Memory works
April 10th 2011 10:16
A workshop offers pointers on how parents and educators can use their children’s working memory to the fullest.
GETTING preschoolers to place their books back on the correct shelf, put pencils into its case and sit on the floor before a teacher may seem like a simple request for a child to comprehend, but it is not.
To many adults, the three instructions may seem straight-forward, but many do not know that to do these different tasks consecutively, a young child would have to put his or her working memory (WM) through lots of hard work.
"... early intervention in students with poor WM can bring about a positive difference in their grades" - PROF DR TRACY P ALLOWAY
In fact, for an average child of five years and below, it may be almost impossible for them to cope as their WM at that age is still limited to two instructions.
University of Stirling Centre for Memory and Learning in the Lifespan director Prof Dr Tracy P Alloway says that the easiest way to describe one’s WM is to compare it to that of a post-it note.
“They come in all sizes, and some are larger than others, which means that some people are able to retain and process more information than others at any given time,” she adds.
Prof Alloway was in Malaysia recently to conduct a workshop for educators and parents which was organised by Kidzgrow Malaysia.
Through her research, Prof Alloway says that the lifespan of one’s WM peaks at the age of 15, and by the time they reach about 60 years of age, the untrained mind would have had an equal working memory capacity to that of a 10-year-old.
Not to confuse WM with short-term memory, Prof Alloway said that while short-term memory refers to the capability for one to remember things for a brief period of time, WM combines two elements — to remember, and then to do something with that memory.
The good thing about WM, however, is that unlike Intelligence Quotient (IQ), an individual’s WM does not depend on one’s financial background, and neither is it linked to the mother’s educational level.
“A mother’s educational level and the financial background of a person is a commonly-used index to determine one’s social background. Usually, mothers with college degrees have children with a higher IQ score — however, for WM, this is not necessarily so because WM is a pure measure of our ability to learn, not what we have learnt.”
Classroom issues
Since WM is a measure of our ability to learn, Prof Alloway says it should be the foundation of learning.
“A child can have a high IQ but still perform poorly in learning if they have working memory difficulties.”
After conducting a research with gifted children, Prof Alloway says that those with higher WM also excel in their studies as they think and work more quickly than their peers.
She says that WM is rarely identified by teachers who often describe children with a lack of it as inattentive or with a lower level of intelligence.
“It is possible that the gap in the classroom environment widens as children grow older, because when they are younger, their teacher often repeats the information, but as children get older, they are expected to do more on their own. If their WM has not picked up as quickly as that of their peers, they wouldn’t be able to catch up as well.”
Sometimes, teachers blame their students for being lazy because they may think that the student is not trying hard enough when in reality, they cannot cope with the pace of the class, she adds.
Since every individual is equipped with a different WM capability, a classroom can have students from one end of the WM spectrum to the other.
From her study of 3,000 students in the United Kingdom, one in every 10 students have poor WM. Prof Alloway said that while in some cases a student with poor WM may need special attention, with the right strategy, they may not have to be isolated from the rest of their peers.
“Teachers have a great toolbox of visual resources and methods which they can use in the classroom, but the key is to make their instructions more targeted. If a student has poor WM, it would help if they are given more targeted instructions, and information that has been broken down into parts.”
She cites a few examples, including presenting Maths problems and timelines for History vertically, instead of horizontally, as such visuals appear easier for students to comprehend.
For younger children, Prof Alloway says simple things such as putting the class schedule on the desk for pupils to refer to may also help as they do not have to walk to the front of the classroom to look at the timetable.
“If a pupil has to walk to where the timetable is placed in the classroom, they may forget what they read by the time they arrive at their desk. This can be a very frustrating task for one with poor WM.”
Can it be improved?
Every person has a limit to their WM potential, however, depending on where one is on that scale, they could see remarkable improvements with the right help.
Prof Alloway says, “One of the things with IQ tests is that scores get better with more practice, but if left idle for a while, the individual has to work on raising their grades again.”
On the other hand, follow-ups have been done for those who have trained their WM, and they have demonstrated the same improved performance even without consistent training, she adds.
“After five years, their WM did not deteriorate even though no additional effort has been put in to upkeep their WM.”
Prof Alloway has suggested that parents who have children with poor WM put their child through an eight-week brain training programme called Jungle Memory.
“I have seen students who have improved by three learning levels after going through training to diagnose their WM. This proves that early intervention in students with poor WM can bring about a positive difference in their grades.”
She adds that knowledge is so easily accessed especially in the world of technology and the Internet today. What is important is for a child to be able to filter through that information. For that, they need to have a good WM.
With over 75 academic journals and scientific articles on WM, Prof Alloway says that she is constantly working to expand this knowledge and make it accessible for all.
“After all, every parent should have the right to have access to this knowledge, and I hope more parents will come to understand the importance and impact of WM in lifelong learning,” she says.
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