Learners With Difficulty

Remembering
 What Are Some Problems Students Have
With Memory?
Students who have difficulty with memory may have deficits
in encoding or registering information in memory, in storing or
consolidating information in long-term memory, or in retrieving
or accessing information from long-term memory.
 Problems with Encoding Information in
Short-term Memory
• In order for information to be encoded in memory, it must first be
attended to. Thus, children who have deficits in attention often
have trouble with this first memory process. Many children and
adults with attention deficits report that they have trouble
remembering events that took place within the past 24 hours.
• Students who have deficits in encoding information in memory
may have trouble remembering directions or what they have just
read. They may also have trouble remembering what their teachers
said during class lectures.
• Often children who have encoding deficits fail to use memory
strategies.
 Problems with Working Memory
• Deficits in working memory may be manifested in a number of
ways in the school setting. Students may have trouble with
following through on directions even if they understood them.
• It requires them to retrieve their ideas from long-term memory
while simultaneously recalling rules about capitalization,
punctuation and grammar and writing their ideas down.
• Students who have difficulty with working memory also
experience problems with many higher order thinking tasks such
as problem solving and comparing and contrasting ideas.
 Problems with Long-term Memory Storage
• Deficits in the encoding process lead to problems with
consolidation or storage of information in long-term memory.
Students who have deficits in long-term memory storage
frequently rely too much on rote memorization.
• If we think of our memory as a network of connections, when
we place something in this network, it is best if we have
multiple pathways to access it. One way to create multiple
pathways is to place the new information in several categories.
• Students who have deficits in long-term memory may also have
trouble with recalling what the memory research literature has
called paired associates. Paired associates are two entities that
“hang together”.
• Additional storage deficits in the semantic memory system
include problems with remembering rules, such as rules of
grammar, punctuation and capitalization.
• Deficits in memory storage may be more problematic for
information in certain modalities or formats.
• Deficits in categorization or storage of paired associates fall
under the conceptual umbrella of the declarative semantic
memory system. Students who have deficits in memory storage
may also have trouble with storing information about events
or episodes in their lives.
• Deficits may also occur in the storage of information in the
nondeclarative memory system, especially with memory
of skills or procedures.
Problems with Long-term Memory Retrieval
• Children who have deficits in the retrieval of information from
long-term memory more often than not receive grades that do
not match the time and effort they spend in study or preparing
for tests. These children and their parents frequently tell me that
the students “knew the information the night before the test, but
could not remember it when taking the test”. Students who
have trouble with memory recall often report “test anxiety”.
Test anxiety is also often a common complaint of many
students who have attention deficits. The two frequently co-
occur.
• The inability to rapidly and efficiently recall information from
long-term memory when it is needed may be associated with
deficits in encoding and storage of information.
• Often students who have trouble with recalling rules, especially
those in written language, may perform adequately when
writing single sentences.
• Students who have trouble with the storage of information
presented in specific formats also have weaknesses with the
recall of information in this same format.
• Deficits in the recall of events or episodes may manifest
themselves through failure to recall what was said during social
conversations or what was done while on a field trip.
• In addition to deficits in recall, students may have trouble with
recognition of information in memory.
 10 Strategies to Enhance Students' Memory
1. Give directions in multiple formats
Students benefit from being given directions in both visual and
verbal formats. In addition, their understanding and memorizing of
instructions could be checked by encouraging them to repeat the
directions given and explain the meaning of these directions.

2. Teach students to over-learn material

Students should be taught the necessity of "over-learning" new
information. Often they practice only until they are able to perform
one error-free repetition of the material.
5. Teach students to be active readers
To enhance short-term memory registration and/or working memory
when reading, students should underline, highlight, or jot key words
down in the margin when reading chapters.

6. Write down steps in math problems

Students who have a weakness in working memory should not rely
on mental computations when solving math problems.
3. Teach students to use visual images and other memory strategies
Another memory strategy that makes use of a cue is one called word
substitution. The substitute word system can be used for information
that is hard to visualize, for example, for the word occipital or parietal.

4. Give teacher-prepared handouts prior to class lectures

Class lectures and series of oral directions should be reinforced by
teacher-prepared handouts. The handouts for class lectures could
consist of a brief outline or a partially completed graphic organizer that
the student would complete during the lecture.
7. Provide retrieval practice for students
Research has shown that long-term memory is enhanced when
students engage in retrieval practice. Taking a test is a retrieval
practice, i.e., the act of recalling information that has been studied
from long-term memory.

8. Help students develop cues when storing information

According to the memory research, information is easier retrieved
when it is stored using a cue and that cue should be present at the time
the information is being retrieved.
9. Prime the memory prior to teaching/learning
Cues that prepare students for the task to be presented are
helpful. This is often referred to as priming the memory.

10. Review material before going to sleep

It should be helpful for students to review material right before
going to sleep at night. Research has shown that information
studied this way is better remembered.