What does a working memory difficulty look like through the grades?
Working Memory Through The Grades
| Age |
Working memory is crucial for… |
Indicators that a working memory needs exercise |
|
Pre school
|
- Learning the alphabet
- Focusing on short instructions such as “Come brush your teeth”
- Remaining seated to complete independent activities, such as puzzles
- Seems unwilling or unable to learn alphabet, numbers
- Can’t focus long enough to grasp and follow instructions
- Flits from one thing to another
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Elementary school
|
- Reading and understanding the content (reading comprehension)
- Mental arithmetic
- Interacting and responding appropriately in peer activities such as playing on the school ground
- Reads (decodes) but does not understand or remember material read
- Problems memorizing math facts
- Difficulty participating in group activities (e.g. awaiting turn); makes friends but cannot keep them
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Middle school
|
- Doing homework independently
- Planning and packing for an activity
- Solving multi-step math problems, especially word problems
- Participating in team sports
- Does not begin or persist with homework without supervision
- Packs but forgets items essential for activity
- Reads the problem but can’t break it into understandable parts
- Problems grasping rules of a game, functioning as a “team player”
- Getting a driver’s license – and driving safely
- Understanding social cues, responding to demands of a social situation
- Writing essays, reports
- Problems with spatial awareness, reading and following traffic cues
- Interrupts, talks excessively, doesn’t listen to others
- Essays and reports are short, sloppy, and disorganized
- Focusing on and following a conversation
- Making and adhering to work plans, such as studying for an exam successfully
- Participating in group activities in school and socially
- Sustaining focus and interest throughout lectures
- Changes topics suddenly, makes irrelevant comments
- Procrastinates, then tries to “cram” the night before an exam
- Doesn’t listen or participate during group activities
- Falls asleep or “zones out” during lectures
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High school
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College
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Identifying weaknesses in working memory
An individual may be constrained by their working memory capacity if he/she:
- Is easily distracted when working on or doing something that is not highly interesting.
- Has trouble waiting his/her turn, for example in a conversation or when waiting in line to get help.
- Struggles with reading comprehension and has to read through texts repeatedly to understand.
- Struggles with problem solving that require holding information in mind, for example mental math calculations.
- Is inconsistent in remembering math facts.
- Struggles with completing tasks, especially multiple step tasks.
- Has difficulty remembering long instruction given in several steps, for example following recipes, directions or school/work assignments.
- Struggles to understand the context in a story or a conversation.
- Has difficulties when planning and organizing something that needs to be done in separate steps.
- Has difficulty staying focused during cognitive demanding tasks but attends well when cognitively demands are minimal.
- Has difficulty integrating new information with prior knowledge.
- When called on, forgets what he/she was planning to say.
- Has difficulty taking notes and listening at the same time.
