship to scientific thinking. The research sample consisted of 229 fifth-grade science students in secondary and preparatory schools in the city of Mosul on its right and left banks for the academic year 2023-2024. The researcher used a descriptive correlational research method in this study. To achieve the research objective, the researcher prepared a questionnaire on long-term memory retrieval patterns and adopted Al-Akili's scientific thinking test in physics (2019) in four skills (observation, inference, interpretation, and generalization), consisting of 16 multiple-choice questions in its final form. The validity and reliability of the research tools were verified using appropriate methods. After distributing the research tools, the results showed the following: The predominant pattern of retrieval from long-term memory among students is the visual pattern, with a percentage of 33% of fifth-grade science students. The highest correlation between scientific thinking and long-term memory pattern is (inference, imagery) with a percentage of approximately 12% of the sample, thus representing the community. As for scientific thinking skills, observation had the highest frequency (78) with a percentage of 34% and a sharpness of 1.71, followed by inference with a frequency of 73 and a percentage of 32%. with a sharpness of 1.19. The third skill was generalization, with a frequency of 41 and a percentage of 18%, and a sharpness of 1.17. Finally, the skill of interpretation came with a frequency of 37 and a percentage of 16%, and a sharpness of 0.97. The researcher recommended several recommendations, including: First, training and teaching students to use the types of memory in accordance with their mental characteristics, giving more space in teaching methods for the psychological characteristics of the individual, and the researcher made several suggestions, including conducting research on the relationship of short-term memory with understanding physics and acquiring concepts, the impact of representing material according to memory retrieval patterns on higher brain functions such as reasoning, memory and attention.