Working memory

Amanda Spencer

Blog 2

Working Memory

The text book defines working memory as a limited-capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning.  Short term memory deals with storage, like trying to remember a phone number.  Working memory is more to do with the manipulation of the information.  There are two sub systems to working memory and that is the phonological loop, where the verbal information is processed, and the visuospatial sketch pad, where the visual and the spatial information is processed.  While I’ve touched on my son’s struggle with dyslexia, the core cause can be traced right back to a deficit in the working memory.

When I first noticed a problem, I observed that when he would stumble over a word, and I would tell him how to pronounce it, he wouldn’t remember.  I’m not even saying from one book to another, he couldn’t recognize, and still can’t, a word he is just told from once sentence to another.  He couldn’t retrieve words he’s learned, especially sight words that had no picture.  He has trouble remembering words aside from these because instead of learning the meaning of words, he remembers them by the picture in his head.  He replaces words that he can retrieve in place of the ones he can’t, though they sound similar.  Dyslexia is a phonological disability, which is a problem in the phonological loop in their working memory.  It took him six months to recognize the word “the”, it took a year for him to learn “you”.  But his spatial skills and in turn his math skills far exceed his grade level.    This is a clear problem that lies within the way he processes the visual and the phonological aspects of reading.

Dyslexia affects the working memory, it directly affects the way they learn the acquisition of phonics, which is the relationship between the letter and its sound.  They must learn this, figure out how the letters form a word, remember it and string all the words to make a sentence.  This lack of ability to retain words that they have just learned, and the struggle they have learning the sounds of letters is a problem.   Research has found a direct link between reading comprehension and working memory.

 

Resources

“What Is Working Memory and How Does It Affect Reading?” Dyslexia Help Starts Here. The Regents of the University of Michigan, 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015. <http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/professionals/dyslexia-school/working-memory>.

Goldstein, Bruce. “Short Term and Working Memory.” Cognitive Psychology. Third ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2008. 131-133. Print.

6 thoughts on “Working memory

  1. Patrick Ian King

    AUDITORY-MOTOR ENTRAINMENT AND READING

    Thank you, Amanda, for your blog on working memory as it relates to dyslexia. My wife is also profoundly dyslexic. I have noticed some challenges with my wife’s working memory despite her incredibly high IQ. She cannot remember a phone number or directions even though she has been somewhere many times before. She has difficulty doing math in her head although she is fantastic as long as a piece of paper is handy. She struggles with spelling and vocabulary which is fascinating because she is an excellent writer. She cannot hear the difference between vowel sounds very well. Reading is slow and exhausting.
    Northwestern University’s Brainvolts lab has done some ground-breaking research in the field of reading and auditory processing that just might hold the key to fully understanding the neurology behind dyslexia. They have found that poor readers have poor, unreliable auditory maps of phonemes. While a normal reader might have one, clear auditory map for the sound for “b,” a poor reader or dyslexic does not which slows down the reader and often gets frustrating and mixed results. Brainvolts has an online slideshow explaining this in detail entitled “The Biology of Reading and Its Remediation” at http://www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu/slideshows/reading/index.php.
    Northwestern researchers published a 2014 paper on auditory-motor entrainment and phonological skills which explains the link between music training and phonological skills. They propose the precise auditory timing hypothesis (PATH). Given there is an overlap between the neural networks that process timing in both music and language, they believe that musical training emphasizing entrainment (the process of moving to a repeated auditory signal such that there is a consistent relationship between the timing of one’s movements and the timing of sound onsets) will be particularly effective in enhancing phonological skills (Tierney & Kraus, 2014).

    References

    Kraus Lab, Northwestern University. The Biology of Reading and its Remediation. Retrieved from http://www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu/slideshows/reading/index.php

    Tierney, A. & Kraus, N. (2014). Auditory-motor entrainment and phonological skills: precise auditory timing hypothesis (PATH). Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8(949). Retrieved from http://www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu/documents/Tierney_Kraus_Frontiers_2014.pdf

  2. abw5131

    I feel quite embarrassed to admit this, but throughout my middle school and high school years, friends and I would make jokes that whenever we messed up spelling or reading something it would be blamed on us having dyslexia. I’ve come to realize now that it really is no joke. Reading that it took him months on a word and then a year on another was heartbreaking. I can only imagine how frustrating it can be to really have the disorder, on both your son and you as you try to help him. And I’ve also realized that I never really understood what dyslexia actually was, and how it worked in the brain. I always thought it was just something that couldn’t be helped and that it was a disorder that you couldn’t manage. Reading your post has really given me a better grasp on the disorder. I hope your son can conquer the disorder and never lose hope!

  3. Amanda Jo Spencer Post author

    Yes, this is something he will struggle with for the rest of his life, but something very positive comes from so much struggle and that is determination. He never ever gives up!

  4. Amanda Jo Spencer Post author

    My son has a severe inverse problem with his numbers, he can only do math orally or in his head. He can’t write numbers, he not only does what your uncle does (23 is 32) he writes the number themselves backwards as well. So when he has to write or copy anything, it’s a mess in his head. It sounds like your uncle has dysgraphia as well, which deals with math. In fact, my son’s tutor thinks he got the disorder from me, although I’m not dyslexic she believes I may have the other disorder your uncle does. I mix up, at least twice a homework lesson, math problems. I write them out of order, or reverse the order they’re in, I lose my place when reading very easily. I can not retain anything about fractions or algebra, formulas or rules, they simply don’t stay. Though when it comes to things like angles and geometry, I grasp those concepts easily. But yes, most dyslexic (who do not suffer from the second disorder) understand the out of the box thinking and abstractness of math, though most of the time only in their head. He’s actually failing math, because he can’t write the answers or really read the numbers. His biggest problem is not being able to explain how he got the answers.

  5. Emilee Fran Knott

    Good evening, I will have to admit before reading your blog pot I had a different understanding of what dyslexia is and I am sure many others feel the same way. I have always been around people who blame a quick mix up of their words or spelling on a self diagnosis of dyslexia. This is a common issue and I believe most people just have a quick slip of the tongue and are afraid to look silly so they look for something to blame it on. I think it is important for everyone to understand what people, who truly have the disorder, go through on a regular basis. Having even the slightest of knowledge on what these people go through can help lessen their frustration when they are having trouble which might make things easier. Will this inability to retain words decrease as he gets older or will he have to learn to live with it , to this extent, for the rest of his life?
    I really enjoyed your post, thanks for sharing!

  6. cqs5429

    I have seen the problems and struggle associated with dyslexia and I’ve seen how hard it is to live with. My uncle is dyslexic and he is very open about it and talks about how it affects him. He is very similar to your son, but instead of not recognizing the word ‘the’ like you mention he had issues with numbers and other things.
    One very interesting affect is how he flips different words and numbers around. Like you said, the phonological loop plays an important part in our short term memory. The mayo clinic says this is common, just like for your son not understanding words is common. For my uncle, it seems like his loop confuses the information that is coming in and sends different signals. For example, a number may be 23 but he says it back as 32. To overcome this he has to, as you pointed out too, learn to override it and fix the ‘mistake’ his brain is making. This mistake is another step you have to consciously make, and change what your brain is perceiving to what you are really seeing.
    He is older now, and I think he mastered thinking a step ahead and fixing the mistakes. One in a while, when we are talking about something specific or with numbers he slips up. It is a difficult condition though and it is unfortunate for those who have it. I hope your son progress through and learns to live with it, like my uncle has. He wasn’t able to finish high school because of it, but I’m sure there is more support presently than in the past.
    The math ability you mention is interesting, do you think he is stronger in math because of the word problems he has? My uncle has problems with all aspects of learning because of his dyslexia, so it is neat to see something stronger because of a weakness.

    Dyslexia. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dyslexia/basics/symptoms/con-20021904

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