Running Head: WORKING MEMORY

Math Disabilities and Working Memory Dei!its

"te#hanie $an%en
&ni'ersity o (algary
Running Head: WORKING MEMORY
Mathemati!s is a !om#le) sub*e!t as it utili%es brain un!tions in a 'ariety o +ays, -anguage
must be used to read and understand instru!tions. as +ell as e)#lain thinking and understand
'o!abulary, "#atial ordering is ne!essary in re!ogni%ing #atterns and geometri! thinking, /nd memory
is used in re!alling ormulas and rules, In more !om#le) math. higher order !ognition hel#s de'elo#
strategies in #roblem sol'ing. it also monitors thinking and assesses ta!ti!s and transers learned
strategies to ne+ #roblems, Oten. these un!tions must +ork simultaneously, Working memory is
thereore ne!essary in all le'els o math as is it is this #arti!ular brain un!tion that allo+s us to
maintain limited inormation +hile also +orking at the #roblem at hand, 0hus. some !hildren +ith
dei!its in +orking memory do dis#lay math related disabilities 1WM2,
Working3memory. as deined by 4addeley and -ogie 156662. des!ribes WM as a limited
!a#a!ity !entral e)e!uti'e system that intera!ts +ith a set o t+o #assi'e store systems used or
dierent !lasses o inormation: the #honologi!al loo# and the 'isual sket!h#ad, 0he #honologi!al
loo# is res#onsible or mani#ulating 'isual images by using either the #honologi!al store or the
arti!ular !ontrol #ro!ess, 0he #honologi!al store is linked to s#ee!h #er!e#tion and holds inormation
in s#ee!h3based orm or only 537 se!onds, Written +ords must irst be !on'erted into s#ee!h beore
they !an enter this store, 0he arti!ular !ontrol #ro!ess a!ts like an inner 'oi!e that rehearses the
inormation in the #honologi!al store, 8or instan!e. this is ho+ +e remember a #hone number that +e
ha'e *ust heard. by re#eating it o'er and o'er again, /s long as +e kee# re#eating it. it is retained in
WM, 0he 'isual sket!h#ad is res#onsible or mani#ulating and storing 'isual3s#atial images o'er brie
#eriods, Mean+hile the !entral e)e!uti'e is #rimarily res#onsible or !oordinating the a!ti'ities
bet+een the sket!h#ad and #honologi!al loo#,
WM is essential to math #erorman!e as it is the ability to remember +hat you are doing +hile
you are doing it, 8or instan!e. on!e you9'e !om#leted one ste# in a multi3ste# #roblem. you !an use the
inormation to mo'e on to the ne)t ste#, 8or instan!e in sol'ing 57 ) 7:. they +ould irst multi#ly 7 by
Running Head: WORKING MEMORY
7:. retain that ans+er in their WM +hile multi#lying 5; ) 7:. and then add the t+o sums together,
0hus. a!ti'e WM allo+s !hildren to hold together #arts o math #roblems in their head and then
!ombining those #arts or the inal ans+er, WM is also used in dierent +ays de#ending on the ty#e
o #roblem #resented, 8or instan!e. +hen #roblems are +ritten hori%ontally. more WM resour!es
related to language are used, Ho+e'er. +hen #roblems are +ritten 'erti!ally. 'isual3s#atial resour!es
o WM are used, 8urthermore. the more dii!ult math #roblems be!ome. more WM resour!es are
needed to sol'e the more !om#li!ated multi3ste# #roblems,
0he irst issue to dis!uss is +hether a math s#e!ii! WM dei!it e)ists. or i WM dei!its ae!t
all a!ademi! areas, In disse!ting this <uestion. it must irst be understood that a dei!it in WM is not
des!ri#ti'e o this system as a +hole. but rather relates to one o se'eral un!tions, 8or e)am#le.
#roblems #ertaining to the #honologi!al loo# im#a!ts the de!oding and !om#rehension o senten!es,
0hereore students +ith this ty#e o dei!it +ill ha'e dii!ulties in reading and +riting. thereby
im#a!ting their ability to sol'e mathemati!al +ord #roblems, Yet other ty#es o dei!its in WM
demonstrate that math s#e!ii! im#airment do e)ist, Indeed. Hit!h and M!/uley 156652 !onirmed that
!hildren +ith s#e!ii! dii!ulties in mathemati!s +ere im#aired in +orking memory tasks re<uiring the
#ro!essing o numeri!al inormation but not in 'erbal +orking memory tasks,
8urther WM dei!its that ae!t math #erorman!e in!lude ei!ien!y. storage. and the inability
to inhibit inormation, Ei!ien!y relates to the s#eed at +hi!h items !an be retrie'ed rom the WM,
0hus. although they ha'e the kno+ledge and !a#a!ity to sol'e a math #roblem. their issues are related
to the ability to !ontrol attention and maintain inormation in an a!ti'e. <ui!kly retrie'able state. thus
ae!ting timed results, Dei!its in ei!ien!y are most oten related to attentional related issues su!h as
/DHD 1"heridan. Hinsha+ = D9Es#osito. 7;;>2, Issues #ertaining to storage insinuate that some
!hildren +ith this ty#e o dei!it !annot store as mu!h !riti!al inormation as others, 0hereore. i some
#roblems re<uire them to remember three numbers needed or a #roblem. they are only able to
Running Head: WORKING MEMORY
remember t+o,
Dei!its in inhibition mean that the indi'idual is unable to ignore irrele'ant inormation in a
#roblem, 0his !an ae!t their ability to sol'e more ad'an!ed #roblems as +ell as e'en the sim#lest
!al!ulations, Generally s#eaking. +hen reading a +ord #roblem. a number o !om#etitors are a!ti'ated
at the start o the #ro!ess and entered into the WM, 0he student must then +ork to inhibit the in!orre!t
inormation rom this set +hile maintaining the ne!essary inormation 1?assolunghi. "iegel. 7;;@2, 8or
instan!e. a +ord #roblem may detail e)traneous inormation 1$enny has : oranges and A a##les2. but the
!al!ulation may #ertain to the a##les only, "omeone +ith dei!its in inhibition may not be able to
disregard the number o oranges in the #roblem and think that it +ill be in!luded in the !al!ulation.
thereby #rodu!ing an in!orre!t ans+er,
/nother a!tor that ae!ts WM dei!its in math. is +hats kno+n as math an)iety, /s im#lied.
math an)iety is a #reo!!u#ation +ith one9s math ears and tensions +hi!h then !ontributes to their
under3#erorman!e in this area, /!!ording to /sh!rot and Krause 17;;>2 this #reo!!u#ation un!tions
like a resour!e demanding se!ondary task in that +orrying about a situation 1su!h as being !alled on to
ans+er a math <uestion in ront o the !lass2 takes u# the +orking memory that is a'ailable or iguring
out the math #roblem, 0hereore the higher one9s math an)iety. the lo+er one9s math learning. mastery
and moti'ation, It also seems to be #ersistent in that it leads to an a'oidan!e #attern +herein students
a'oid taking math !lasses and a'oid situations +here math +ill be ne!essary, 0he authors also !laim
that this beha'iour is learned in the !lassroom +hen tea!hers !reate stressul situations su!h as making
student +rite their ans+ers on the board. or em#hasi%e and embarrass those +ith in!orre!t ans+ers,
It has no+ been +ell established that WM #lays a large #art in determining the !auses o math
disabilities. but !an su!h dei!its be remediedB Is there any +ay that one !an im#ro'e the un!tioning
o their WM or at least minimi%e su!h dei!itsB &ntil re!ently. WM !a#a!ity has thought to be i)ed.
and it seemed unlikely that the ad'erse ae!ts o #oor WM on learning !ould be o'er!ome, Yet se'eral
Running Head: WORKING MEMORY
studies ha'e #ro'en other+ise, 8or instan!e. Klinberg ran a test in +hi!h some #arti!i#ants #ra!ti!ed
WM tasks that gradually in!reased in dii!ulty +hile the other grou# !om#leted tasks that did not get
harder, 0he results o this test sho+ed that the irst grou# did better on WM tests as !om#ared to the
!ontrol grou#,
"ome !laim their su!!ess o this grou# +as due to the #ra!ti!e ee!t or in!reased moti'ation.
yet the students +ere undoubtably able to make better use o +hat little s#a!e +as a'ailable, What is
im#ortant to understand though is that in!reased WM !a#a!ity does not dire!tly !orrelate +ith IC, In a
study by Homes. Gather!ole. = Dunnings 17;;62. they noted that gains in IC ater im#ro'ements in
WM +ere not noti!ed immediately be!ause as e)#e!ted. a!hie'ements asso!iated +ith better WM
+ould take time to de'elo#, Indeed. this +as ound +hen !hildren9s math s!ores sho+ed signii!ant
im#ro'ement si) months ater training ended, 0hereore. +e !an !on!lude that storage !a#a!ity may
not be altered yet students !an im#ro'e their WM ei!ien!y. and thus their math #erorman!e. through
#ra!ti!e. #ersisten!e. and resilien!e in WM tasks and training,

Running Head: WORKING MEMORY
Reeren!es
H,-ee "+anson. Working Memory in -earning Disability "ubgrou#s. $ournal o E)#erimental (hild
?sy!hology. Dolume :A. Issue 5. /ugust 566E. ?ages F>355@. I""N ;;773;6A:.
5;,5;;AG*e!#,566E,5;7>,
M,(hiara ?assolunghi. -inda ", "iegel. Working memory and a!!ess to numeri!al inormation in
!hildren +ith disability in mathemati!s. $ournal o E)#erimental (hild ?sy!hology. Dolume FF.
Issue @. /ugust 7;;@. ?ages E@F3EA>. I""N ;;773;6A:. 5;,5;5AG*,*e!#,7;;@,;@,;;7,
"+anson. H,. = 4eebe38rankenberger. M, 17;;@2, 0he Relationshi# 4et+een Working Memory and
Mathemati!al ?roblem "ol'ing in (hildren at Risk and Not at Risk or "erious Math Dii!ulties,
Journal Of Educational Psychology. 961E2. @>53@65, doi:5;,5;E>G;;773 ;AAE,6A,E,@>5
$anet 8, M!-ean. Graham $, Hit!h. Working Memory Im#airments in (hildren +ith "#e!ii! /rithmeti!
-earning Dii!ulties. $ournal o E)#erimental (hild ?sy!hology. Dolume >@. Issue E.
No'ember 5666. ?ages 7@;37A;. I""N ;;773;6A:. 5;,5;;AG*e!#,5666,7:5A,
/sh!rot. M, H,. = Krause. $, /, 17;;>2, Working memory. math #erorman!e. and math an)iety,
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 14172. 7@E37@F,
Klingberg. 0,. 8orssberg. H,. = Westerberg. H, 17;;72, 0raining o +orking memory in !hildren +ith
/DHD, $ournal O (lini!al /nd E)#erimental Neuro#sy!hology. 7@1A2. >F53>65,