Why is it Important?

• Stop and Record plays a crucial part in reading comprehension because we have a limited ability to hold onto information in working memory.

• When we are not able to hold on to the information we read, we cannot build a coherent, meaningful sense of the text; we cannot manipulate the information as we read; and we cannot store the information for later retrieval.

Why focus on working memory?

• We are going to focus on working memory in talking about Stop and Record for two reasons.

• First, it gives us the insight into how to communicate to students why it is so important to stop periodically while reading and somehow makes “notes” to use later.

• Second, it gives us some insight into the relationships between reading comprehension and all aspects of verbal memory.

Memory and Reading Comprehension

• There is a great deal of research that addresses the relationship between memory and reading comprehension. There is widespread belief of the important role that prior knowledge (stored in long-term memory) plays in comprehension. Furthermore, it is increasingly noted that working memory has a significant impact on reading comprehension..

What is working memory?

F. Toomey, (1990-2010)

Working Memory is a temporary storage process whereby information is both “held” and “worked” on. The symbol of a work bench is often used to represent working memory.

The Work Bench

Working Memory Components

• Working memory is made up of three components: a central executive, an information base, and a “collection” of cognitive skills that operate on the information. The central executive is responsible for allocating resources for problem solving through the use of strategies. Information (facts, concepts, ideas) is drawn from both short-term (temporary holding) and long-term (permanent holding) memory. Operation skills include a wide variety of cognitive operations (inferring, integrating, comparing, etc.).

Other definitions of WM

Milton J. Dehn, Working Memory and Academic Learning, John Wiley and Sons, 2008. “In this text working memory is defined as the management, manipulation, and transformation of information drawn from short-term and long-term memory.” (P. 58)

Torkel Klingberg, The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload and the Limits of Working Memory, 2009, Oxford University Press: “Working memory is used to control attention, to remember instructions, to keep in mind a plan of things to do, and to solve complex problems.” (p. 45)

What we know about Memory

Working memory (hereafter WM) both holds information and processes it at the same time.

WM has limited capacity (the number of units that what can be activated at one time). Magic #7+/-2 for adults??

WM is “directed” by an Executive Central Memory (Metamemory/Metacognition)

WM is inherently related to Long Term Memory representations/schema of information/ideas.

WM must exert control over what is included and excluded.

WM works best when there is a balance between demand and ability: that is, there is a control for complexity.

Stop and Discuss

What do you remember so far?

Examples of WM tasks

Hold information and process it!Mental arithmetic (93-7+3)Chess (several moves ahead)Making inferences while reading Keeping tabs on parallel plots (continuing tv

show)Listening and taking notesReading with a question “in mind.”

What does the literature say?Klingberg: The Overflowing Brain

• Plasticity and structure: Both activation and passivity (3 months) Use it or Lose It!

• Selected (Pay attention to small portion of available information); vs. captured attention

• Must address both Stimulation and I nhibition• If don’t focus, will forget it. (p 22)• Training (function, intensity, frequency, optimal

balance of challenge and ability• ^Function: Don’t train WM in the abstract• ^Computer games vs. training Israeli fighter

pilots

Klingberg continued

• What constitutes a unit (chunking)• High level of WM, better able to avoid

distraction; higher demands and lower WM, more easily distracted

• Complexity (cognitively demanding tasks) How do we measure complexity? WM?

• Optimal balance of demand and capacity (sense of control vs. stress)

• Effort, working at capacity: Flow as ideal.

Stop and Discuss

Working Memory and Academic Learning

Milton J. Dehn

Does a very extensive review of models of WM and research on both measuring and instruction of WM.

Baddeley’s Model of Memory

According to Baddeley (1986-2006) core functions of the central executive include: (a) selective attention, which is the ability to focus attention on relevant information, while inhibiting the disruptive effects of irrelevant information; (b) switching, which is the capacity to coordinate multiple concurrent cognitive activities, such as timesharing during dual tasks; (c) selecting and executing plans and flexible strategies; (d) the capacity to allocate resources to other parts of the working memory system; and (e) the capacity to retrieve, hold, and manipulate temporarily activated information from long term memory.

Inhibition, Switching, Updating

• Miyake, et all (2003) examined Baddeley’s structure and identified three focused and related central executive functions—inhibition, switching, and updating. (p. 23)

• Inhibition, perhaps the most crucial function of the screening out and suppressing the disruptive effects of automatically generated and retrieved information that is not pertinent to the task at hand. Inhibition also discards previously activated but no longer relevant information and suppresses incorrect responses.

Inhibition, Switching, Updating

• Switching, or shifting, refers to the ability to alternate between different tasks, sets, and operations, such as switching retrieval plans.

• Updating which is similar to inhibition is the ability to control and update information in working memory, such as when attempting to retain the last word of each sentence. Updating is a constant process of revision whereby newer, more relevant information replaces old, no longer relevant information.

Stop and Discuss

Dehn: WM Capacity

• “It is also proposed here that the ultimate capacity of an individual’s working memory is partially determined by how effectively the individual utilizes his or her innate capacity. For example, the development of expertise in a particular knowledge or skill area will enhance working memory performance by increasing the size of the memory chunks that are manipulated.” (p. 60)

Dehn: Wm & LTM

“Since long term memory is basically a passive repository, most of the work of encoding and retrieving information falls on working memory operations. The meaning-based encoding function of working memory is constantly required during the the initial stages of learning.

Dehn: WM and LTM

Once an individual has acquired schemas and other long-term representational structures, encoding of new conceptual information amounts to little more than rearranging and adding the new information to already existing schemas…. Long-term representations are consciously used by working memory to reconstruct larger units of information.” (p. 75)

Dehn: Integrating sentences into ideas

“At the basic level, verbal working memory facilitates reading comprehension by holding words and sentences in consciousness until there is enough information to complete an idea. The number of sentences that can be held in verbal working memory has been found to relate to reading comprehension. The holding process appears to be sub-vocalization, an important form of inner speech.”

Dehn: Integrating sentences

“Despite the strong relationship, it seems that the demands of reading comprehension typically exceed the limited storage capacity of verbal working memory. Consequently, readers must form some long-term representation of the text or combine information in working memory with existing long-term representations.” (p. 105) Executive WM is important here.

Stop and Discuss

Dehn: Executive WM “In general, the most influential working memory component when it comes to

academic learning is the executive.”

Dehn: Executive WM

“The development, capacity, and effective use of executive working memory has important consequences for academic learning and performance. Children with executive WM shortcomings have greater difficulty monitoring resources, utilizing effective strategies, and maintaining task-relevant information.” (p. 124)

Dehn: Interventions

“Most of the interventions discussed herein can be conducted by teaches and other school staff, with only minimal training or self-study. Keeping the strategies simple is not just for the benefit of teaches. Higher Level, more involved strategies demand greater working memory resources to implement. For individuals with impaired working memory capacity, trying to use complex strategies can be self-defeating…”

Dehn: Metacognitive Training“The level of metacognition is highly correlated with success on

complex cognitive tasks, such as reading comprehension.” (p. 267)

^Use age appropriate language and concepts to teach the learner about how memory works.

^Educate the learner about his/her memory strengths and weaknesses.^Discuss the rationale for making an effort to use memory strategies.

D-P-C^Conduct some simple memory exercises and ask the learner how he

or she tried to remember the information. Provide feedback on the effectiveness of the strategy used and talk about how to self-evaluate.

^Once the learners have acquired rudimentary metamemory, including awareness of which strategies work for him or her, encourage the learner to self-advocate for accommodations and methods that minimize load on working memory.”(p. 269)

Dehn: LTM Interventions

“Most LTM strategies are designed to facilitate retrieval by attaching effective cues or to provide a more efficient and more meaningful way of encoding information, such as associating it with existing knowledge. LTM interventions can be classified under 4 general categories: rehearsal (repetition), organization, elaboration, and visualization.” (p. 186)

LTM Interventions

Rehearsal includes practice techniques, such as distributed practice and frequent review.

Organizational strategies support and align with the structure of semantic long-term memory, which is thought to be organized into hierarchical schemas.

Elaboration is a process of enhancing meaningfulness by relating the new information to existing schemas.

Visualization involves connecting auditory or verbal input with a visual image that will cue the correct verbal response. (p. 286)

Stop and Discuss

Dehn: WM & Reading Comprehension

“Presumably, most of these (rc) strategies work because they promote more effective utilization of wm resources. The element these strategies have in common is that they all increase the active processing of text. Unlike mnemonics and other working memory strategies that can be used in isolation, the simultaneous use of multiple comprehension strategies may be necessary for successful reading comprehension…following general guidelines for teaching strategies (systemic, explicit).” (pp. 293-294)

^Monitoring^Look Backs^Verbal Rehearsal ^Visualization^Previewing

Dehn: Principles for Reducing WM Load in the Classroom

1. WM strategies can be taught in the classroom.2. Retention will be enhanced if the input is simple,

structured, and redundant.3. Remembering information while engaged in another

activity is difficult.4. Ample exposure to material while demand on WM are

minimal.5. Many teaching practices recommended for children

with ADHD are effective with students with WM deficits.

6. More learning occurs when students have sufficient time to process new information…to rehearse and apply wm strategies.

7. Most teaching practices identified as effective or as direct instruction support the storage and capacity limitations of working memory. (pp 298)

Stop and RecordDefining Knowledge

*Review Self-Management and Talk about Stop and Record as being related to managing memory during and after reading.

*Explain both how working and long term memory work and are related. (*Wiki Forthcoming, I hope)

*Discuss the importance of Purpose, Organization and Knowledge Building as the bases for knowing What and When/Where to stop and record.

*Generate ideas about How to record based on the literature, your experience, and the students’ experiences.

Stop and RecordPracticing Knowledge

*Using several simple texts, show, through color coding or marking of some kind, how P and O and K contribute to knowing What, Where/When to stop and record.

*Using the same text, model how they might translate their “notes” into some kind of graphic form or summary.

*Using, short, easy, familiar texts, introduce students to two or three formats for recording notes as they read: underlining, post it notes, two column notes, etc. Discuss how useful their formatted notes are or might be for class discussion, writing assignments, tests. Have students test out their preferred format in class while you circulate and then later have them use their notes in a discussion of the topic.

Stop and RecordPracticing Knowledge

Give students partially completed formats (anticipation guides, semantic/concept maps, graphic organizers, two column notes, key W/Wh qs) for recording; have them choose one, then use their notes to explain to a partner who has read a different text what the information was about. Critique the format chosen for accuracy and completeness as a class. Variation: See if the partner can then use the notes to explain the information to a third student.

Stop and Record: Practicing

Have student choose two different recording formats on two different topics for a test. Discuss which formats might work. Ask them to choose a different format for each topic. Give them a short test. After the test, have the students decide if one format was better than the other and if different, why that might be the case.

Stop and RecordContextualizing Knowledge

Have students review strategies they have effectively used for Purpose, Organization, and/or Knowledge Building to determine which one(s) might work best for S and R.

Discuss different Situations to predict/determine when a strategy might work in one situation but not in another situation. Experiment and report on which strategies worked in which situations.

Stop and RecordContextualizing

Knowledge*Establish a personalized routine and

format for recording while reading.

*Have students regularly evaluate (a) whether or not they are using the format/method for recording; (b) if it is working; (c) evaluate how they know if it is working; (d) what they will do if it isn’t working.

Hooray!

We did it!• Thank you everyone for a great semester.

Fran and George