Have you ever wondered why some children can concentrate and finish their homework on time, while others need to be chased around the room?
In the last ten to twelve years, neuro-scientists and psychologists have made advancements in this area of brain research and we now know that this inability to concentrate is called “Working Memory Deficit”.
What is working memory?
Working memory is our active short term memory. We use it to remember and work out information.
For example, when we are asked to do a mental maths question, we hold on to the numbers and functions whilst manipulating the answer. Or when we read, we process the written information and our working memory is employed to comprehend what we read.
What might indicate that someone has poor working memory?
Why does poor working memory affect concentration?
Think of your working memory as a malleable container of limited capacity which has a lid/filter to control what goes in or out. Those with poor working memory have an even smaller capacity and a dubious filter. Having a smaller capacity means they can only manipulate small amounts of information at any one time. The ineffective lid/filter cannot hold on to the information that goes in and it seeps out.
If information cannot be held and manipulated properly, the result is loss of filter. Concentration can improve over a period of time.
What can help the situation?
We can employ strategies to help children with poor concentration keep on track. Here are 3 simple things you can do in the home.
Working memory training does, however, require specialist training. You might consider Cogmed Working Memory Training, a software programme designed by neuro-scientists who specialise in working memory research. The programme is presented in the form of repetitive games/memory tasks and adaptive to the user, making memory tasks more challenging if they prove to be too easy or reduced in complexity if they are too challenging.
Training can be completed in 25 sessions over five weeks and is suited to children from 4, through to adults.
For more information on working memory deficit for both kids and adults, check the website at www.ravivpracticelondon.co.uk.
Some children are very slow to learn how to tell the time, so in my house, using a clock to illustrate when we needed to leave, would have been no use at all. Even now, if the children are not near the clock, time vanishes from their minds. But I don’t attribute that to working memory deficit, rather to active imaginations. On top of that my daughter is dyslexic and key issues for her are number sequencing and writing speed, again this is more to do with the physical make up of her brain than working memory. Both of these issues, with time and specialist help, are improving, but I would hesitate to say that as a parent, there is much I can resolve at home – unless it directly relates to examples set by her teachers.
Diane, thanks for your personal feedback. It is really essential to share this type of experience with other parents who may think they are the only ones having difficulties.