Working Memory and Academic Performance

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Working Memory and Academic Performance
Introduction
One of the most commonly studied areas of the mind is how it influences the performance of students in schools. Psychology is a branch of science that studies the mind, how it works, and its functions. Aside from the behavioral aspect of being human, it also involves cognitive functions. In this paper, the concept of working memory under cognitive psychology will be discussed in relation to academic performance.
Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive psychology is the study of how the mind processes information. All the processes involved with the mind are memory, attention, learning, problem-solving, language, and perception. An aspect of cognitive psychology helps in the improvement of human knowledge regarding the formation, storage, and recall of information and memories. Memory is an essential aspect of cognitive psychology because it helps an individual retain the information that is received from the environment. It is also involved in education because it is a significant factor that determines whether an individual has learned something. Usually, memory is trained by practicing repeated retrievals of information (Karpicke, 2016).
Working Memory
Working memory is one of the commonly used terms in psychology. This refers to the temporary storage of a small amount of information for cognitive tasks. It is also associated with the unitary short-term memory system. Working memory is necessary for tasks such as learning, reasoning, language comprehension, etc. (Baddeley, 1992). Although working memory is associated with short-term memory, it should be emphasized that these two are different, and the process involved in interpreting, modifying, and making sense of the information that is stored in short-term memory is how working memory works. In testing the working memory, short-term memory is needed along with a variety of skills such as focus and attention. However, the processing and retrieval with the current level of attention, the available time during the test, and the strategy formulated by the individual, such as the repetition of an entry or saying it out loud, is an example of using working memory and how it functions (Stangor & Walinga, 2019).
The three components of working memory are the central executive, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the phonological loop.
The central executive is considered as the control system, while the other two components are storage systems. The central executive is more complex and is involved in regulating the connection of long-term memory and working memory. An example of the central executive’s function is through the episodic buffer, a subsystem of the central executive that enables an individual to memorize a phrase that consists of 15 words even though the phonological loop’s capacity is only at seven words. To further explain this, the episodic buffer provides meaning by retrieving background information from long-term memory, enabling the individual to create a relationship between the words in the phrase (Gradinger, 2013).
The visuospatial sketchpad is for storing visual and spatial information that is usually assessed by pattern recognition activities or an individual’s ability to recall patterns and location of shapes in space. The phonological loop, on the other hand, is responsible for storing auditory information. It has limited capacity and is enhanced by the constant repetition of information. The standard assessment for the phonological loop is by asking the individual to recall the presented words or numbers, which will be done repeatedly with an increase in the information given until the individual can no longer recall the first entry of information. Visual information can also be stored in the phonological loop by using an inner voice that will translate the received visual information into an auditory input (Gradinger, 2013).
Academic Performance
Academic performance is referred to as the measure of a student’s achievement in different academic subjects. This is usually measured by performance or participation in the classroom, grades, graduation recognitions and awards, and standardized examinations (Wu et al., 2017). In line with this, memory plays a huge role in performing well academically because it is also a requirement to ensure that a student can understand and recall a concept or a lesson taught in class. The examination and other school activities that are done usually target how well a student was able to understand the lecture. In participating in these tests, the student will recall the different concepts and lessons that the student had previously learned in class or read in a book, then apply them in each question in the examination (Karpicke, 2016).
There are a lot of situations in academic performance that dictates people’s perception of an individual. Low academic performance and lack of achievements are often associated with adverse results. These include behavioral issues, failing and repeating a class or a grade level, and even unemployment. However, it has been identified that there are many factors involved with academic performance and achievement, such as lifestyle, socioeconomic status, health, etc. One identified modifiable factor is the student’s working memory. The students who are not performing well in class were identified to have low working memory compared to their peers in the classroom, and this gap may most likely lead to academic failure for the students with low working memory when left unaddressed. The good thing about working memory, though, is that it is a modifiable factor that will promote academic performance and achievement, so it can be improved by having a sufficient background about it, enough practice, and frequent training sessions (Bergman Nutley & Söderqvist, 2017).
Theories and Approach
Some psychologists and scientists promote a neurobiological basis behind working memory, especially because with the use of neuroimaging, the anatomical location of the different functions that the brain can do is identified. However, with the case of working memory, it cannot be supported that there is a specific anatomical location in the brain that it is located in due to the lack of repeatability of the neuroimaging results (Chai et al., 2018).
A theory that has some similarities with working memory is Cowan’s Embedded Processes Theory. It states that specific cognitive processes remain more accessible than others. This theory also suggests that there is a certain level of attention that is required for this cognitive proces...