Working Memory and Learning
Jeffrey Montoya
Logan University

Short-term memory and working memory are closely related

Short Term memory

• has limited capacity
• has limited duration
• Encodes sensory information

Limited Capacity

• Our short-term memory can remember 7 plus or minus 2 pieces of information

Limited DURATION

• Items are usually held in short term memory for between 15-30 seconds

Sensory information is encoded into the brain to be later retrieved

Implications for Teaching

• Information must be delivered at a pace to not overload students
• Information offered through different senses (auditory, visual and tactile) will have more of an opportunity to encode for later recalled
• Spaced repetition is an effective tool in learning

A study of medical students showed that animations (such as Powerpoint) images increase attention during lectures (Naqvi, 2013)

Attention is the ability to selectively process sensory information which moves into the short-term and working memories

According to a 2015 study by Microsoft, the average attention span is eight seconds -- down from 12 seconds in 2000.
The goldfish is believed to be able to maintain a solid nine.

While wide-held belief has argued that attention span during lectures is only 10-15 minutes, Wilson and Korn argue that this is not well documented and instead focus should be on how well students are retaining information (Wilson and Korn. 2007)

Working memory can be described as a temporary mental workspace where information is manipulated and processed

The effectiveness of lectures
is linked to higher-order
thinking and embedding new
knowledge in a meaningful context.
This can be achieved with a problem-oriented
and highly interactive
lecture (Matheson, 2008) .

A comparison of traditional and engaging lecture methods in a large, professional-level course showed that incorporating more engaging lectures improved both the qualitative experiences and performance levels of professional students (Miller et al., 2013).

Au et al.'s meta-analysis concluded that training on working memory can improve performance on tests of fluid intelligence (Au et al., 2015)

There is some evidence that "the brain regions involved in the working memory network are getting more activated with age in those with higher educational attainment"
(Arenaza-Urquijo, et. al. .2013)

Hruska et al. "found that clinician level of expertise elicited differential activation of regions of the human prefrontal cortex associated with WM during clinical reasoning' (2016).

Hruska et al. also identified significant hemispheric activation differences between novice and expert clinicians when diagnosing hard clinical cases.

References