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Memory is the retention of
information over time. Although the word memory may conjure up an image of
a singular, “all-or-none” process, it is clear that there are actually
many kinds of memory, each of which may be somewhat independent of the
others. One way to describe memory is by reference to the form it takes,
that is, the different ways memory may be assessed: recall,
recognition, and paired associates.
The most popularly studied kind of
memory is recall. Recollection of a telephone number you have just
heard, a list of items you are to purchase at the store, or a list of
dates you learned in history class are all examples of recall.
A second type of memory is
recognition, which is generally easier than recall, for example a
history teacher gives four dates and learners are to choose the one that
goes with the specific historical event.
Another kind of memory is called
paired associates. It is a child’s ability to memorize a list of
paired items, such as pictures and names, common objects and nonsense
syllables, or words and corresponding visual scenes.
Memory as the Flow of Information
One prominent view conceives of
memory as the flow of information through the mind. In a number of
statements about this view, three broad stages of information processing
can be distinguished. First, there is the sensory register, a very
short-term sensory memory of the event. At the second level is a
short-term, or working memory.
Roughly speaking, the sensory
register concerns memories that last no more than about a second. If a
line of print were flashed at you very rapidly, say, for one-tenth of a
second, all the letters you can visualize for a brief moment after that
presentation constitute the sensory register. This visualization
disappears after a second.
When you are trying to recall a
telephone number that was heard a few seconds earlier, the name of a
person who has just been introduced, or the substance of the remarks just
made by a teacher in class, you are calling on short-term memory,
or working memory. This lasts from a few seconds to a minute; the exact
amount of time may vary somewhat. You need this kind of memory to retain
ideas and thoughts as you work on problems. In writing a letter, for
example, you must be able to keep the last sentence in mind as you compose
the next. To solve an arithmetic problem like (3 X 3) + (4 X 2) in your
head, you need to keep the intermediate results in mind (i.e., 3 X 3 = 9)
to be able to solve the entire problem.
Long-term memory
lasts from a minute or so to weeks or even years. From long-term memory
you can recall general information about the world that you learned on
previous occasions, memory for specific past experiences, specific rules
previously learned, and the like.
Improving Memory
For centuries it was believed that
memory can be improved. The Greeks, and later the Romans, developed some
of the most prodigious memories the civilized world has ever seen. Memory
was ranked as one of the most important disciplines of oratory, a
flourishing art at the time. They lived in an age with no paper, so people
couldn’t readily refer to notes. Speeches were committed to memory;
lawyers depended on their memory in court; and poets, whose roles in
society was paramount, regularly drew on their enormous powers of recall
to recite long passages of verse.
The Greeks in general had a high
level of literacy. Important texts were recorded on papyrus, and wax
tablets were used to teach reading and writing in schools. Nevertheless,
their culture remained a predominantly oral one.
While
it is still accepted that it is the ability to recall to memory that makes
learning possible, it is nowadays widely ― and falsely ― believed that
memory cannot be improved. Perhaps that is why the role that memory
training can play in preventing and overcoming learning disabilities is
grossly underestimated.
In
their article in the Learning Disabilities Quarterly Scruggs and
Mastropieri evaluated the results of mnemonic instruction in learning
disabilities intervention, and concluded, “mnemonic instruction delivers
the greatest learning increases seen in the history of learning
disabilities intervention research.”
Defined in broad terms, a mnemonic is a device, procedure, or
operation that is used to improve memory. Defined in narrow terms — and
what Scruggs and Mastropieri mean by the word — a mnemonic is a specific
reconstruction of target content intended to tie new information more
closely to the learner's existing knowledge base and, therefore,
facilitate retrieval. There are a variety of mnemonic techniques,
including keywords, pegwords, acronyms, loci methods, spelling mnemonics,
phonetic mnemonics, number-sound mnemonics, and Japanese “Yodai” methods.
An example of an acronym is to remember the word HOMES to recall
the names of the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan,
Erie, and Superior.
In
their research Scruggs and Mastropieri synthesized the results of
twenty-four experimental investigations of mnemonic instruction in special
education settings. They found that the overall effect size of these
combined investigations was 1.62 standard deviation units.
According to them this was the highest measure of treatment effectiveness
reported at the time. For comparison, Kavale and Forness reviewed previous
quantitative syntheses of special education interventions, reporting
overall effect sizes ranging from -0.12 to +0.58, for such
interventions as reduced class size, special class placement,
psycholinguistic training, perceptual-motor training, stimulant and
psychotropic drugs, and diet interventions. Also compare Scruggs’ and
Mastropieri’s finding with the overall size effect for systematic phonics
instruction, reported by the National Reading Panel as 0.32 for LD
children and 0.15 for low-achievers from 2nd to 6th grade.
Scruggs and Mastropieri demonstrate, first of all, that memory can
be trained, and second, the importance of memory training in helping LD
children. There are, however, at least two problems in improving memory by
means of mnemonic instruction. The first problem is that it
overlooks the sequential fashion of learning. Mnemonics instruction is, to
a large extent, instruction in memory techniques, which should be
taught only after the skill of memory has been learned. It
can be compared to a child being taught soccer tactics, such as the “wall
pass,” while he has not yet adequately mastered the skill of passing the
ball. As stated in Knowabout Soccer, “No matter how good your
passing technique, if the quality of your passing is poor, your technique
will not be effective.” The second problem is that by teaching the
child to use memory crutches, the result is, as Scruggs and Mastropieri
acknowledge, “On more complex applications, generalization attempts have
been less successful.” If the skill of memory is taught, however,
the child can apply it in any situation. |
