Working memory and its relationship to selective attention and academic performance among academically backward students

The study aimed to identify the relationship between working memory, academic performance, and selective attention. the researcher relied on the descriptive approach, in which a sample consisting of 40 male and female students equally. Through the academic achievement statements, they were divided into two groups, each group consisted of 20 male and female students distributed equally between them. One of them included students with normal/regular achievement and the others were Low Achievers. Tools utilized to collect the study data were: (Alloway Children's Working Memory Battery - Purdue Academic Rating Scale Feldhusen, Hoover & Sayler, 1997 - Selective Attention Scale, prepared by the researcher). Results showed that there was a reciprocal relationship between working memory, selective attention, and academic performance, and there was a reciprocal relationship between academic performance and selective attention, which proved the main hypothesis that: "working memory has a significant reciprocal effect on selective attention and academic performance".This result confirmed the correlation between the academic achievement and the degree of working memory of the students. It was also significant for all subjects in the field of the test. Such result indicated the association between working memory and selective attention (visual - auditory).In addition, the level of academic performance varies according to the degree of selective attention (audio-visual) among middle school students who were Low Achievers. The study recommended the need to raise awareness of the importance of selective attention skills, visual and auditory, and working memory on the educational process