NOT ON ALEVEL 2.4 key question

Question 1

What is the key question

Answer 1

can knowledge of working memory help us understand and inform the strategies for helping people with dyslexia

Question 2

what is dyslexia

Answer 2

dyslexia is a reading disorder in which people have a problem learning to recognise and decode printed words to a level that would be expected for an individual‘s age. People have dyslexia have a difficulty to read fluently and accurately, but they have a normal level of comprehension and it affects between 3 to 6% of children. Moreover children with dyslexia often have difficulties remembering similar sounding words the phonologically similarity effect and remembering long words (the word length effect) from a list

using the knowledge of working memory, it has been proven that dyslexia makes it hard to learn new information due to less affective rehearsal and encoding mechanisms and difficulties with verbal processing. Also people with dyslexia often experience difficulties with attention, destruction, interference and during the processing of verbal information this will have significant impact on encoding and storage. This also correlates to the fact that dyslexia is often seen to be paired with other learning difficulties like ADHD and this is known as comorbidity

Question 3

What concepts or theories in cognitive psychology relate to dyslexia

Answer 3

mcdougall et al 1994 : found good readers can articulate words quickly and store a higher number of words. and poor readers had lower memory for words and slow reading rights. This clearly shows a basic inefficiency in phonological processing and storage which could also explain dyslexia

alloway et al 2009: found children with dyslexia struggle trying to remember polysyllabic words because they could not store syllables for long enough. She found that they showed short-term working memory deficits that could be the cause of their reading problems.

smith- spark et al 2007: found an impaired spatial memory and adults with dyslexia but impaired verbal memory. This suggests that their results indicate a deficit with the phonological loop

Question 4

why is Researching this relevant to society

Answer 4

A greater understanding of the current brain research and how it relates to students with dyslexia is important in education and will help teachers understand and evaluate possible instructional interventions to help the student succeed in the classroom. Also it may help struggling dyslexic students who may be seen as not trying hard enough to increase motivation with intense intervention so they don’t avoid difficult tasks. So overall if the student and teacher understand dyslexia they can work together to minimise the difficulties faced and prevent loss of self-esteem or attention problems

Question 5

What strategies have been developed based on an understanding of memory

Answer 5

Specific strategies such as one is used in the classroom using the knowledge of working memory to help children with dyslexia. And these include: clearly stating lesson aims, using checklists, simplifying instructions, highlighting or colour coding information, using audio and visual materials and avoid asking child to read it out loud. By simplifying and breaking down classroom tasks it avoids overload in the limited working memory capacity associated with dyslexia. Because dyslexia is also associated with slower processing speed, avoiding lengthy period of teacher talking and use an alternate delivery method can work better to prevent phonological loop overload