Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 1
Why Students Struggle to Learn:
Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D.
Assessment Training Consultant
Agenda
• The process of learning and remembering.
• Theories of memory and learning.
• Commonly used assessments of memory and
learning.
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Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 2
Do you know a student who . . .
• frequently asks for repetition of directions?
• takes a long time to answer orally presented
math questions?
• forgets what she is doing in the middle of the
task?
• frequently forgets to turn in homework?
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Process of Learning and
Remembering Brief Review
Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 3
The Process of Learning
• Learning is the process of acquiring
information.
• What are the cognitive factors that
enable students to show what they know
and can do?
– How do they collect, sort, store, and
retrieve information? (Miller, 2007)
– How do they receive, perceive, process,
and remember information? (Elliott, 2007)
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Sensory-Motor Functions Attentional Processes
Executive Functions
Memory and Learning Processes
Language Processes Visual-Spatial Processes
Speed and Efficiency of Cognitive Processing
Overall Cognitive Functioning and Academic Achievement
Social-Emotional, Cultural, Environmental, and Situational Factors
Learning – A Multi-Factorial Process (Miller, 2007)
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Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 4
Memory and Learning
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Learning Process of acquiring information.
Memory
“Persistence of learning in a state
that can be revealed at a later
time.” (Squire, 1987).
Stages of Memory and Learning
Stage 1 Encoding
External information is
transformed into mental
representations or memories
and stored in STM.
Stage 2 Consolidation/
Storage
Information from immediate
memory is solidified into
long-term memory stores.
Stage 3 Retrieval Information is brought into
conscious awareness.
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Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 5
Theories of
Memory and Learning
Capacity
Coding
Duration
Modal Model of Memory
Sensory memory
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
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Three Modes of Memory
Based on
(Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)
Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 6
Modes of Memory: Features
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Type of Memory
Capacity Coding Duration
Sensory High
• Five Senses • Sense Specific • Visual (Iconic) • Verbal (Echoic)
At most several seconds
Short-term
• Limited • Number
Seven Theory
Mainly auditory (recoding visual info to sounds)
• < 1 minute • Indefinitely if
continually rehearsed
Long-term
Unlimited • Mainly Semantic • Can be visual and
auditory
Minutes to lifetime (days, months, years)
Types of Long-term Memory
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Long-term Memory
Declarative
(Explicit) Memory
Nondeclarative
(Implicit) Memory
Episodic
Memory
Semantic
Memory
Conditioned
Reflexes
Procedural
Memory
Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 7
Evidence Against the Modal Model
– Factors other than rehearsal influence LTM.
– STM and LTM not unitary store (Baddeley &
Hitch, 1974).
– Craik & Lockhart (1972); Gazzaniga (2002).
The Modal Model: Evidence
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Evidence for the Modal Model
– Serial Order Position Effect
– Primacy Effect
– Recency Effect
Alternative Model of STM:
Working Memory
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(Baddeley & Hitch, 1974; Baddeley, 2000)
Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 8
Neuroanatomical
Evidence for WM
Model of Memory
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http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_07/i_07_
cr/i_07_cr_tra/i_07_cr_tra.html
Commonly Used Assessments
of Memory and Learning
Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 9
Examples of Stand-Alone Tests of Memory and Learning
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Area of Memory Assessed
CVLT–C (Ages 5-16 yrs)
CMS (Ages 5-16 yrs)
TOMAL-2 (Ages 5-
59:11 yrs)
WRAML2 (Ages 5-90
yrs)
WMS-IV (Ages 16-
90 yrs)
Verbal Immediate
Visual Immediate
Verbal LTM
Visual LTM
Verbal-Visual Associative
(5-8 yrs)
Working Memory
(16-69 yrs)
Semantic Memory
Examples of Embedded Tests of Memory and Learning
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Area of Memory Assessed
KABC-2 (Ages 3-18 yrs)
NEPSY-II (Ages 3-16 yrs)
WISC-IV (Ages 6-
16:11 yrs)
WPPSI-IV (Ages 2:6-
7:7 yrs)
DAS-II (Ages 2:6-17:11 yrs)
Verbal Immediate
Visual Immediate
Verbal LTM
Visual LTM
Verbal-Visual Associative
Working Memory
Semantic Memory
Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 10
Examples from Different Tests
(Not included in handout)
What do the Data tell us about
Memory and Learning?
Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 11
Verbal Memory
Test/Subtest Standard
Score Percentile
Rank
Verbal Short-term Memory
DAS-II Recall of Digits Forward 112 79
Verbal Long-Term Memory
NEPSY-II List Memory Delayed 95 37
Verbal Working Memory
DAS-II Recall of Digits Backward 104 61
NEPSY-II Word List Interference Repetition Score 110 75
NEPSY-II Word List Interference Recall Score 100 50
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Visual Memory
Test/Subtest Standard
Score Percentile
Rank
Visual and Visual-Spatial Short-term Memory
NEPSY-II: Memory for Designs-Immediate Total Score 85 16
NEPSY-II: Memory for Designs-Immediate Content Score 105 63
NEPSY-II: Memory for Designs-Immediate Spatial Score 85 16
Visual and Visual-Spatial Long-Term Memory
NEPSY-II: Memory for Designs Delayed Total Score 85 16
NEPSY-II: Memory for Designs Delayed Content Score 95 37
NEPSY-II: Memory for Designs Delayed Spatial Score 80 9
Visual and Visual-Spatial Working Memory
NEPSY-II: Recall of Sequential Order 102 54
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Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 12
Verbal-Visual Associative Learning
Test/Subtest Standard
Score Percentile
Rank
Verbal-Visual Associative Learning
KABC-II: Atlantis Immediate 80 9
KABC-II: Atlantis Delayed 75 5
KABC-II: Rebus Immediate 100 50
KABC-II: Rebus Delayed 95 37
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Summary of Results
• Student was able to learn new information when the
information was presented verbally with repetition
and when he had time to rehearse.
• He can learn visually presented information as well
as others his age if demands to recall visual spatial
details are limited, and if he has time to recode the
information verbally, and use verbal rehearsal—his
primary learning strategy.
• When overwhelmed by a large amount of visual and
verbal information that must be learned
simultaneously, Student became impulsive and made
errors.
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Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 13
Summary of Results
• If the verbal information was more abstract or he had
trouble linking it to something he already knew, he
had difficulty encoding the paired information into
short-term memory, resulting in less information
available for learning.
• He also lost or forgot new information over time
when interrupted or asked to perform an intervening
task. As a result, he may learn partial or incorrect
information.
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Recommendations
• Student depends heavily on his verbal learning
strategies. Allow and encourage him to talk his way
quietly through problem solving, to use verbal
rehearsal to support memory, and to discuss with
others information he is in the process of learning.
• Provide instruction and practice in the use of visual
imagery to enhance the encoding, storage, and
retrieval of information to help Student compensate
for memory deficits.
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Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 14
Recommendations
• He would also benefit from expanding his limited
learning strategies beyond verbal rehearsal and
mediation to include visual strategies such as color
coding, semantic mapping, and the use of graphic
organizers and visual mnemonics.
• Strategy instruction must be explicit and should
include continuous opportunities to practice
selecting the most appropriate strategy to use in a
given learning situation.
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Strategies to Improve Encoding
• Focus attention.
• Ignore competing stimuli.
• Use different sensory modalities.
• Preview information to be encoded.
(Pearson Longman)
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Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 15
Strategies to Improve Storage
• Use immediate review.
• Use numerous sensory channels to store
information.
• Organize or recode information.
• Use elaboration, chunking, mnemonics.
• Connect new learning with previous
learning.
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(Pearson Longman)
Strategies to Improve Retrieval
• Use visualization.
• Develop retrieval cues.
• Anticipate and simulate retrieval tasks.
• Learn beyond mastery (over-learning).
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(Pearson Longman)
Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 16
Summary
• To learn and remember, students must
– Encode information in STM
– Consolidate information in LTM, and
– Retrieve information from LTM.
• If a student’s classroom achievement is consistently
below expected levels, it may be necessary to assess
cognitive abilities, including memory.
• The assessment of memory should include tests that
provide information on encoding, storage, and
retrieval of different types of information.
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References
Atkinson, R. C. & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human
memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In
K. W. Spence & J. T. Spence (Eds.). The psychology of
learning and motivation, Vol. 2, (pp. 89-195). New York:
Academic Press.
Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working
memory. In G. H Bower (Ed.), The psychology of
learning and motivation, Vol 8. London: Academic
Press.
Baddeley, A. D. (2000). The episodic buffer: A new
component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive
Science, 4, 417-423.
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Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 17
References
Baddeley, A. D. (2003). Working memory: Looking
back and looking forward. Neuroscience, 4, 829-839.
Baddeley, A. D. (2012). Working memory: Theories,
models, and controversies. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 63:1–
29.
Craik, F. I. M. Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of
processing: a framework for memory research. Journal
of Learning and Verbal Behaviors, 11, 671-684.
Elliott, C. (2007). Differential Ability Scales-Second
Edition: Introductory and technical handbook.
Bloomington, MN: Pearson.
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References
Gazzaniga, M. S., Ivry, R. B., & Mangun, G. R.
Cognitive neuroscience: The biology of the mind (2nd
ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Miller, D. C. (2007). Essentials of school
neuropsychological assessment. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Squire, L. R. (1987). Memory and brain. New York:
Oxford University Press.
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Assessing Memory and Learning
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Copyright © 2013. Pearson, Inc., and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 18
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