[senco-forum] Re Short term memory deficit: Ruths query

My daughter had Short Term Auditory Memory of a 7 year old when she was 10.
This would have been viewed as a significant deficit had it been a Reading
Age or Spelling age score.  Instead the perceived wisdom then was that is
was not possible to change it.  I was told I could try games like 'I went
shopping and I bought  Apple, Banana, cat etc  but she could play these with
out a problem. Being concrete nouns she could use other strategies.

Likewise some have difficulties with visual memory.

I have been designing a series of tests ( based on the Digit Span test).
The visual ones use black & white drawings of numbers, Greek symbols ( or
anything unfamiliar) animals and mathematical symbols.  Also I have a set of
plastic animals ( to match the pictures).  There is sometimes a staggering
difference in the scores -symbols (1) numbers (1/2)  picture animals ( 3/4)
and toy animals (5)  It depends on the particular child's combination of
problems & strategies.  Because the toy animals are 3D and moveable a
kinaesthetic learner gets a better score touching, naming, moving and naming
the animals.  There can be a big difference between the Visual Test and the
similar Auditory Versions.

And yes it is possible to improve these two types of memory.  The brain is
more elastic than was first thought.  Although results my depend on the
child's motivation.  My two daughters spend a car journey(!) deciding to
memorize the serial number of a £10 note.  They tried different strategies
and got there eventually.  They can now remember a mobile phone number (with
practice) whereas before they could not remember their own house number or
birthday.

Sharon

-----Original Message-----
From: senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk
[mailto:senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk]On Behalf Of Eddie Carron
Sent: 02 February 2007 15:03
To: senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk
Subject: [senco-forum] Re Short term memory deficit: Ruths query

Short Term memory deficit.: Ruth's query.

While looking into the fact that 80% of children learned to read, however
well or badly they were taught, it did seem that a common feataure of those
who were left behind by this approach was a short term memory deficit. I had
already theorised that the vast majority of children learn to read
painlessly by internalising thier own personal decoding reference library
and this seemed to fit the idea that those with short term memory deficits
would have difficutly in internalising such a personal facility - not
because their memory capacity was too limited to store such a reference
library but because such 'low priority' images might have diffculty in being
retained long enough in short term memory to gain access to longer term
memory. To test this theory, I put together a 'Word Recognition' course with
progression and internalising capabilities which could be completed in a
single term at fifteen minutes a day. I reasoned that words presented singly
rather as part of a current of words in a prose passage might stand a better
chance of retention. I used the course experimentally with four children -
one of which was my own grandson, two with private tutors and one in a
comprehensive school. All four children made remarkable gains in reading
which brought their reading ages at least into line with their chronical
ages. One of the private tutors in fact conceded that they had not completed
the course saying that the child's reading score had improved so much,
halfway through the course that she felt it unncecssary to continue with
it!!!

I thought it might be a useful remedial tool for children with short term
memory deficit but no-one appeared to be interested - the mood was for
'phonics based programmes' and anything else was not 'on message' so the
theory was never really tested with a decent sized sample of children . I am
not convinced that short term memory can be improved but I am convinced that
it can be overcome, at least as far as reading is concerned.

Eddie C.

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