Working memory plays an important role in learning… from kindergarten to the college years.

Humans have the ability to preserve and recover information once learned or experienced.

In a previous article, I noted the three stages of creating memory, where information begins in sensory memory, then moves to short-term memory, and eventually moves to long-term memory.

Some people use the term short-term memory interchangeably with working memory, however, they are different.

What is working memory?

Whereas short- term memory describes the ideas and events held in the mind for a brief period after exposure to them, working memory is more like a workspace where those ideas and memories of short-term events are manipulated long enough for us to use them.

Working memory is like a sketchpad or an audio loop that helps process thoughts and plans, as well as carries out ideas.

In other words, you can think of working memory as the instrument that takes short-term memories, then combining strategies and knowledge from your long-term memory bank assists in making a decision or calculation.

Imagine that you are driving to a new school for a meeting. You lose your way and stop at a store to ask for directions. You may repeat the information to yourself over and over again as you walk back to your car so you do not forget. At this point, you are using your short-term memory to remember the directions.

Now you get back inside your car and start driving. As you recite the directions to yourself, you look around and match them to the road names. Is this where you make that right turn? Where do you make that second left? Now you are using your working memory as you are applying or using the information that you were given.

It is much the same in the classroom. When the teacher gives a student a set of instructions, they use their short-term memory to repeat it to themselves.

However, by the time they get back to their desk and have to carry out the first task in the set of instructions, chances are if they have poor working memory, they will have forgotten what to do. The process of repeating the information and then carrying out the individual steps relies on working memory.

Working memory is actually an executive functioning skill, part of the management system of the brain.

Why is Working Memory Important?

Working memory is critical for a variety of activities at school, from complex subjects such as reading comprehension, mental arithmetic, and word problems to simple tasks like copying from the board and navigating around the school.

Just like phonological awareness – the ability for a child to dissect a word into it parts, or remember the sounds of letters to identify the initial sounds of words, working memory is also highly predictive of reading success.

We use our ‘Post- it Note’ (or working memory capacity) to keep all the relevant speech sounds in mind, match them up with the corresponding letters, and then combine them to read the words.

Studies have shown that children with reading difficulties have limited, and often significant and marked deficits on working memory tasks.

Attention and working memory are both key to learning new information. Attention allows information to be taken in. Working memory helps the brain make sense of it. Many children who struggle to learn have attention issues, working memory issues, or both.

How can you detect working memory problems in your child?

If you fall and break a leg, your cast is clearly visible. Working memory problems, however, are often hidden from you, family, friends, and even teachers. You should consider working memory challenges if your child:

1. Seems to lack direction
2. Appears unmotivated or disinterested in an activity.
3. Demonstrates difficulty following practical instructions.
4. Has trouble remembering what others said during conversations.

These children tend to be called lazy or unmotivated.

Remember that children struggle to learn for a number of reasons and their struggle should never be interpreted as lazy, unmotivated or not trying hard enough.

No child wakes up and says, “I’m going to be unmotivated and disinterested in my work at school today.”

How can you help your child improve his working memory?

Children use working memory all the time to learn. You can contribute to your child’s learning success by including some simple strategies into his daily life.

• Teach your child to develop visualization skills
  • Encourage him to create a picture in his mind of what they just heard or read, then draw it. As he gets better, he can describe it instead of drawing it.
• Have your child teach you
  • Explore a new craft or sport that your child plays and you want to learn. Ask him to teach you how to do it.
• Play games that use visual memory
  • Games like Memory or Concentration that require players to find a match for pictures.
• Chunk information into small bits
  • Even adults remember things in groups of 3 or 4. That’s why phone numbers are written the way they are.
• Use multisensory strategies
  • When learning new information, present it in ways that your child uses different senses. For example, you can write the information down so he sees it, then say it out loud while throwing a ball back and forth or having him do jumping jacks.

Working memory affects many aspects of learning including reading and mathematics, which in turn influence learning success and daily living.