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Introduction
Working memory (WM) refers to a system that stores information for a short period where the information is used to fulfill “goal-directed” activities. Research on working memory has become extensively crucial in educational as well as developmental contexts as during child development, WM functions have been witnessed to be correlated with academic outcomes. Children with arithmetic and reading disabilities usually have impairments in working memory. Attention control and working memory are related and children having "impairments of attention" including hyperactive disorders (ADHD) have been noticed to have deficits in their working memory. Similarly, the essay shall discuss whether or not WM training is helpful for children with WM difficulties in the classroom.
Discussion
Working Memory
Cowan’s Embedded Process Model describes Working Memory as a cognitive process that remembers novel and old information in an accessible state which is suitable for carrying out tasks and manipulation with mental components. WM is a "central intellectual faculty" that is linked with aging, IQ, mental health, and other aspects (Zhang et al., 2019). It has been mentioned that training programs related to working memory are effective to increase cognitive capabilities and to treat significant medical conditions linked with WM deficiencies.
Figure 1: Showing the Cowan’s Embedded Process Model of WM
Working memory refers to the mental workplace that can hold on to information temporarily and manipulate them for daily reasoning. It has four components- phonological loop, central executive, episodic buffer, and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. Each component is developed during childhood (Henry et al., 2019). Working Memory (WM) refers to the brain's processing system that helps individuals to work mentally using limited information. It is fundamental for advanced thinking to learn skills and facts. Information is processed first via working memory prior that it can become stable in long term. WM is important for holding information in mind, manipulating information, monitoring and controlling strategies, and others. WM is usually associated with reading and mathematical learning abilities. Children with poor WM struggle to stay focused on a task and follow instructions and others. Researchers have reflected that poor working memory is linked with poor outcomes in “higher order cognition”, and certain interventions have been built to enhance working memory. The interventions are based on the idea that if the working memory of a child can be enhanced then performance related to other cognitive abilities shall increase (Logie et al., 2020). It shall ultimately increase their academic performance. Thus, some WM training has been put forward and the main element for working memory (WM) training reflects that improvement of practiced working memory shall result in enhanced behavioral and educational outcomes.
WM training
There are certain WM training including task repetition, giving feedback, praising and rewarding, rehearsal, and pairing mental images and they have been shown to reflect short-term positive impacts. A prominent WM training is Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) which is a computerized intervention including 12 different verbal and visuospatial WM tasks occurring in a rotational schedule and are adapted according to the capacity level of the trainee (Blair et al., 2021). The training includes 5 to 7 weeks with support from a certified coach. Research has reflected including meta-study that WM training reflects short-term improvements in children as well as in adults with ADHD but no evidence was found for long-term effects without continuous follow-up training. Thus, it reflects short-term benefits for people with ADHD, developing children, and so on. However, the question arises that whether or not WM training can increase school performance. Bharadwaj et al., (2022), conducted a meta-analysis including school students to analyze whether or not the WM training program improves near transfer (visuo-spatial and verbal working memory) measures. “Hedges g” was calculated and 3 to 6 months were taken to complete the experiment. The findings confirmed only short-term positive impacts.
Two theoretical routes are present through which WM training can impact academic outcomes and they are – Performance routes and learning routes. As WM training does not include practice reading or teaching such as teaching mathematics thus, the training helps in the progress of cognitive or mental functions needed for skill expertise. It has been understood that WM training inspires academic performance positively by enhancing learning capacities (Parong et al., 2022). Such as it can help to enhance “attention in class” and increase the “capacity to engulf new knowledge”. On the other hand, the performance route under the concept of WM training can influence academic performance directly via direct participation in academic tasks. The effects of such training shall help to enhance WM capabilities. Thus, such discussions help to understand that WM training has a certain positive impact to enhance the skills of students having WM difficulties and helps to enhance their reading ability and mathematical abilities in the classroom. Furthermore, Berry et al., (2019), included 84 children between 9 to 10 years of age and they were given WM span tasks in random arrangement or order. Children were grouped into two groups, one group had high WM with top 15th percentile, and the low WM group with bottom 15th percentile. The findings highlighted that ordered arrangements helped to improve performance within low-WM children.
WM training and reading ability
The cognitive mechanism that helps in the attainment of reading abilities has been a part of extensive research for a long time. To have proficiency in reading needs delicate interplay among various cognitive abilities besides formal practice and instruction (Peng & Kievit, 2020). Reading profanely needs both skill acquisition and cognitive abilities. Researchers have studied various cognitive components and reading comprehension within a longitudinal design from grades 1 to 3. The findings reflected that WM is a crucial predictor for reading comprehension according to age. From grade 3, WM helps in controlling vocabulary and decoding. In the early reading stage, however, researchers mentioned that WM is not associated with word identification (Redick et al., 2015). Thus, WM can be said an "independent predictor" for reading comprehension after the ability to read words has been gained.
However, Gathercole et al., (2019), conducted a meta-analysis and it has been understood that WM training influences reading. WM is one of the capacities among various other capacities that are crucial to reading proficiency. Thus, it shall be mentioned that WM training such as auditory working memory, visual working memory, CWMT, and others influence reading proficiency at certain stages and helps to enhance reading proficiency, word decoding, reading comprehension, and fluency based on enhancing skill and cognitive acquisition by a child. For example, phonological awareness (a component of WM) has a prominent impact on reading acquisition, especially in the early stage however, if WM is impaired then the decoding process shall face hindrances and that can be improved through WM training like CWMT. However, if any other skill than WM is hampering the acquisition of a specific skill then WM training alone shall not be effective on that skill.
WM training and mathematics abilities
WM predicts the present and future abilities related to mathematics. Researchers have traced that overlapping neuroanatomical correlation in their observation among WM and mathematical abilities. Longitudinal studies have traced the relations of different WM components with mathematical performances in different stages. Participants' developmental stage is not only relay to the cognitive developmental stage but also the quantity and quality of participant's exposure to mathematical training (Aldugom et al., 2020). During learning math at an early stage, the majority of children at first use their counting strategies using the aid of fingers before the development of verbal counting. Then the counting is replaced gradually by forming “categorical representations” in their long-term memory. Utilization of such diverse strategies reflects diverse demands on the cognitive functioning involving WM. Though task learning is constant among participants the approaches to solve it differ due to differences in WM among the participants. Likewise, there can be an intra-individual difference in terms of cognitive demand when individuals are analyzed using a longitudinal design like individuals can change strategies such as from "verbal counting" to "automatized solutions among measuring points". Researchers have observed in grade 3, students perform better as compared to grade 2 related to mathematical reasoning however, no WM measures have been found to be correlated with these arithmetic measures (Fyfe et al., 2019). Thus, it reflects that although the skills rely on WM but not necessarily or completely rely on WM. However, good WM allows the development and learning of new skills and mathematical strategies.
WM training has been found to be consistently related to arithmetic performance however, significant patterns of the relationships are complicated and not understood completely. Thus, the Effect of WM training shall depend on diverse features. For example, the effects of the training are sensitive to the used measures such as the degree to which WM has been tapped. A load of measures can change from the perspective of specific strategies and the age of the child. The phonological loop is likely to play a more crucial role in recovering the mathematical skills in a child which are already learned (Redick et al., 2015). Thus, WM training might have a large positive impacts the learning procedure of acquiring new skills or while performing complex arithmetic reasoning.
Transfer effect
There are various transfer effects of WM training. An increase in WM capacity helps individuals to take a higher working memory load such as opting for challenging academic tasks. Researchers reported improvements in mathematical reasoning just after 6 months of WM training. Moreover, the reduction of inattentive, hyperactive as well as impulsive behavior in ADHD children behavior has been found associated with WM training (Linares et al., 2019). However, a meta-analysis of studies found that WM training has short-term reliable effects and long-term effectiveness is limited. WM training also supports to overcome shortfalls that are triggered by “anxiety”, “depression disorders”, and assigning training related to "placebo emotional working memory" assist to reduce depression and anxiety. Enhancement of self-esteem is also noticed among the children having WM training.
The usefulness of WM training interventions
The researchers systematically examined the effectiveness of WM training interventions when applied in every day context. The researcher reviewed 18 articles that include a range of interventions including direct WM training, the environment that lowers WM loads, and offering training skills that can indirectly impact WM (phonological awareness, physical activity, inhibition, fantastical play). The majority of the articles lacked a clear theory that why they shall impact WM. Moreover, the majority of the interventions reflected the benefits of WM training in younger children from 4 to 5 years of age and reflected that non-computerized approaches might be more appropriate for younger children (Rowe et al., 2019). However, one of the WM tasks is “executive loaded (EL)”, where the children are trained to tap in for extra resources under the control of supervisors and that is an effective ingredient as WM intervention. The effective ELWM tasks include backward digital recall, selecting the odd one out, listening recall, visuo-verbal dual task, word list updating, and others. It has been suggested that these cognitively demanding activities are beneficial. However, it has been mentioned that interventions need overlapping between the Real world and WM training to have long-term and more promising effects. WM training requires rigor and detailed approaches to enhance their applicability.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be observed that WM skill improvements reflect near and far effects and Working Memory is crucial for children to enhance their academic outcomes, however, it is questionable whether or not WM training is effective to enhance the working memory of children in a classroom. The essay has helped to understand that diverse interventions have been applied for children to understand the effect of WM training. However, it has been understood that direct WM training impacts Working Memory such as physical activity, fantastical play, and others were advantageous. WM training also enhances reading and mathematical reasoning ability. However, the positive effects are short term and to have long-term impacts, other interventions along with WM training interventions are required.
Reference
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