Working Memory

A recent article in the Post about working memory and stress in children caught my attention. Working memory is essential for daily activities and for developing long term connections with subject matter. While researchers knew that stress caused physical and emotional deficits they were curious to find out how stress impacts cognitive abilities in children. The study showed that the longer children lived in poverty and stressful situations the lower they tended to score on working-memory tests. In fact, those who spent their entire childhood in poverty scored about 20 percent lower on working memory than those who were never poor. Read the entire article here.


Ways to Improve Working Memory
• Read more complicated and longer text that challenge you. Academic writings that you would find in journals are a great place to start. Though they may confuse and frustrate you at first, stick with them and keep reading until you gain a better understanding.
• Though it's often important to show your work on math assignments, try to perform as much mental math that you can. Even 3 digit addition - try it in your head!
Working memory games on the internet like Brain Connection, and Working Memory Challenge.