Working Memory and Executive Function

On August 09, 2008 in Articles

Executive Function deficit:

1. Working Memory and Recall

Affects the here and now:

a. limited working memory capacity
b. weak short-term memory (holding information in mind for roughly twenty seconds;capacity-roughly the equivalent of seven numbers)
c. forgetfulness-can’t keep several things in mind
      As a result, students:
      – have difficulty remembering and following instructions.
      – have difficulty memorizing math facts, spelling words, and dates.
      – have difficulty performing mental computation such as math in one’s head.
      – forget one part of a problem while working on another segment.
      – have difficulty paraphrasing or summarizing.

Affects their sense of past events:

a. difficulty recalling the past
     As a result, students:
     – do not learn easily from past behavior (limited hindsight).
     – repeat misbehavior.

Affects their sense of time:

a. difficulty holding events in mind
b. difficulty using their sense of time to prepare for upcoming events and the future
     As a result, students:
     – have difficulty judging the passage of time accurately.
     – do not accurately estimate how much time it will take to finish a task; consequently, may not allow enough time to complete work.

Affects their sense of self-awareness:

a. diminished sense of self-awareness
     As a result, students:
     – do not easily examine or change their own behavior.

Affects their sense of the future:

a. students live in the present-focus on the here and now
b. less likely to talk about time or plan for the future
      As a result, students:
     – have difficulty projecting lessons learned in the past, forward into the future (limited foresight).
     – have difficulty preparing for the future.

Comments (0)