1. Memory and Recall Center for Student Excellence Tutor Training Center for Student Excellence Tutor Training Southeastern Louisiana University Carolyn Blackwood, 2012 Adapted from materials prepared by Cora M. Dzubak and J. Valkenburg for the Association of Tutoring Professionals, 2006-2007

2. INSTRUCTIONS:   Most of the slides in this presentation have additional narrative that can be found in the speaker’s note pages.   View the PowerPoint in the normal version, then decrease the size of the left window. This will give you an wide viewing screen for easy note reading.   Be sure to scroll down to access all of the information.   Use the down arrow to shift screens.

3. Thinking Thinking involves the acts of: Receiving Perceiving Comprehending Storing Manipulating Monitoring Controlling, and Responding to a steady stream of data. (Ratey, 2002, p. 176)

4.   Our brain consists of approximately 100 billion neurons PLUS 10 times as many other cells.   Therefore, there are about 40 quadrillion patterns of connections. In other words, 40,000,000,000,000,000 patterns of connections among cells.   “There are more ways to connect the brain’s neurons than there are atoms in the universe!!” (Ratey, 2002, p. 20)

5. Basic Neuronal Structure

6. Neurons and Neurotransmitters Neurons are the communication links of the nervous system and consist of four primary parts: 1. 1. The cell body (or soma), which contains the nucleus. 2. 2. The dendrites, which functions as the receptor areas. 3. 3. The axons, which are the fibers along which impulses are transmitted. 4. 4. Synapses, the junctions between the cells across which chemical messengers transmit signals from one neuron to the next.

7. A User’s Guide to the Brain

8. Anatomy of the Brain

9. Limbic System

10. Cerebrum   The cerebrum is the largest area of our brain and is the outermost layer of tissue covered by fibers, directly beneath the skull.   The brain’s two hemispheres are connected by the corpus collosum which allows the two sides of the brain to function as one unit.

11. Four Lobes and The Motor Cortex

12. Our Active and Changing Brain   Genes and the environment interact to continually change the brain, from the time we are conceived to the moment we die.   Therefore, we can actively shape and rewire the way our brain develops throughout the course of our lives. (Ratey, 2002, p. 13)

14. Hemisphericity: The Two Sided Brain Left Brain   Details and Facts   Language   Sequential   Objective   Analytic   Auditory Associations   Reading, Speaking, Listening   Time Centered Right Brain   Global (“Big Picture”)   Spatial Relationships   Simultaneous   Subjective/Intuitive   Creative   Feelings and Emotions   Colors and Music   Timeless

15. Left Brain: “The Language Center” Primarily, but not solely,:   Engages in logical, sequential processing   Locates details and facts   Likes listening, talking, reading   Processes grammar and syntax   Prefers talking and writing   Processes precise and exact mathematics   Is efficient at processing routine codes   Cues in on literal meaning of language

16. The Right Brain: Thinking in Pictures” Primarily, but not solely,:   Is responsible for generalized concepts   Likes to be creative   Is highly nonverbal   Likes shapes and patterns   Is both artistic and emotional   Processes intuitive aspects of mathematics   Processes expressions, gestures, and voice tone   Cues in on inflections, nuances, and facial expressions   Understands the “big picture”/holistic approach   Prefers drawing and manipulating objects

17. Practice The process of “skills acquisition” recruits more cortical neurons to master a skill than will be used once the skill is “learned”. As the skill becomes more automatic less of the recruited cortex is needed and used. Therefore, practice counts!! (Ratey, 2002, p. 21)

18. Learn to “Remodel” “To change the ‘wiring’ in one skill, you must engage in some activity that is unfamiliar and novel to you but related to the skill, because simply repeating the same activity only maintains established connections.” (Ratey, 2002, p. 36)

19. Shared Pathways “Many cognitive functions share pathways in our brain’s complex tangle of neural connections. The development of one skill can therefore profoundly influence another that is related.” (Ratey, 2002, p. 42)

20. Ecosystem “The brain is a dynamic ecosystem with various neurons and networks engaged in competition for incoming stimuli.” (Ratey, 54) Not all stimuli is processed, in part, because attention and consciousness are different levels of the same brain activity, and neither guarantee that input will be automatically stored.

22. What is Memory? Think about it: if there is anything about being a human being that makes you unique from others, it is the content of what is stored in your brain!! But, what IS a memory? Memory is the act of recalling or recollecting information or thoughts that are based on your past experiences. Memories are formed when the connections, or synapses, in the brain undergo changes so that one nerve cell, or neuron, influences another. If the process of change is repeated often enough and becomes automatic, a memory is formed.

23. What is Memory? A group of neurons that consistently fire in the same pattern, strengthened by repetition and review.

24. How Memories are Made:   Memory is the process by which information that is perceived through attention and perception is stored in the central nervous system.   Each path down the neuron makes it easier for subsequent messages to fire along the same path.

25. From STM to LTM Short term memory (STM) is sometimes also referred to as “working memory”. Some people consider working memory to be a separate stage, between short term and long term memory. Information can be lost from STM in a matter of seconds. What takes practice and effort is moving information into long term memory (LTM).

26. Memory Short Term or Working memory holds a small amount of information for only a few seconds. Without mental rehearsal (reuse of working memory) of the information we lose the contents of working memory within a few seconds.

27. What About Distractions? “One of the functions of working memory is to prevent some information from being coded.” (Ratey, 2002, p. 196)

28. Memory and Forgetting Every new experience causes neurons to fire, crossing synapses, thereby strengthening some synapses. This group begins the formation of an initial memory of the experience. However, this neuron’s pattern will disappear unless it is made more permanent by continual use. This is referred to as “Long Term Potentiation”. (Ratey, 2002, p. 190)

29. Metamemory “Metamemory is knowledge of one’s own memory capability. It is a “feeling of knowing” such as a word that is on the “tip of our tongue”. That is, we know we know the word even though we cannot say it at the moment.” (Ratey, 2002, p. 201)

30. Motor Memory “Motor memory is important for even purely ‘mental’ tasks,”; that is, tasks not requiring body movement. Motor memory also includes our unconscious movements, such as use of our vocal cords or blinking of the eyes. (Ratey, 2002, p. 179)

31. Movement and the Frontal Lobe “The frontal cortex learns, routinizes, and processes motor AND mental functions in parallel. Movements therefore, become inextricably tied to cognition.” (Ratey, 2002, p. 158)

32. Reception You need to “receive” sensory input so that it can be processed. Students need to concentrate, pay attention, ask questions, listen carefully, and minimize distractions to increase the processing of information. As information is received and prepared for storage, it becomes encoded, which is necessary for it to avoid becoming “lost”.

33. Reception vs. Attention   Reception is the process of receiving and interpreting sensory information.   Attention is the focusing of an individual’s reception and processes on a specific aspect of the environment.

34. Recollection... Organization of the information to be learned is a key to being able to remember it. Use your best sensory modality (learning style) when you study, supplement it with at least one other modality, and minimize distractions. Repetition and review of information is a key to remembering it.

35. and Retrieval The final step in the process of recollection is retrieving encoded information from memory.

36. Thinking and Memory Electrical/Chemical Process At the Synapse Memory as a molecule

37. Access   The Brain “thinks” Multi- dimensionally   Connections – Linking Styles (Changing Formats) AudioVisual Tactile or Kinesthetic

38. “ The person doing the work is the one growing the dendrites” Pat Wolfe, 2001

39. References   Hardiman, Mariale, M., Connecting Brain Research with Effective Teaching, 2003   Howard, Pierce J., The Owner’s Manual for the Brain, 1994   Ratey, John J., A User’s Guide to the Brain, 2002