Week 2 - Development of working memory Flashcards
One of the most important executive functions in a school context
- Remember instructions
- Solve a math problem in your head
- Perform multiple thinking steps at the same time
- Remember text without having to read back
- Remember rules of a game while you are playing
What does working memory predict?
Academic succes:
* Working memory is a better predictor than
IQ for later academic achievement, such as learning math and verbal skills
Learning:
* Working memory, but not IQ, predicts subsequent learning in children with learning difficulties
What does brain activity during a visuospatial working memory task predict?
Arithmetic performance 2 years later
The working memory model
Visuospatial <–> Central executive <–> Phonological loop
Phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad are connected to long term memory
Memory span
Number of items that can be retained in memory
Factors that influence memory span
- Age
- Word length
- Articulation rate (depends on age & familiarity/long-term memory)
Working memory development at 5 years old
At ~5 years old, children switch from (mostly) visual to (mostly) phonological working memory
Phonological confusability/similarity effect
Non-homophones are easier to remember at ages above 5 year old
3-5 year olds don’t show phonological
confusability effect, reliance on other memory
system (presumably visual)
Picture confusion memory task
Hypotheses:
* If verbal rehearsal strategy: you should find the long names most
difficult to remember
* If visual memory strategy: you should find the visually similar stimuli
most difficult to remember
Results picture confusion memory task
Results:
* For 5-year olds: visually similar pictures most difficult
* For 10-year olds: pictures long names most difficult (i.e., “word length effect”)
Implications picture confusion memory task
As memory development proceeds less use of visual working memory
Maintenance vs manipulation of working memory in adolescents
Children aged 8-12 years perform disproportionally worse on manipulation
Different developmental trajectories for maintenance and manipulation
Brain regions during manipulation vs maintenance task
- VLPFC showed similar activation pattern across age groups
- Unlike adolescents and adults, children failed to
recruit DLPFC more strongly on manipulation trials relative to maintenance trials
What does the spanboard task measure?
- Visuospatial modality
- Maintaining information
- Working memory capacity
What do the WISC-V and spanboard task show together?
They provide an index of capacity (working memory index)
What does the N-back task measure?
- Visuospatial/phonological modality
- Maintaining information
- Updating
How to recognize children in the classroom with low working memory skills?
Use the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function
Signs of low working memory
Behavior: poor attention span and high levels of distractibility –> poor in planning and organizing information
Experiment that measured the training of working memory
- Pre-training measurement: fMRI scan
- Working memory training: 6 weeks, 2-3 times a week and 25 minutes each time
- Post-training measurement: fMRI scan
Signs of ADHD
Poor attention span and high levels of distractibility but also higher rates of oppositional and hyperactive behaviors
Consequences:
* Problems with inhibitory control, shifting between activies, and emotion regulation
* Only part of children with ADHD have problems with planning (combined type)
Results of training working memory
Training might lead to more efficient strategy use among adolescents
After training: no difference between adolescents and adults in performance and neural activity patterns
Implications of working memory training?
- Adolescents show potential for working memory
- Immature pattern of brain activity not necessarily related to age, but rather strategy use, as adolescents can recruit these areas after training
Problems with WM training?
Different results for studies on working memory
- Behavioral effects
- Neural effects
What may influence WM training results?
- Duration length of training
- Difficulty adaptive vs non-adaptive
- Control group (passive/active mostly of interest for behavioral results)
- Healthy participants vs clinical group
- Age of participants
