[senco-forum] RE Visual memory

Your Ed Psych does a visual memory test as a component of the British Ability Scales or W.I.S.C. This is an assesment of short term memory function and gives standardised score so that the performance of any individual can be compared to that of others. Whether or not a word passes into visual memory is not simply a question of the number of times it is encountered, it is also a matter or the significance of the word to the individual.  It has been said that children with the largest reading deficits can always read the word 'mother.!   If words are drilled into a child's memory by the 'drill and practice' method, there is no guarantee that they will not vanish as soon as the practice sessions cease.  A fixed number of encounters to secure a place in visual memory is not really a valid propositon.

There are those who say there is no such thing as sight vocabulary and others who concede that  'sight vocabularly' exists but plays no role in reading whatsoever viz that every word is decoded, letter by letter, every time it is read. This is certainly the view of those whose commitment to synthetic phonics is fundamental. Sight vocabulary certainly does have an upper limit somewhere between 3000 and 4000 words so that some decoding skill is undeniably a necessary part of reading. How that decoding skill to deal with lower frequency word encounters is acquired and retained seems to be a variable which depends on the learning style of individuals.

Hope this helps.

Eddie C.