2.4.1 - Key Question

Question 1

Dyslexia - 3 x AO1

Answer 1

• dyslexia is a reading disorder which is defined by having a problem in learning to recognise and decode printed words at a level that would be expected for the individuals age
• children with dyslexia find it hard to read fluently but they have normal levels of comprehension. They have poor verbal and short term memory
• dyslexia affects between 3 to 6% of children and is more prevalent in boys than girls

Question 2

What is your key question?

Answer 2

My key question is ‘how can knowledge of working memory inform treatment of dyslexia?’

Question 3

dyslexia - issue to society?

Answer 3

this is an issue to SoC because our overall goal should be to have a well educated and trained population and if the needs of dyslexia are not addressed in the classroom setting, then it is likely that they will achieve below their potential which could lead to poor mental health and wellbeing

Question 4

Evaluation of using working memory to inform treatment for dyslexia

x 4

Answer 4

• one problem for children with dyslexia is holding information in the short term memory as it has a very limited duration. E.g. Baddeley said that the phonological loop holds the amount of info that you can say in 1.5-2 seconds and this is further reduced in dyslexic learners. Therefore a teacher can help those with dyslexia with classroom based intervention strategies eg keeping instructions simple, breakdowns of tasks into bullet points and leave reminders on the board
• The multi store model suggests that elaborate rehearsal is required for information to pass from short term store to our long term memory. Therefore as the short term memory is reduced in capacity for a dyslexic learner, a teacher should encourage these students to repeat information or instructions back to them; Encouraging that rehearsal and so the encoding of information to LTM
• if the dyslexic child has slow processing ability then information will disappear before it has been encoded or transferred to the long term store. So to help them, the teacher should not overload them with instructions. The multi store model shows that if information is not encoded then it will be forgotten. Therefore breaking structures into small tasks and avoiding using large pieces of texts in class will help to support a dyslexic student
• children with dyslexia have poor verbal short term memory. The working memory model has a phonological loop where some dyslexic people suffer from the phonological similarity effect when they find it difficult to remember similar sounding words eg problems in transposing sounds of letters. Therefore we could write down instructions and information as well as saying them so they can have tasks both visually and verbally