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What Is Working Memory and How Does It Affect Learning?

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What Is Working Memory and How Does It Affect Learning? 3/16/2016 What is working Do you observe these behaviours? memory and how does Is easily distracted when doing something not highly it affect learning? interesting Has trouble waiting his/her turn Struggles with getting started and completing a task. Watches and depends on friends to remind them of the current task Difficulty organising something with multiple steps… frequently stops, frequently loses their place Often seems restless and on the go Fails to progress despite working hard Quick mental arithmetic What is working memory? Who does it affect? 7 + 9 x 3 –4 = 35 x 9 = 35 x 76 = 1 3/16/2016 How does it differ from short term What is working memory? memory? Repeating multi-part instructions A system for temporary Carrying out instructions storage and manipulation of information, necessary for wide range of cognitive tasks Remembering a street address Following driving directions The ability to keep information Following driving directions as a new driver active in your mind for a short period of time (seconds) keeping it available for further processing Working memory is an essential function Alan Baddeley’s Working Memory Metaphor in every day life Central Executive Processes all stimuli we encounter Delegates it to the different parts of our brain that can take action Allows us to block out unnecessary information Visuo-Spatial Phonological Loop Episodic Buffer It keeps us updated on what’s Sketch Pad happening – and keeps us focused on what matters 2 3/16/2016 Working Memory (WM) Capacity: Storage AND Attention Dependent on Many Variables • WM capacity – affected by deficit: disease, genetics, age….but also fatigue, medication, mood. • WM load – determined by the difficulty of a task as well as level of distraction from relevant and irrelevant stimuli. The more difficult the task, and the more stimuli attended to, the more demand on the WM. WM capacity + WM load = WM performance Alloway, Gathercole, Pickering Child Development, November/December 2006, Volume 77, Number 6, Pages 1698 – 1716 The Development of Working Memory The Development of Working Memory in ADHD Working Memory Control ADHD 8 95 7 85 6 75 5 65 55 4 45 Correct 3 35 arbetsminne 2 25 Working memory Working 1 15 5 0 7,5 8,5 9,5 10,5 11,5 12,5 13,5 14,5 15,5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 Age Ageålder Westerberg et al. (2004), Visuo-spatial working memory: a sensitive measurement of cognitive deficits in ADHD. Child Neuropsychology 10 (3) 155-61. 3 3/16/2016 Holmes, Gathercole Dunning 2010 Holmes, Gathercole Dunning 2010 Poor Working Memory: Impact and Interventions Poor Working Memory: Impact and Interventions in Joni Holmes, editor, Advances in Child Development and Behavior, Vol 39 Academic Press 2010 pp1-43 in Joni Holmes, editor, Advances in Child Development and Behavior, Vol 39 Academic Press 2010 pp1-43 VerbalVerbal Visual-Visual- VerbalVerbal Visual-Visual- Verbal Visual- Verbal Visual- STMSTM spatialspatial STM STM WMWM spatialspatial WM WM STM spatial STM WM spatial WM Working Memory impairments are 125125 125 Children with poor working 120 associated with a wide range of 120120 memory function are at very developmental disorders of learning 115115 high risk of educational underachievement 110110 100100 95 9595 90 9090 85 8585 8080 75 7575 70 7070 6565 6060 DYSCALCULIA DYSLEXIAADHDSLI Alloway et al,. 2009 WM is related to IQ • First study in which participants selected on basis of WM rather than learning difficulties, developmental disorders or genetic syndromes • There is an overlap of 0.8 in reasoning and • 3,189 5-11 year olds, 308 identified with low WM using AWMA – 10% working memory tasks • WM adds unique variance above and beyond • High risk of making poor academic progress measures of IQ (Gathercole, Alloway, Willis & Adams, 2006). • Highly distinctive profile of Distractibility inattentive behaviour and Forgetting • Working memory is a useful prospective indicator forgetting which disrupts Failure to remember of academic performance: Predict attainment on classroom functioning instructions national assessments at 7, 11, 14 years of age • Older group performed significantly Failure to complete tasks (e.g. Gathercole, et al., 2004; St-Clair Thompson more poorly than younger group on Careless mistakes & Gathercole, 2006) learning measures Difficulty solving problems Not hyperactive/impulsive 4 3/16/2016 To what extent is it influenced by environmental factors? Unlike IQ, free from SES and other crystallized knowledge that has been built from home, school and social experiences Why does it matter? (Engel, Santos & Gathercole, 2008) Working memory is key for academic Why is it important? performance Working memory is used for: 15% of all students have working memory deficits causing • Controlling attention them to perform below average in many areas of learning • Resisting distraction • Complex thinking Working memory is crucial for • Organisation areas such as math, reading comprehension, complex • Problem solving problem solving, and test taking • Remembering tasks 5 3/16/2016 Improving Working Memory – Supporting Evidence that even when general ability is Student learning – Tracy Packiam Alloway 2011 accounted for, working memory skills predict reading and math scores (Gathercole, et al., 2004; St-Clair Thompson & Gathercole, 2006) Interconnected Systems Supporting Learning Australian Curriculum Learning Areas General capabilities • English • literacy • Maths • numeracy • Science • information and communication technology capability Performance Knowledge • Languages •Arts • critical and creative thinking -based base (LTM) •HPE • personal and social capability factors • ethical understanding • intercultural understanding Cross-curriculum *largely priorities *working mediated by • Aboriginal culture • sustainability memory language • engagement with Asia Lisa Archibald CogCon 2014 6 3/16/2016 ACARA – Personal and Social Capability ACARA – Creative and Critical Thinking “Students with well-developed social and emotional skills find it easier to • Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and manage themselves, relate to others, develop resilience and a sense of ideas self-worth, resolve conflict, engage in teamwork and feel positive about • Generating ideas, possibilities and actions themselves and the world around them. The development of personal and social capability is a foundation for learning and for citizenship." • Reflecting on thinking and processes • Analysing, synthesising and evaluating reasoning and The capability involves students in a range of practices including: procedures • recognising and regulating emotions, • developing empathy for and understanding of others, Students develop capability in critical and creative thinking as they • establishing positive relationships, practice generating and evaluating knowledge, clarifying concepts • making responsible decisions, and ideas, seeking possibilities, considering alternatives and • working effectively in teams and solving problems. These same skills underpin our ability to manage • handling challenging situations constructively. our wellbeing and learning. Psychological Processes associated Example Working Memory Characteristics with academic learning (Dehn 2012) Verbal WM Visual-Spatial WM - Remembering instruction/content of - Following signs (e.g. +, - , x) during instruction arithmetic calculation - Remembering what to say when called - Keep place on page when reading upon - Mental manipulation of images - Paraphrasing spoken information - Reverse sequence of objects - Comprehending syntactically complex - Transform information sentences Verbal STM Visual-Spatial STM - Remembering/repeating multistep oral - Remembering objects instructions - Remembering colours -Counting - Remembering location - Blending phonemes into words when - Remembering direction reading - Phonetic decoding of text/phonetic recoding (spelling) - Learning new vocabulary 27 National Learning and Teaching Conference l 5-7 November 2015 7 3/16/2016 Gathercole & Alloway 2008 Children with poor working memory make characteristic errors in their classroom work: How do you identify children • failing to keep track of their place in with poor working memory? demanding and complex activities • Mistakes in writing and counting • Failing to self-correct “ …Over time these frequent missed learning opportunities amount to slow educational progress and poor academic attainment” Considerations for assessment in a school Identifying WM strengths & weaknesses environment WISC V • Looking for cognitive, behavioural and academic AWMA evidence of low working memory capacity TEA-CH, NEPSY • Time taken to administer the assessments in school environment BRIEF or D-REF • Ability to re-test within a specific timeframe WMRS (important for student and teacher/coach to monitor Spelling, Reading progress) Comprehension Connors 3 Mental arithmetic BASC 3 8 3/16/2016 Look beyond the behaviour Can’t vs. Won’t What can we do to manage working memory and improve performance? POOR WORKING MEMORY: IMPACT AND Acquisition of literacy and numeracy is INTERVENTIONS Holmes et al: 3 strategies gradual process Poor working memory disturbs rate of skill acquisition 1. Change the environment 2. Teach strategies for coping Aims: 3. Intensive training on WM tasks to strengthen • assist children to work within their working memory capacity to build skills and knowledge over time working memory capacity • minimise the chance the child will miss a learning opportunity because of working
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