Working memory
Working memory is the ability to hold in mind and mentally manipulate information over short periods of time. It is a temporary storage system and is vital for many day-to-day tasks (e.g. following instructions, responding in conversations, listening and reading comprehension, organisation).
Analogy: Working Memory is much like a bucket that you can keep filling up using a glass of water. Every drop that you add remains in the bucket unless over time memory evaporates through lack of repeated use. In children with poor working memory, it is much like the bucket has a hole in the bottom. You can keep tipping in glasses of water (information/knowledge) but it continually drains out.
Working memory is important for putting information that we are learning together with our current knowledge base (i.e. long-term memory). It is crucial for academic performance as it is an important part of executive functioning (e.g. planning, initiating, task monitoring, and organisation). Many of the learning activities that children are engaged with, whether related to reading, maths, science or other areas of the curriculum impose quite considerable burdens on working memory.
What you might see at home if your child has poor working memory
Children with poor working memory may:
- be well-adjusted socially
- behave as though they have not paid attention or have a poor attention span
- forgetful of instructions or messages or not seeing a task through to completion
- be easily distracted and can lose their place during a task/instruction
- have difficulties with reading (e.g. struggle to keep track of their place when reading, struggle to use contextual cues to support word prediction when reading, find it hard to break down sounds in words then unable to blend the sounds into the word accurately)
- show slow academic progress despite working really hard (i.e. it’s not a problem of effort, but could be that they can’t hold onto information long enough to manipulate and process it)
- find it difficult to wait for their turn (e.g. will interrupt or ask a question and then forget what to say when called upon)
What you can do at home to help
Memory games exercise the brain, making it sharper and more alert. It can help improve concentration and focusing ability. Memory games enhance other brain functions, such as attention level, and reading and reasoning skills.
- Structure the environment - this helps to reduce the amount of working memory overload (break large goals into smaller ones, simplify information, chunk it, slow down the delivery of the pace of information. Use verbal and visual cues to support routines
- Encourage children to create a picture in their mind of what they’ve just read or heard - for example, say you’ve asked your child to set the table for five people. Get them to imagine the table and the faces of the people sitting there and then as they become more accomplished, they can describe the image rather than drawing it
- Make tasks multisensory - using as many senses (seeing, listening, touching etc.) as possible can help keep the information in mind long enough to use it. Consider writing tasks down so your child can look at them, say them out loud so your child can hear them and walk through the house as you discuss them
- Play card games - such as Uno and Go Fish which are excellent to help children improve their working memory. Alternatively, several games of memory can be played with a regular deck of cards
- Play ‘Memory Master’ - provide the child or young person with a picture. Give them 60 secs to memorise details of the picture. Then ask the questions involving remembering details such as colour, amounts etc.
- Play ‘Simon Says’ or other instructional games, increase the instructions and see if they can remember them - for example, “Sit down, put your hands on your head and blink three times..."
- Say the alphabet backwards, write your full name backwards
Useful websites
Useful apps
- CogMed
- Monster Hunt
