Working Memory Levels the Playing Field
You may already know that working memory is important to academic success. But did you know that working memory is one of the most important skills that predict learning outcomes. Working memory is even more important than IQ. Let’s take a step back. Before we get to working memory in the classroom, let’s look at how environmental factors, such as financial background, can impact working memory
Think of a classroom in rural Brazil. There is so much working against these kids. Less than 15% will finish elementary school. Most leave without learning to read. Schools can’t afford to pay their teachers much and those teachers that do stick around don’t always have the skills and training to do their job. But could these students have the same ability and potential of their richer urban peers? My colleagues decided to test this theory*. They compared rural low-income kids with those from wealthy urban areas in Brazil in IQ and working memory tests. You would expect that the rural kids struggled behind their urban peers. Indeed, that was the case with the vocabulary test used to measure IQ. The urban students excelled in matching words with the correct definitions. They far superseded their rural counterparts in their knowledge, because they had more experience using the words on the test.
But here is the surprising finding: they were no better than the rural students on the working memory tests. It boils down to one thing-opportunity. The urban children had more opportunity to learn-at home, their parents have the skill and time to teach them, at school they receive more attention from teachers. They have had a rich base of knowledge cultivated over the years. But the exciting news is that students from deprived backgrounds have the same ability to succeed. Their working memory skills are no different from their urban peers. It is not an issue of IQ. It is a matter of giving these students the same opportunity to unlock their working memory potential.
Excerpt from IMPROVING WORKING MEMORY
