Memory Span and Working Memory

What is Memory?

Memory is the process of maintaining information over time.

There are three important aspects of information processing:

1. Memory Encoding

It allows the perceived item of use or interest to be converted into a construct that can be stored within the brain and recalled later from short-term or long-term memory

There are three main ways in which information can be encoded (changed):

1. Visual (picture)

2. Acoustic (sound)

3. Semantic (meaning)

For example, how do you remember a telephone number you have looked up in the phone book?

If you can see it then you are using visual coding, but if you are repeating it to yourself you are using acoustic coding (by sound).

2. Memory Storage

This concerns the nature of memory stores, i.e. where the information is stored, how long the memory lasts for (duration), how much can be stored at any time (capacity) and what kind of information is held.

The way we store information affects the way we retrieve it.

According to Miller (1956) Most adults can store between 5 and 9 items in their short-term memory.  The capacity was 7 (plus or minus 2) items because it only had a certain number of “slots” in which items could be stored.

However, Miller didn’t specify the amount of information that can be held in each slot.  Indeed, if we can “chunk” information together we can store a lot more information in our short-term memory. 

3. Memory Retrieval

It is a process of accessing stored memories. When you are taking an exam, you need to be able to retrieve learned information from your memory in order to answer the test questions. If we can’t remember something, it may be because we are unable to retrieve it.

What is Memory Span?

Memory span refers to the amount of items includes numbers, letters, or words, that a person has the ability to remember.

Short term memory refers to where we keep information that we can readily tap into and utilize. We have the ability to keep information in short term memory for an estimated 18 to 20 seconds.

The example of memory span would be the digit span.  A digit-span task is used to measure working memory's number storage capacity. Participants see or hear a sequence of numerical digits and are tasked to recall the sequence correctly, with increasingly longer sequences being tested in each trial. The amount of items that a person can correctly recall in order is the person's memory span for the particular task. For example, Child 1 memory span is 13, given that he was able to correctly identify all 13 numbers. Given that the average memory span is seven items, Child 1 scores indicate that his memory span is better than most. Memory span tests do not always ask you to recall numbers. For example, you could be given a list of words or letters of the alphabet to recall instead. And also Digit-span tasks can be given forwards or backwards, meaning that once the sequence is presented, the participant is asked to either recall the sequence in normal or reverse order.

The video below would further help us to understand the digit span test.

What is Working memory?

Working memory is a bit more complicated because it measures how many items a person can hold in immediate memory while also doing some processing or thinking about those items. often referred to as short-term memory,

According to Baddeley (2002), working memory involves the temporary storage and manipulation of information that is assumed to be necessary for a wide range of complex cognitive activities.

For example,  a child using  their working memory as they recall the steps of a recipe while cooking a favorite meal.  working memory involves our ability to retain visually learned information momentarily while we analyze it.

Verbal working memory is involved in many everyday tasks, such as remembering a friend's telephone number while entering it into a phone and understanding long and difficult sentences.

Have you ever gone to the store without a list, thinking you’ll remember everything you need…but discovered when you got home that you forgot several items? If so, you’ve experienced the limitations of working memory.

The video below would further help us to understand the working memory.

Author's Insight:

Memory is essential to all our lives. Without a memory of the past we cannot operate in the present or think about the future. We would not be able to remember what we did yesterday, what we have done today or what we plan to do tomorrow.  Without memory we could not learn anything. I realize that working memory can help kids to hold on to information long enough to use it. And it plays an important role in concentration and in following instructions. Weak working memory skills can affect learning in many different subject areas including reading and math. 

Author's Insights: Inhibition and Resistance to Interference

             

             The blog post that was uploaded  last time was about the inhibition and resistance to interference. Inhibition, for me, is the ability to prevent the distractions from the surroundings to be able to focus on the task that a person is doing. Failures to inhibit some responses can interfere with making other responses. This means that when a person is not capable of inhibiting or preventing the interruptions, he or she cannot be able to give full attention to the task. However, children’s ability to inhibit task-irrelevant responses increases with development. Older people are more able to focus  on a certain task than children because as we grow old, our tasks and responsibilities are getting bigger and heavier so it is a must for us to increase our inhibition and resistance to interference.

          On the other hand, resistance to interference means that eliminating distractions through inhibition eliminates potential interference. This means that if one person develops a higher inhibition to distractions and interruptions, he or she will more likely to finish his or her tasks successfully. I would like to share my experiences regarding this topic.

            As a 4^th year BS Psychology student, I have so many things to do because there are so many requirements to finish. Thesis, transcription of data, constructing themes, presentations and graded recitations, quizzes, and money. These are some of the stressors I am having as of the moment. After reading this topic, I learned something. I learned that I should break down my tasks into parts so that it won’t be so memory demanding. I should manage my time more appropriately. I should not let my mind be bombarded with these tasks because if I let it interrupt me, I will not finish my work very well. Also, external supports are important because every people need to feel that they are supported and loved to keep us motivated.

How ‘bout you? How do you manage your time? Can you share your stories/ideas on the comment section.

SEMANTIC DEVELOPMENT

Semantic or vocabulary development is an essential part in a child’s growth. According to an article by Rosselli, Ardilla, Matute, & Uribe (2014), children produce recognizable words between 12 and 18 months of age. A vocabulary burst called “word spurt” happens around 18 months of age. Word spurt is the rapid increase in words as observed in some children. There are also differences when it comes to word spurt. Children begin after their first birthday or others are not starting until the age of 2 or even later.

Another concept in Semantic Development is fast mapping. This is the children’s remarkable ability to map linguistic labels to referents in the world (Vlach & Sandhofer, 2012). Commonly, children produce noun words first. They also say words that are relevant to social interactions such as hello or bye bye. Children increase their semantic ability during school years because they are exposed to more knowledge and they are also experiencing interactions with different people.

Author’s Insights:

It is interesting to know how children develop their language skills. I think what is more important in semantic development is the presence and support of other people, especially the parents, because children usually produce words that they hear often in their primary environment. Development is a gradual process and it is important that parents or guardians are there to provide guidance since every step or milestone in a child’s development is an essential part of what he/she will be in the future.