Processing Speed and Working Memory Chief Bridge to

Processing Speed and Working Memory Chief Bridge to Academic Achievement Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Processing Speed • Slow processing speed is not a learning or attention issue on its own. • Kids who have trouble with processing speed may struggle in school. • Slow processing speed has nothing to do with how smart kids are. Do not use or distribute without written permission.

What is it? • Processing speed is the pace at which you take in information, make sense of it and begin to respond. This information can be visual, such as letters and numbers. It can also be auditory, such as spoken language. • It may take kids who struggle with processing speed a lot longer than other kids to perform tasks, both school-related and in daily life. • Eg: when a child with slow processing speed sees the letters that make up the word bread, he may not immediately know what they say. He has to figure out what strategy to use to understand the meaning of the group of letters in front of him. It’s not that he cannot read. • More a process of something that is quick and automatic for other kids his age, but takes longer and requires more effort for him. Do not use or distribute without written permission.

What to look for • • Finishing tests in the allotted time Finishing homework in the expected time frame Listening or taking notes when a teacher is speaking Reading and taking notes Solving simple math problems in their head Completing multi-step math problems in the allotted time Doing written projects that require details and complex thoughts Keeping up with conversations Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Other pieces • Overwhelmed by too much information at once • Needs more time to make decisions or give answers • Needs to read information more than once for comprehension • Misses nuances in conversation • Has trouble executing instructions if told to do more than one thing at once Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Working Memory • Critical area of cognitive functioning tied with attention • The most sensitive and neuropsychologically valid component of our EF abilities (2004) • The ability to hold in mind and manipulate information for brief periods of time during complex cognitive tasks Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Working Memory • Involves manipulation of mental representation online and generation of potential action sequences • Mental workspace in which ongoing processes are stored and integrated during complex and demanding activities • Those with greater working memory have been able to learn more rapidly (Dehn, 2008) • Serves as a base which new information is encoded into long-term memory • The “desk space in the mind” Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Multi-Component Model Alan D. Baddeley, Robert H. Logie • Phonological loop and visual-spatial sketchpad • Governed by domain-general central executive (supervisory system) • Central executive manages dual tasks across domains and switches between retrieval strategies within a subsystem • Central executive is measured by complex tasks such as backward span, reading and listening span. • More recently added fourth component, the episodic buffer, responsible for integrating information from subcomponents of WM and Long-term memory (Baddeley 2000) Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Baddeley Model of Working Memory Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Specialized components of Cognition • • • Allows us to comprehend Retain information from past experience Support the acquisition of new knowledge Solve problems Formulate, relate and act on current goals Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Central Executive • Control and regulation of working memory system • Coordinate the two slave systems • Focusing and switching attention • Activating representations within long-term memory • Not involved in temporary storage Do not use or distribute without written permission.

WM and Long-Term Memory • Two functionally separable cognitive systems • WM retrieves stored long-term knowledge relevant to task at hand • Also the manipulation and recombination of material to allow for interpretation of novel stimuli • The discovery of novel information • Discovery of the solution to problems Do not use or distribute without written permission.

WM and Attention and Consciousness • Not the only system to contribute • Norman and Shallice (1986) and Posner (1995) - role of central executive in attention control • Especially relevant in attention switching and / or dividing attention Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Biology • Lower part of left parietal lobe – verbal short-term memory • Right posterior parietal linked with visual-spatial WM tasks • Usually involved in complex cognitive tasks such as language comprehension, learning and reasoning • Increase in activation of pre-frontal cortex associated with increased working memory • Bunge (2000) also detected increased activation in lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) • Areas of deficit found in ADHD, compensate with medial prefrontal cortex and bilateral insula, extending into basal ganglia Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Embedded Processes Model Nelson Cowan • WM derived from LTM and current awareness • Attention can be limited by capacity, activation is time limited • Voluntary system (central executive) and involuntary processes (attentional orienting system) • Habituation of orienting • Awareness influences processing Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Individual Differences WM Engle, Kane, Tuholski • • • More than phonological and VS More closely related to attention Limitation re-emerge during novel situations Controlled processing is required Dorso-lateral Pre-frontal Cortex Pathway (DLPFC) mediate the controlled processing functions. Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Unified Architecture (ACT-R) Lovett, Reder, Lebiere • Processing depends on the current goal of the system • Declarative and procedural knowledge varies with experience • Capacity of attentional resource: – Focused on current goal – More thinly spread during complex tasks, varies from person to person Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Related to Academic Achievement • Reading disabilities (Swanson, Zheng, and Jerman, 2009) • Reading comprehension difficulties (Caretti, Borella, Cornoldi, and De Beni, 2009) • Predictive relationship with difficulties such as language comprehension (Daneman and Merikle, 1996) • Visual-spatial WM and STM predictive of math achievement (Bull, Espy, and Wiebe, 2008) • WM and Processing Speed on WISC 111 and WISC IV predictive of poor academic achievement and most powerful predictors of learning disabilities (Mayes and Calhoun, 2007) Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Working Memory and Short-term Memory • WM adds active, conscious processing • Digits forward tests STM • Digits backward tests WM because one must manipulate the digits in order to reverse the sequence • Baddeley (2006) embedded STM inside WM Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Sensory Visual Memory (Iconic Memory) • Two components • Dependent on retina of the eye, influenced by brightness • Point in the brain after info from 2 retina’s received an integrated – more sensitive to pattern than brightness, represents system of shape recognition Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Hearing (Echoic memory) • When sequence is spoken, the last item can still be recovered from a brief auditory memory • Auditory sensory memory appears more durable than visual memory • Not limited to speech sounds Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Short-Term Memory (STM) • Temporary storage of information • Retrieval of information of very recent same day events • Van be discarded, not needed for long term memory storage • Can be co-activated with WM, but not the same entity • Serves working memory Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Long-Term Memory (LTM) Stored for considerable periods of time Episodic Memory: remembering particular incidents Semantic Memory: knowledge about the world Priming: learning of motor skills, such as typing Implicit Memory: reflected indirectly in the speed or nature of subsequent performance – typically a non memory task (indirect, non-declarative) • Explicit Memory – direct and declaritive • • • Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Poor Working Memory and Recall • Difficulty remembering and following instructions • Difficulty memorizing math facts, spelling words and dates • Difficulty performing mental computations in one’s head • Forget one part while working on another • Difficulty paraphrasing/summarizing • Difficulty recalling the past • Do not learn from past mistakes • Repeat misbehavior Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Poor WM and Recall • • Diminished sense of self awareness Not easy to examine own behavior Difficulty holding events in mind Difficulty in using their sense of time to prepare for upcoming future events Do not accurately estimate how much time it will take to finish a task Live in the here and now and not future oriented Difficulty projecting forward lessons learnt from the past Difficulty preparing for the future Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Ode on Working Memory By Janice Keenan There once was a box called short-term stone Whose function was storage and nothing more. But along cam Alan Baddeley Whose subjects dual-tasked madly And WM replaced STS forevermore. For those who’ve been living in caves Working memory is a system with slaves. They are independent buffers So that neither one suffers When doing verbal memory with visual maze. While storage is the job of each little slave The central executive says how we behave. From up in the prefrontal lobes It activates and controls all nodes Through a dopamine system acting as gates The unanswered questions on WM abound Despite numerous studies whose findings are sounds. What’s needed right now Is for us to see how We can put all these data on common ground. Do not use or distribute without written permission.

Maude Le Roux, OTR/L, SIPT, IMC Website https: //maudeleroux. com/ Facebook https: //www. facebook. com/ATAMaude. Leroux. OT/ Linked. In https: //www. linkedin. com/company/a-total-approach Blog http: //www. maude-leroux. com/