Phenomena Related Phenomena Related to Reduced to Reduced

RememberingRemembering

Phenomena Related Phenomena Related to Reduced to Reduced

RememberingRememberingCase Studies PresentationCase Studies Presentation

By:By:Baljinder, Fern, Rhodri, Lucy, Thomas, and Baljinder, Fern, Rhodri, Lucy, Thomas, and

ChristinaChristina

Case Study: Carletta• Short-term memory difficulties• Trouble remembering directions• Frustrated learning new material

such as words or spelling lists

Attentional Dysfunction:

• -the child may have weak mental energy or reduced alertness (attentional deficit).

• the child may have weak or superficial processing skills, so nothing gets stored very deeply into the memory. 

• -rapid pacing while studying, no use of studying skills (subvocalizing, visualizing).

• -difficulty deciding upon what to register in the short term memory; studying of trivial or inappropriate information.

Definition of Short Term Memory

• short term memory allows us to hold small amounts of information for a brief period of time; ex: it can hold up to seven digits at a time.

• depending on how one decided upon the validity and relevance of the information, it might be transferred into the active working memory, consolidated into the long term memory, or forgotten entirely.

• new information that is registered into the short term memory must be done with “depth of processing” if it is going to pass through to the active memory or long term memory. 

What does it look like?

• inconsistency following verbal directions. • trouble studying for math facts, spelling

words, historical dates, vocabulary. • knows things well once learned, but the

process of learning of new information is difficult.

• no use of any studying strategies. • confusion with multi-step inputs, such as a

sequence of directions. • poor ability paraphrasing or summarizing

information.

The forms of Problems with Short Term

Memory

Weak Processing: Format Description Examples 1) Visual-Spatial/Configurational

-material that enters mainly through the eyes as a configuration.

letter shapes, geometric forms, facial features.

2) Linguistic (spoken or written)

-information conveyed through speech or written language.

verbal instructions, reading.

3) Sequential/Linear, Procedural

-material that enters in a linear order, sequence must be preserved. 

steps in a math problem, telephone number, spelling. 

Weak Paraphrasing Skills

• -sometimes referred to as “recoding”.• -the child has difficulty paraphrasing

summarizing new information when it is delivered verbally or when reading, causing he/she to register only pieces of the information.

• -recoding the given information doesn’t need to be linguistic; can be visual (ex: chart)

Failure to use memory Strategies:

• -Like Carletta, children with this specific deficit may not use subvocalization while studying.

• they don’t visualize what they are trying to remember.

• they don’t change the information to a different format to one they are comfortable with; for ex. make a diagram of a paragraph they are trying to remember.

• they don’t test themselves on new information.

Managing Short-Term Memory at Home:

• Use Rehersal Strategies such as:• whispering under their breadth• visualization• making up rhymes• making up acronyms• making up anagrams• form associations• Stimulant medication such as Ritalin• Study for tests including self-testing and peer-testing• Paraphrasing and summarizing verbally as well as using

diagrams and charts• Keeping lists, and making good notes

Managing Problems with Short-Term Memory in

School (Carletta)• Teacher should regularly repeat instructions

and explanation while having student sit closer

• Students are encouraged to learn how to paraphrase to remember verbal instructions, text and to assist with notetaking

• Chunking, including speaking slower, using shorter sentences

• Use more than one format when presenting information

• Use a Memory Plan

Memory Plan• A memory plan is a graphic organizer that

children with memory deficits can use to help themselves learn new information. Within it, the child identifies the material to be covered, the methods of condensing the material (visual, written, taped, paraphrasing, use of a computer), the methods of registering the information (time needed, whispering, visualizing), how she will consolidate the new information, and a section to indicate how many times she has tested herself, and has been quizzed by others.

Short-Term Memory• “Your mind doesn’t hold on to

language too well in class. That makes it hard for you to take notes because you keep forgetting what the teacher just said. ”

Audience Questions?

Case Study - Todd• Todd is 11 years old and has as

insufficient active working memory. • Although motivated, experiences

difficulties in math, reading, writing.• He loses track of what he is doing

while he is doing it.

Class Participation• 2 Options:

• 1) Roleplaying/Skit

• 2) Brainstorming Activity

Role Playing/ Skit• Todd is at home studying for his math test. He is

struggling with the multiplication of two digits numbers and is extremely frustrated. In your group assign different roles and act out this scene. You can role play or create your own skit.

• Todd is a student in your class. You are his classroom teacher. Your lesson for the day is on spelling. You give out the list of spelling words and give time to students to go over and memorize the spelling of the words. It’s Todd’s turn to spell a word you call on him and he completely blanks out. Todd’s now feels embarrassed because you as the teacher put him on the spot. In your group act out this scene through role playing or creating a unique skit.

Brainstorming Activity

• In your groups discuss and brainstorm some ideas and solutions to Todd’s learning difficulties if you were his parent and teacher.

Insufficient active working memory and its key

findings• Todd and other children who have this

limitation tend to lose track of what they’re doing while working on mathematical problems.

• Trouble sustaining the logical development of ideas while writing or speaking.

• A pattern of forgetting one part of the task while working on some other part of that task. Not recalling what they were going to do.

Insufficient active working memory and its key

findings• Difficulty in remembering reading

materials sometimes referred to as “leaky reading”. There is a disparity between reading comprehension and reading memory.

• Children with this limitation can become exceedingly frustrated in school. They simply have inadequate mental space (memory retention) in which to their ideas.

Active Working Memory

• “A lot of times you forget what you’re doing while your in the middle of doing it. It would be like a television screen where parts of the picture disappear in the middle of a program. “

Countdown Game• Challenges your Active Working

Memory

How to help children with insufficient active working

memory at home:• As children with this limitation grow older it is critical

for them to know which of their homework activities require working memory. They need to be different learning strategies to cope and manage their limitation.

• They have to be active readers. Some of the strategies they can use is to underline as they read. High lighters are discouraged from being used because they provide only one way to mark what is salient. As a general rule they should use many different ways of indicating different degrees of importance. (example, double underlining, circling or using an asterisk).

How to help children with insufficient active working

memory at home:• Encouraged to use a recording device to listen

to what they have already read.• While doing math problems they should rely

less on mental computations. For example, as they carry numbers they should write them down. When solving word problems they should use scratch paper to write down their steps.

• Develop a plan of action before engaging in a task, this will allow them to carefully

How to help children with insufficient active working

memory at home:• Encouraged to verbalize what they are

doing. Whispering under their breath or pausing to summarize and reflect on what they are doing to bolster active working memory.

• Writing assignments should be done in stages. Parents need to encourage children not to focus to much on punctuation and spelling when they write their first draft.

How to help children with insufficient active working

memory at home:

• If the child suffers from both attention and active working memory limitations they can use medication to stimulate and increase active working memory.

• They can use a checklist to monitor their progress.

What teachers can do:• Provide more time for tests. Students with

insufficient active memory have trouble working rapidly

• For concepts involving multiple steps, teachers should ensure to teach the concept one step at a time.

• Teachers should be supportive of student to help deal with test anxiety. Don’t make them feel doing well on tests is the only key to their future academic success.

• For writing activities encourage to make liberal use of scratch paper to jot down topic, key ideas and anything else that will help them organize their thoughts. It might help to evaluate process as much as final product.

• Teach good note taking skills, or provide semi prepared notes so that it is easier for students to take good notes.

• For math expect students to write all steps down and do very little in their head, also discourage” skipping steps”.

• Allow students the use of a calculator and/or word processor.

• Exercises that require students to solve increasingly long computations mentally, will help enhance active working memory. Example would be computing percentages in head.

Name that Tune!• Raise your hand if you recognize

the name of the song being played.

• This illustrates our ability to access and retrieve long-term memory.

Case Study: Rosa• Rosa has difficulty retrieving

information from long-term memory

• Likely is not consolidating properly• When she writes she cannot

remember prior knowledge, letter formations, spelling, etc. all at the same time.

Reduced Access to Long - Term Memory • This type of memory deficit refers

to the inability to find or access information in the long term memory. All information is remembered in either of the following ways: association, pattern recognition, or total recall.

Reduced Memory for associations:

• -some students have difficulty recalling specific kinds of paired associations, and are likely the same type they had trouble consolidating.

Reduced pattern recognition:

• -some children have difficulty recognizing patterns they have previously encountered.

• -could be a visual pattern (geometry), linguistic (word problem or story), or social (recurring conflict with friends).

• -due to the child’s inability to recognize patterns, he/she is unable to use what worked in the past or avoid what was unsuccessful.

Reduced Retrieval Memory/Recall

• -children with this deficit have difficulty keeping pace with the demands on them to recall facts and procedures quickly.

• -in order to manage a long term memory deficit, it is important to identify the precise source of weakness.

Form Description

Convergent Retrieval

-difficulty locating precise data on demand.

Simultaneous Retrieval

-difficulty recalling multiple procedures at the same time; impairs writing.

Rapid Retrieval -difficulty answering fast enough.

Form Description Cumulative Retrieval -current understanding is

dependent upon understanding previously taught information.

Content-Specific Retrieval -difficulty recalling facts in a specific subject.

Format-Specific Retrieval -difficulty recalling the appearance of a shape, remembering the lines in a play.

Automatization -difficulty recalling previously learned information easily (letter formation during writing, word decoding for reading).

Access to Long-Term Memory

• “Your memory is like a closet with a sticking door. It’s hard for you to remember things in school because the door keeps getting stuck. We have to figure out how to make the door for that closet open more easily!”

Managing Problems with Long-Term Memory in

School (Rosa)• Give more time to take tests and

advanced warnings about questions to be asked

• Recognition memory is easier than retrieval

• Give open ended questions• Have student demonstrate their

understanding through reports/projects• Open-notes testing• Peer studying

Managing Incomplete Consolidation and

Reduced Access to Long-Term Memory at Home:

• Elaborate on what you are studying so it’s saved in multiple pre-existing memory

• Paired association through rote drill or games• Serial chains or procedures consolidated well by

making diagrams with arrows • For rule based learning, mistakes are often an excellent

way to consolidate knowledge.• Use multiple sensory pathways • Knowledge is best consolidated right before going to

sleep• Students need the extra breaks and time without

pressure

Audience Questions• Audience members, would you like

to ask a question or make a comment?

Case Study: Antonio• Antonio (age 13) is generally a good student but

certain kinds academic work give him problems.

• Antonio forgets things the following day despite studying with great effort

• Antonio has many strengths, he is and excellent reader and writer with excellent language skills.

• Major difficulty withed paired association; he was especially slow to master the multiplication tables.

• Long term memory = where a person stores the facts, ideas and skills he or she needs to remember for a long time, ideally forever

• Consolidation = organizing information or skill in memory in such a way that it will be easy to recall when one needs it later.

4 ways information or skill becomes consolidated in long

term memory Way Explanation Example Paired association Two pieces of information

stored together in memory A word ant its spelling; a historical event and a date

Categories Classification of knowledge into pre existing or new groups that go together

Plants, animals, minerals

Rules and recurring patterns

Regularities that govern facts/ procedures – may be either rules were are taught or patterns of occurrence we discern through experience

If this is a proper noun, it will be capitalized; If this is a tiger; it will have stripes

Chains Information or steps in a very specific serial order

Steps in long division; motor movements for cursive writing

Forms of incomplete consolidation of long term

memory• Paired Association Deficits• The inability to pair certain kinds of data in

long term memory• e.g names and faces • Poor Categorization• Not good at taking in new knowledge and

putting it in pre existing categories. The inability to connect new knowledge with things we already know, or connect new ideas with each other.

• Problems with rules and patterns• Have difficulties in subjects that require the

mastery and application of factual/ procedural rules.

• Example: learning mathematics, grammar• Unstable serial chaining• Struggle to remember the sequential plans for

accomplishing tasks.• Example: tying shoelaces, procedure for

forming letters

Video• The Blind Side clip

IEP Activity• Imagine you are going to be teaching

Antonio, who has a memory problem.• What might his IEP look like?• Think about his/her Strengths, Needs,

Instructional, Environmental, and Assessment Accomodations, as well as Teaching Strategies and Assessment Methods.

How Memory Problems Separate from Overall

Intelligence:• Many intelligent people have

trouble remembering• The workplace typically requires

less memory work than school• The more memory is exercised the

more it improves• Memory strategies work … use

them!

Recognizing Memory Strengths

• Identifying specific memory strengths is important in maintaining a learning challenged child’s self-esteem.

• Catering to Strengths and Learning Styles is important.