1. The working-memory approach was proposed by Alan Baddeley and contains four components. The phonological loop deals with the audio part of our memory and only has a capacity for a certain number of sounds. The visuospatial sketchpad deals with the visual part of our memory and is once again is limited in capacity. The central executive is the brains of the operation and filters, plans and organizes information. The episodic buffer is like the pantry where you can mix and match items from the previous components and our long term memory. All of these components work together with our long term memory to give us our working memory.
2. Just like with attention, our memory components can only handle a certain number of items at a time. Also the mapping of the brain seemed to fit in with what was said in Chapter 3.
3. Why do some people have a better working memory than others? Can working memory be increased?
4. I would like to know how to increase working memory because my students (and myself at times) could use it. It thought it was interesting that working memory is related to measures of reading ability. Which makes sense, but I have kids who are poor readers (hence poor working memory?) and yet they have a great mechanical memory. Are there two different kinds of working memory? Because while these kids may be poor readers, I know they could be great mechanics or electricians. In my classroom, I will continue to teach to the different learning styles in hopes that one of the components of working memory will be engaged.
5. Instead of talking about proof this time, I am going to talk about lack of proof. It seems that the evidence for the episodic buffer is weak. It was added in 2000 (?) and the book even says that it is not sure about the details of how it works or how it differs from central executive. So I do question the validity of this component.
6 & 7. Working memory is important because we all use it every single day. As the book says, it impacts our learning processes. I guess preschool teachers could perform working memory tests as a predictor as to what kind of learner a student will be. Then early interventions could be put into place for those whose working memory is poor.
8. Since both Miller and Baddeley say there is a limit to the number of things our working memory can retain, wouldn’t it be easier for teachers/text book publishers to build lessons around the 7 +/- 2 theory. I know there are some who can retain more, but it seem that the majority cannot. So why do we put it?
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Jill,
ReplyDeleteWhen reading your response for question 4 it was like I was reading my own thoughts. I found it intriguing, the fact that reading abilities and overall intelligence were directly affected by working memory. Why aren’t we finding out more about how to increase student’s working memory since this could help improve their reading abilities. I did a quick search about improving working memory. An article came up that stated test had been done but not yet published in regards to ways to improve children’s working memory. This is a summary on the portion of the article that pertained to ADHD, taken straight from the site:
People with ADHD tend to have difficulty with working-memory capacity, and that deficit could be responsible for their tendency to be distracted and resulting problems at school, says Tannock.
Seeking to alleviate such difficulties with his research, Klingberg ran a randomized controlled trial of 53 children with ADHD in which half of the participants practiced working-memory tasks that gradually increased in difficulty. The other half completed tasks that did not get harder as the children became better at them. Both groups of children--who were 7 to 12 years old--practiced tasks such as recalling lists of numbers for 40 minutes a day over five weeks.
The children who practiced with increasingly difficult memory tasks performed better on two working memory tests--which were different than the practice tasks--than the control group, reported Klingberg in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (Vol. 44, No. 2, pages 177–186.) In addition, the parents of children with memory training reported a reduction in their children's hyperactivity and inattention three months after the intervention, while the parents of the control group participants did not.
Here is the link: http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep05/workout.html
It sounds like from the reading, that there isn’t two types of working memory. I believe that goes back to the different learning styles that are present in the classroom. It sounds like you are well aware of that and are teaching with that in mind.
I agree with #3, I find it interesting to see that everyone has a different capacity for their working memory. I wonder if this is the same for long term memory. You pose a good question with is there a way to improve our working memory.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, made me think about it more!
I think that we can improve our memory strategies. We will learn more about this in chapter 6 with memory strategies and Metacognition. At the end of the chapter it talks about people that can remember a huge amount of numbers or names. I think that these people must be using their long term memory to help them do this by relating it to something previously learned. I used to do this when I was a waitress and I could remember several orders without writing them down because I would think of a clever way to keep the info. I also thinks that it helps when learning something new to relate it to your own life somehow. Sometimes it is a stretch to relate all info but otherwise I start to daydream and I won't be able to use what I have learned. I also looked up the episodic buffer and other researchers say that there is still not enough info on this. On article said that when Baddeley first introduced it he didn't even have enough info to define its tasks. I would think that you would do all of that before mentioning it. It seems there is going to be more research needed.
ReplyDeleteI was reading your number 3 and was wondering the same thing! I was wondering the same if working memory could be increased?? if so, I think I need to know!:)
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