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Working Memory
TYPES OF MEMORY:
- Sensory Memory: lasts for milliseconds
- Working Memory
- Long Term Memory: last for decades
SENSORY MEMORY
- Information flows from the outside world through our sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch sensors.
- The iconic memory is responsible for visual information
- The echoic memory is responsible for auditory information
- Sensory memory does not process information
- It is similar to input devices of the computer
- It can receive large bits of information
WORKING MEMORY
- Working memory depends on paid attention. It retains a piece of information and lasts for less than a minute and retrieves it during this time.
- It is modality free and has limited storage capacity
- Working memory is a system for holding and manipulating information during reading, writing, solving mathematic problems. It is essential for retaining ideas and is, thus, similar to the processing unit of the computer
EXAMPLES OF WORKING MEMORY
- Repeating a list of items in their original order
- Repeating a list of items backwards
- Simultaneous interpretation
- Simultaneous translation
- Remembering the beginning of a sentence
LONG TERM MEMORY
Long-term memory is the system in which our brain is able to store information permanently. It includes:
- Memory of recent facts (fragile)
- Memory of older facts (consolidated)
- It can be declarative or procedura
- Encoding information
- Storing information (active process of consolidation)
- Recalling information: Retrieval (recall) of memories involves active mechanisms that make use of encoding indices. During recall, information is temporarily copied from long-term memory into working memory, so that it can be used there.
RETRIEVAL
- Recognition only requires a decision as to whether one thing among others has been encountered before.
- Recall involves actively reconstructing the information: recalling memories re-fires many of the same neural paths we originally used to sense the experience
- How effectively one can retrieve information depends on how deeply you have encoded and organized it in your brain
FACTORS AFFECTING MEMORY
- Degree of attention
- Motivation, and need or necessity
- Affective values
- Recall indices: Location, light, sounds, pictures
- The spacing effect versus the cramming effect
- Interrupted versus complete
- Familiarity with the introduced items
- Length of the introduced items
- Similarity between the introduced items
FORGETTING
Forgetting can be caused by:
- Poor organization
- Poor encoding
- Insufficient consolidation
- Retroactive vs. proactive interference
LANGUAGE & MEMORY
SENSORY MEMORY:
The auditory channel is the most important channel for acquiring language
WORKING MEMORY:
Working memory is crucial while carrying out conversation as well as while listening to stories.
LONG TERM MEMORY:
Long term memory helps in storing grammatical rules and one's lexicon (vocabulary). These are later used while forming sentences and retrieving words / understanding them.
AUDITORY SEQUENTIAL MEMORY:
- Important for following sequential instructions / multi-order commands
- Vocabulary gain is related to working memory span but later, it depends on chunking and association.
TYPES OF WORDS ONE GAIN IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS FOLLOWS
- Words that are the same in your native language
- Words that involve words that you already know in that language such as sweat-shirt
- Words that resemble a known word with similar or related meaning (e.g., helpful, helpless)
- Words that have no ready association to known words
LEARNING AND MEMORY:
Memory is an essential foundation for learning and academic achievement.
Sensory memory:
- Visual, tactile, as well as auditory channels are all involved in the learning process e.g. viewing words, letters and numbers (visual), receiving tactile input while writing, and listening to the teacher while explaining the lesson.
Working memory:
- Working memory is an essential component throughout the whole school day and while studying. It is essential for all academic processes e.g. while solving mathematical problems as well as while reading and writing.
Long term memory:
- Long term enables one to remember words, rules, and how to carry out a certain academic task.
Sequential memory:
- It is important and essential that the student has intact sequential memory as this well help him understand classroom instructions.
- N.B.
- In our brain's memory, isolated pieces of information are memorized less effectively than those associated with existing knowledge. The more associations between the new information and things that you already know, the better you will learn it.
RED FLAGS OF MEMORY DEFICITS
Word finding difficulties, the child to overcome his/her word finding difficulties by using one or more of the following strategies:
- Phonetic substitution: replacing the intended word with a word that sounds like it but is not related to it in meaning (e.g. saying the word "bubble" on failing to retrieve the word "apple)
- Semantic substitution: replacing the intended word with a word that is semantically (meaning-wise) related to it but not necessarily related to it sound-wise (e.g. saying the word "orange" on failing to retrieve the word "apple)
- Circumlocution: verbally describing the intended word e.g. referring to the word "key" as "that thing that we open the door with"
- Dysfluency
- Short term memory deficits for both digits as well as words and sentences
- Poor reading comprehension
- Difficulties with multi-step commands
- Poor oral narrative skills
- Poor composition
SOME ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES
There are many standardized tests that can be used to assess memory. Most of these tests include the following items:
- Forward Number Repetition e.g. the adult says "1256" and the child repeats "1256" i.e. in the same order presented to the child.
- Backward Number Repetition e.g. the adult says "1256" and the child repeats "6521" i.e. in a reverse order.
- Repetition of Familiar Sequence e.g. 1357 or 248 (odd and even numbers respectively)
- Repeating a list of words e.g. "apple - tea - cat - tomato"
- Repeating non sense words
- Listening Comprehension
- Evaluating narrative skills
SOME THERAPEUTIC TIPS AND STRATEGIES
1-ACRONYMS
- Each first letter from a group of words to form a new word.
- Useful when remembering words in a specified order.
- Example: LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation).
- Disadvantages:
- Does not aid comprehension
- Can sometimes be difficult to form
- Can be forgotten if not committed to memory
2- SENTENCES/ACROSTICS
Use the first letter of each word Instead of making a new word, you use the letters to make a sentence e.g. "Lamia Ate Samy’s Egg Roughly" in order to remember the word "LASER"
3-RHYMES / SONGS SUCH AS LEARNING THE ALPHABET THROUGH NURSERY RHYMES
4-PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT:
- Repeating is a great memory aid. As each new object is added, the old objects are repeated.
- Breaking- up the information into small bits that you can be easily learnt, one step at a time can also help in consolidating as well as recalling facts and information.
5-FREE RECALL
- Studying a list of words
- Later, recalling or writing down as many words that can be remembered
6-RECOGNITION
Subjects are asked to remember a list of words or pictures, after which they are asked to identify the previously presented words or pictures from among a list of alternatives that were not presented the original list.
7-VOCABULARY KEYWORD METHOD
Select the foreign words you need to remember, then identify an Arabic word that sounds like the foreign one.
8-RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDIED WORDS / PIECES OF INFORMATION
9-CHAINING
For remembering a list, create a story where each word or idea you have to remember will cue the next idea you need to recall. e.g. to remember these words "John, Ear, Door, Germany", you can use this sentences; "John had his ear to the door to listen to Germans".
10-MEMORY SEQUENTIAL EXERCISES
- Multi-sequential commands involving one verb
- Multi-sequential commands involving more than one verb
- Two/more commands involving spatial indicators
- Two/ more commands involving modifiers
- Recipes and steps to perform a certain unfamiliar activity
- Two/more commands involving exceptional commands e.g. "except one" and "but one"
- Two/ more commands involving conditional indicators e.g. "if" and "unless"
11-MENTAL IMAGE
- While following commands with objects within sight
- While reading / listening to stories / paragraphs
12-VERBAL MATH
13-STORY TITLES:
reading a story or a paragraph and asking the child to put a suitable title for it.
14- CATEGORIES:
reading a list of words and then asking the child to name the category they all belong to.
15-AUDITORIZATION & SUBVOCALIZATION MEANS VERBALLY REPEATING THE INSTRUCTION BEFORE RESPONDING EITHER ALOUD (AUDITORIZATION) OR IN MIND (SUBVOCALIZATION)
16- RETELLING STORIES
17-IDENTIFYING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN 2 STORIES / PARAGRAPHS THAT ARE READ TO THE CHILD
18- LISTENING TO SENTENCES + ANSWERING RELATED QUESTIONS
- e.g. "Yesterday, I went to the supermarket and bought some eggs, orange juice, and a packet of cheese, water melon, and milk. What drinks did I buy?"