What Is Working Memory and Why Does It Matter? - Page 2

Visual-spatial working memory uses a kind of visual sketchpad of the brain. It allows you to envision something, to keep it in your "mind's eye." Students use this skill to do math and to remember patterns, images, and sequences of events.⁴ 

They might use it to visualize the layout of the classroom during the first couple of weeks of school, says Cruger. "A teacher says, 'Once you're done with this, go to the center area, take something to do and then go to this table and work on this,'" he says. "That involves multiple steps where the child is negotiating himself in the world." If not identified, a deficit of this type is ripe for misunderstanding, he says. For example, it might seem as though a child is simply not paying attention.

How Is Working Memory Linked with Learning and LD?

Working memory can be a central problem for many people with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), says Cruger. Or, it may be one of many things that is weak among a set of attention and executive functioning problems.

Those with weak working memory are likely to have learning disorders, too. In a government-funded study, Alloway and colleagues tested more than 3,000 grade school and junior high children in the U.K. They found that one in 10 had very poor working memory.

This turned out to be a reliable indicator of who would struggle in the classroom, she says. In fact, when following up six years later, they found working memory to be a more powerful predictor than IQ when it comes to learning.⁵ "Ninety-eight percent with poor working memory had very low scores in standardized tests of reading comprehension and math."

These weaknesses may show up later, when executive skills of comprehension and analysis come into play, says Swanson. "Schools do a pretty good job of drill and repetition and teaching kids phonics, but when you get into things like comprehension, it can begin to fall apart."

And, if a child has a learning disability, weak working memory can add insult to injury. For example, a fifth grader who is still sounding out words while reading is relying heavily on working memory to help compensate. This puts a huge tax on the working memory system, says Cruger. At this stage, you want reading to be more automatic. You want to be able to look at a word and recognize it, he says, and not have to recruit attentional or working memory resources to the task. But for a child who needs to compensate but can't rely on working memory, the process can become all the more painful.

This weakness may compound things, especially for those with LD, says Alloway. "I've worked at schools where the average 10-year-old can remember and process four pieces of information, but one with poor working memory can look like an average 5-year-old," she says. "For this child, the teacher talks too fast, making it hard to keep up. So the child may eventually start disengaging altogether."

Combine these challenges with high anxiety, which also puts demands on working memory, and it becomes more than a double whammy. "Your emotional state can play a role in working memory performance, which can in turn influence performance on tests," says Alloway.

How Can You Diagnose Working Memory Problems?

So how can you know whether or not your child has a problem with working memory? First, watch for signs. Then, consider testing to confirm the weakness, assessing both types of working memory.

Know the signs. Alloway has helped develop a 22-item checklist, standardized for grade school and junior high students and published by Pearson Assessment in the U.K. (A U.S. version will soon be available.) Called the Working Memory Rating Scale (WMRS), it helps teachers identify this problem by listing behaviors that are typical of someone with poor working memory such as:

• Abandons activities before completing them
• Looks like he's daydreaming
• Fails to complete assignments
• Puts up a hand to answer questions but forgets what she wanted to say (This is typical for a 5-year-old, but not for an 11-year-old, for example.)
• Mixes up material inappropriately, for example, combining two sentences
• Forgets how to continue an activity that he's started, even though the teacher has explained the steps