What can you remember? Draw the working memory model on your whiteboards without using your notes

Working Memory Model A 3 component STM system http://www.simplypsychology.org/working%20memory.html

Developmental psychology in memory

Learning objectives To understand how dyslexia affects children’s memory, span and working memory which can affect their learning. To understand the impact of Alzheimer’s on older people and the effects on their memory.

Developmental psychology is a branch of the subject that investigates what happens to us as we age. Developmental psychology is concerned with both normal and abnormal behaviour as we grow up. For example, it is interested in how and when children learn language, but also when and why children may fail to learn language as they are expected. In memory research, dyslexia and Alzheimer’s disease have been investigated in young and old participants.

Copy this…you have 40 seconds Triyok vil ostropol vland groogour in triamfolon. Antraion plotor vil hlanda. Shry the vranfikon onf grrogour. Slaak vland rilton hak vil in frodorr.

What is dyslexia? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zafiGBrF kRM

Signs of dyslexia usually become apparent when a child starts school and begins to focus more on learning how to read and write. A person with dyslexia may: read and write very slowly confuse the order of letters in words put letters the wrong way round – such as writing "b" instead of "d" have poor or inconsistent spelling understand information when told verbally, but have difficulty with information that's written down find it hard to carry out a sequence of directions struggle with planning and organisation

Dyslexia This means that children with dyslexia find it difficult to read fluently and accurately, but have normal levels of comprehension (understanding). Dyslexia is a reading disorder defined as ‘a problem in learning to recognise and decode printed words at a level that would be expected for the individual’s age’. Dyslexia affects between 3 and 6 per cent of children (some estimate as many as 10 per cent) and is more prevalent in boys than in girls. It is characterised by having a particular difficulty with phonology which is critical for learning to read. The first indication comes from showing difficulty in learning letter sounds (phonics) and names, indicating a problem with learning to associate a word with its speech sound. Phonology – the production of speech sounds by humans This consequently leads to spelling and reading problems.

The research Research has indicated that people with dyslexia do poorly on digit span tests and other measures of STM which is important for skills such as reading

McDougall et al (1994) Divided 90 children into poor, moderate and good readers. Poor readers - significantly lower memory spans for words and a slow reading rate Good readers - can articulate words quickly, leading to a greater number of words being represented phonologically in STM Poor readers sound out words more slowly, leading to fewer words being held in STM This basic inefficiency in phonological processing and storage may explain dyslexia

Alloway et al. (2009) 46 children with reading disabilities, aged 6–11 years, were investigated. Found short-term working memory deficits which could be the cause of their reading problems. This suggests that children with dyslexia have difficulty in processing and remembering speech sounds because of poor working memory. They do not have the capacity in their working memory to store syllables long enough to bind them together to form a fluent word.

Smith-Spark et al. (2010) Found that adults with dyslexia had unimpaired spatial working memory, but impaired verbal working memory, compared to a control group of non-dyslexic participants. Results suggest a deficit with the phonological loop in dyslexic participants.

Conclusion Research seems to conclude quite strongly that: Children and adults with dyslexia have an underlying cognitive impairment leading to a shorter memory span and difficulty processing and storing verbal information in short-term memory. However, it is difficult to establish exactly what role verbal memory plays in causing dyslexia, as people with dyslexia present a range of sensory impairments in both the auditory and visual systems.

Additionally, dyslexia is comorbid with other learning difficulties, in particular attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other specific learning impairments. The interaction between dyslexia and other related difficulties makes it difficult to isolate phonological issues as a reason for reading impairment

Causes? There are several theories about the causes of dyslexia, but it is generally accepted to be a condition passed on through families. If you have dyslexia, there is a significant chance your child will also it. If one identical twin is born with dyslexia, it is very likely the other twin will also have it. Research has shown there are six possible genes that may contribute to dyslexia; however, there are thought to be many factors that cause the condition. Four of the genes have been shown to affect neuronal migration, which is part of the process in the brain's development that leads to specific areas of the brain having specialised functions. This idea is also supported by research where brain scans have shown problems in the occipito-temporal cortex, which is an area towards the back of the brain. It is thought these problems in the brain can contribute to dyslexia by affecting what is known as "phonological processing".

What is Alzheimer’s? https://www.alz.org/braintour/3_main_part s.asp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_kO6c2 NfmE http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/braintour Go through the normal brain tour first

The Alzheimer’s Society estimate that there will be 850,000 people in the UK with dementia this year and is set to rise to 1 million by 2025 1 in 3 people over 65 will die from dementia Dementia costs around £23 billion each year

Memory loss due to Alzheimer's disease increasingly interferes with daily life as the condition progresses. The person may: lose items (eg keys, glasses) around the house struggle to find the right word in a conversation or forget someone's name forget about recent conversations or events get lost in a familiar place or on a familiar journey forget appointments or anniversaries

Alzheimer’s Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative, neurological disorder associated with ageing. It will affect around one in twenty people, although the risk of development increases with age. It is the most common form of dementia and typically occurs after 65 years of age, but can occur as early as 40 years old. Alzheimer’s is characterised by: memory loss, concentration loss, confusion, and changes in mood that progressively become worse.

It also affects working memory; Alzheimer’s initially deteriorates the memory system for new events and information but older information is preserved. It also affects working memory; Central executive functioning becomes impaired, making complex tasks more difficult to coordinate. Visuospatial processing becomes impaired.

A major characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease is the inability to recall autobiographical information The extent of the memory loss is associated with the depletion of brain matter, particularly in the hippocampus and temporal cortex. The greater the brain damage, the more significant the impairment; typically this increases with progression of the disease.

Alzheimer's does not affect all memory capacities equally: short-term memory is the first to go; episodic memory then semantic memory(memory of the meanings of words and facts about the world) finally procedural memory(how to perform tasks and skills). As the disease advances, parts of memory which were previously intact also become impaired, and eventually all reasoning, attention, and language abilities are disrupted. AD patients tend to display a loss of knowledge of the specific characteristics of semantic categories. Initially, they lose the ability to distinguish fine categories, such as species of animals or types of objects, but, over time, this lack of discrimination extends to broader, more general categories. Thus, at first, an AD patient may see a spaniel and say, “that is a dog”; later, they may just say, “that is an animal”.

Baddeley et al (2001) Loss of executive functioning results in a lack of general coordination and difficulty with attention. Baddeley et al. (2001) conducted a series of attentional tests on individuals with Alzheimer’s and control participants: One involving looking for the letter ‘Z’ among easy and difficult distractor letters (letters that either looked like the letter Z or not) and a dual task procedure. Found that patients with Alzheimer’s performed worse on the difficult distractor task and were even more impaired on the dual task. This suggests that dual attentional tasks are specifically impaired by the disease.

Evidence for the coordination role of the central executive comes from Alzheimer’s patients Ok with visual OR verbal task Significant impairment when doing them together Supports that CE is responsible for coordination of subsytems

Sebastian & Hernandez-Gill (2012) Alzheimer’s does not seem to affect digit span

Unknown Causes? Age Family history However, several factors are known to increase your risk of developing the condition: Age Down’s syndrome Whiplash and head injuries Family history Lifestyle factors – smoking, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol Cardiovascular disease Research shows that several lifestyle factors and conditions associated with cardiovascular disease can increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease. These include:smoking obesitydiabetes  high blood pressure high cholesterol

Prevention? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health- 34701907 https://www.ted.com/talks/alanna_shaikh_h ow_i_m_preparing_to_get_alzheimer_s#t- 7600

Homework Conduct an Internet search into specific memory improvement packages for dyslexia, such as Cogmed. (sum up in half a page/page) Use your knowledge of theories of memory and dyslexia and write a list of tips you would give to a teacher to help someone with dyslexia in a lesson (half a page/page)

Produce a leaflet for someone who has a family member with Alzheimer’s to briefly explain the condition and how to best support them (including using your understanding of memory) (A4 size)