Child Memory And Learning Part III

We now know how your child puts information into memory, but, what happens to make him/her forget?  Why do we remember some things and forget others?  Researchers have identified several factors that make it easier, or more difficult, to remember information.  They identified these key factors: failure to store, failure to retrieve, time decay, interference/inhibition, primacy and recency effects, insufficient practice, and exceptionality.

Failure to store information can involve several things.  After receiving a piece of information, if your child didn’t pay attention to it, the information will not go beyond the sensory stage of processing. Or, if after attending, your child didn’t process the information beyond the short term memory stage, into long term memory.

Failure to retrieve occurs when your child can not locate information stored in long term memory.  This can occur because the information was learned at a rote level, and/or do not sufficient retrieval cues for the long term memory search. Your child is more likely to retrieve information when it is associated with many other things in the existing knowledge base. The more associations, the easier it is to retrieve information stored in long term memory.

Time decay is the more time that passes after learning, the less will be remembered.  Frequent reviews, feedback, and active involvement of students in the learning process, are associated with longer retention.

Interference (inhibition) occurs when information gets mixed up with other information. This happens when pieces of information are similar to one another, or when one set of information interferes with learning later information. 

Primacy and recency effects involves presentation of items to remember.  When given a list of words to learn, and tested immediately afterward, your child may learn the first few words (primacy) and the last few items (recency)  better than those in the middle. The same applies to information given.  More attention and mental effort is given to the information presented first and last.

Insufficient practice can negatively impact memory retention. The most common way to commit  information to memory is practice. Although mundane, it works well.   Distributed practice (a little each day) allows for better retention, especially when learning facts. Cramming the night before a test may help pass the test, but, probably, will not commit the information into long term memory.

Exceptionalities, or learning differences, also impact the memory process.  Learning disabilities effect the memory storage processes.  Students often take a passive approach to learning instead of actively involving themselves in the learning process, and may be less likely to use processes such as meaningful learning, organization, and elaboration.  Students with mental retardation process information more slowly.  Students with behavioral disorders have difficulty with attention.  Students who are gifted process information more rapidly and more complex.

Strategies to hep your child remember information… next week.  Happy Fourth of July… stay safe!