Can you Boost your Child’s Memory?
This is something we hear parents asking from time to time. It’s often a reaction to seeing their child forget where they’ve put something for the third time in one day!
Memory and working memory
To discuss this a bit further, it’s necessary to clarify there are many different types of memory. There isn’t space here to outline this in detail but there are two things to keep in mind:
- a child forgetting where they put something an hour earlier is one type of memory failure. These events are far from unusual and the incidences usually reduce with age. They are rarely cause for concern;
- rather different is what are called “Working Memory” or “WM” failures. These usually manifest symptoms whereby your child might struggle to hold something in memory for more than a few seconds. For example, if you ask what is “3+2” and a few seconds later they cannot remember the two numbers you gave them to start with. In some cases, they might struggle to remember words or colours but be fine with numbers or vice-versa. It is impossible to generalise.
Forgetfulness
Most children’s longer-term memories develop in a perfectly normal fashion. Developmental issues in that respect are very rare.
So, there’s usually no need for concern if your young child seems vaguely forgetful. That is perfectly normal and usually indicates only that they’re busy thinking about too many other far more interesting things to permit them to remember the ‘trivia’ you find so fascinating – like where they put their shoes an hour ago!
WM
Working memory is where we store information short-term for immediate use.
So, if you ask a child to remember a list of animals, to the age of 5 they’re likely to be able to repeat back a maximum of perhaps 3-4. Even most adults can usually only manage about 6 items held in working memory.
WM is also where your child will store numbers for use in sums and so on.
Some studies have conclusively shown that the more effective a child’s WM is, the better they will be likely to perform at pre and then full schooling. By contrast, children with less efficient WM may find schooling and some aspects of learning, that bit harder.
If you have cause to suspect your child has WM problems, you should consult an educational psychologist specialising in younger children.
Some studies have shown a greater degree of WM limitation with children on the autism spectrum or those suffering from ADHD. However, a layperson cannot make this diagnosis and there may be many more mundane causes for your child’s apparent problems with WM.
Can you improve a child’s WM?
This is a highly controversial area and psychologists don’t necessarily agree on the efficacy of such measures.
However, here we’re trying to take a summary position reflecting current (sometimes varying) opinions:
- there are a variety of computer and manual games,essentially repeating games, designed to get slightly older children (perhaps post 5) using words, numbers or shapes etc.;
- if they were previously struggling to remember numbers and they’re playing with numbers, this sort of game playing/training over a significant time period may prove to be highly beneficial;
- however, this training only seems to have an effect on the thing they’re using. So, if their WM is causing them to struggle with reading and numbers and they’re playing number games, the numeracy side may improve but this will not typically have a beneficial ‘knock-on’ effect on their reading skills;
- how long this improvement lasts for once the games and training are discontinued, is unclear.
In all cases, where issues with WM are identified, a child psychologist will run some evaluations and come up with some recommendations for WM improvement techniques that are specific to the child.
