Memory skills of deaf learners: Implications and applications Harley

Running head: MEMORY SKILLS 1

Hamilton, H. (2011). Memory skills of deaf learners: Implications and applications. American Annals of the Deaf

156 (4), xxx–xxx.

Memory skills of deaf learners: Implications and applications

Harley Hamilton

Georgia Institute of Technology

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Abstract

This paper will review research on working memory and short-term memory abilities of

deaf individuals delineating strengths and weaknesses. The areas of memory reviewed include

weaknesses such as sequential recall, processing speed, attention, and memory load. Strengths

include free recall, visuospatial recall, imagery and dual encoding. Phonological encoding, and

rehearsal appear to be strengths when these strategies are employed. The implications of the

strengths and weaknesses for language learning and educational achievement are discussed.

Research questions are posed and remedial and compensatory classroom applications are

suggested.

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Introduction

Some psychologists consider working memory (WM) and short-term memory (STM) to

be synonymous and representing a memory store that is constrained both by the number of items

that can be maintained and the length of time these items can be active. Denh (2008)

distinguishes WM and STM as follows. STM passively holds information. WM actively

processes it.

Research over the past two decades has demonstrated that performance on WM and STM

tasks is highly predictive of academic achievement in areas such as:

 reading (Cain, 2006; Cain & Oakhill, 2006)

 language comprehension (Engle, Carullo, & Collins, 1991)

 mathematics (Geary, Hoard, Nugent, & Byrd-Craven, 2007; Jarvis & Gathercole,

2003).

 science (Gathercole & Alloway, 2008; Gathercole & Pickering, 2000;

Gathercole, Pickering, S.J., Knight, C. & Stegmann, 2004, Jarvis & Gathercole,

2003)

Long-term memory, the repository of knowledge, is able to acquire very little information

without these gateways functioning properly (Denh, 2008). Deficits in WM and STM may

potentially limit students’ ability to learn and function in school (Alloway, Gathercole,

Kirkwood, & Elliott, 2009). Although it is not yet well understood how these contribute to

academic skills, it has been suggested that learning is hampered or fails when task demands

exceed memory capacity (Ayres, 2009; Gathercole, Lamont & Alloway, 2006, Reber &

Kotovsky, 1997).

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For children with disabilities, deficits in memory processes have been found (Alloway &

Gathercole, 2006; Pickering, 2006). For example, children with reading disabilities have specific

difficulties in retrieving speech-based codes and monitoring attentional processes (Swanson,

Zheng, & Jerman, 2009). WM deficits have also been described for groups of children who

exhibit :

 mathematical learning disabilities (Geary, Hoard, Nugent, & Byrd-Craven, 2007)

 intellectual disabilities (Henry & Winfield, 2010)

 speech and language impairments (Archibald & Gathercole, 2006)

 autism (Bennetto, Pennington, & Rogers, 1996)

 attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (Rapport, et al,, 2008).

A greater understanding of the memory limitations in children can ultimately inform the

development of communication and classroom practices and may result in improved language

learning and school outcomes. To date, however, relatively little research has been conducted to

develop and evaluate innovative approaches to minimize memory demands in the classroom

(Gathercole & Alloway, 2008) or directly improve memory for students who are most at risk for

communicative or academic failure (Holmes, Gathercole, & Dunning, 2009; Klingberg et. al.,

2005; Swanson, Kehler, & Jerman, 2010). The low levels of academic achievement common for

deaf individuals (Gallaudet Research Institute, 1996; Marschark, 2006; Meadow-Orleans, 2001;

Moores, 2001, 2003; Traxler, 2000) may also have a basis in memory processes (Blair, 1957;

Marschark, et al., 2009).

This paper will review research on working memory and short-term memory abilities of

deaf individuals. In this paper, “deaf” refers to those individuals with a hearing loss of 70

decibels or higher. This review focuses on deaf signing individuals. The areas of memory

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reviewed include those in which deaf individuals exhibit deficiencies and strengths. Deficiencies

refer to areas in which deaf individuals perform less well than hearing individuals and strengths

refer to areas in which deaf individuals perform equal to or better than hearing individuals.

Deficiencies include sequential recall, processing speed, attention, and memory load. Areas of

strength include free recall, visuospatial recall, imagery, and dual encoding. Areas which

emerge as strengths when the particular strategy is employed include phonological encoding and

rehearsal. The implications of the deficiencies and strengths for language learning and

educational achievement are discussed. The results of the literature review then form the basis

for suggested remedial and compensatory activities to enhance learning. Research questions are

also delineated regarding the proposed educational applications.

Memory Skills of Deaf Learners

Memory Deficits and their Effects on Language Learning and Academic Achievement

Sequential memory.

Sequential memory is recall or processing of a list or other stimulus such as a sentence in

the same order as it was presented. Bebko (1984) has noted that deaf individuals have greater

difficulty with sequential memory processing tasks than hearing individuals. For deaf

individuals, deficits have been found in comparison to hearing chronologically age-matched

peers for immediate sequential recall of lists of:

 digits (Blair, 1957; Flaherty & Moran, 2004; Koo, Crain , LaSasso, Eden,

2008; Olsson & Furth, 1966; Parasnis, Samar, Betger, & Sathe, 1996;

Pintner & Patterson, 1917; Tomlinson-Keasey & Smith-Winberry, 1990)

 printed words (Flaherty & Moran, 2004; Hanson, 1982; Krakow & Hanson,

1985)

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 pictures (Blair, 1957; Bebko, 1984; Bebko & McKinnon, 1990; Campbell

& Wright, 1990)

 American Sign Language signs(for deaf subjects) versus English words

(for hearing subjects) (Bavelier, Newport, Hall, Supalla, & Boutla, 2008;

Bellugi & Siple, 1974; Bellugi, Klima, & Siple, 1975; Boutla, Supalla,

Newport, & Bavelier,2004 ; Geraci, Gozzi, Papagno, & Cecchetto, 2008;

Krakow & Hanson, 1985)

 Fingerspelled words (for deaf subjects) versus English words (for hearing

subjects) (Krakow & Hanson, 1985)

Various researchers have discussed the reasons for this deficit. Their hypotheses include the

longer articulation length of signs compared to speech (Wilson & Emmorey, 1997), the shorter

decay rate of visual/sign memory compared to echoic/speech-based memory (Boutla, Supalla,

Newport & Bavelier, 2004), and the formational complexity of signs versus speech (Geraci,

Gozzi, Papagno, & Cecchetto, 2008). Regardless of the theoretical viewpoint, deaf individuals

sequential based WM appears to be somewhat limited when compared to hearing individuals. A

recent review (Marschark & Wauters, 2008 ) has suggested that deaf children are less likely

than hearing children to utilize sequential processing strategies and this may account for at least

some of their linguistic WM deficit and language comprehension difficulties.

Processing speed.

Processing speed refers to the speed with which an individual can perform a cognitive

task such as recognizing a word or sign or comprehending a sentence. Speed of processing

deficits have been found to inhibit the oral and written language as well as the math ability of

hearing children (Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs & Barnes, 2007; Mather, & Jaffe, 2002; Prifitera,

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Saklofske, &Weiss, 2005). Slow word recognition while reading has also been related to deficits

in reading fluency and comprehension (Kelly, 1993; Johns, 2009; Nagy, Anderson, Schommer,

Scott, & Stallman, 1989). Deaf students have been shown to have processing speed deficits

based on the results of the Processing Speed index subtests of the WISC-4 (Leutzinger, 2002;

Maller & Ferron 1997). Processing Speed subtests are also positively correlated with academic

achievement of deaf students (Braden, 1990; Kelly & Braden, 1990; Stewart, 1981).

According to Felser and Clahsen (2009) children and late-second language learners

usually exhibit slower language processing speed than mature native speakers. For children, this

slower processing speed is most likely due to their reduced attention and WM spans as compared

to adults. For non-native late second language learners, language processing is thought to be

cognitively more demanding than for native adults. While children seem to be able to use

monolingual adult-like processing routines from fairly early on in development, late-learners’

processing of some aspects of grammar appear to remain non-native-like even at higher

proficiency levels.

As learners experience a language, spoken or signed, one of the primary tasks is to

separate out the discrete symbols of the language from the flow of sound or sign for

comprehension or acquisition purposes (Felser & Clahsen, 2009; Hirsh-Pasek & Gollinkoff,

1996). Mayberry and Fischer (1989) have found that non-native signers are still struggling with

this task even in adulthood as compared to native signers who exhibit language processing skills

more indicative of automatic sign recognition. For non-native signers this “bottleneck” in

processing has been related to deficits in the recall and comprehension of signing.

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Attention.

Attention is the cognitive process of focusing on one aspect of the immediate

environment and is of great importance in the function of WM (Engle, 2002). Attention as

measured subjectively by the Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity Comprehensive

Teacher Rating Scale, the Attention-Activity section of the ANSER, and the Conners' Parent

Rating Scale indicated that 14.1% of deaf children of deaf parents would be considered to have

attention deficits compared to 38.7% of deaf children of hearing parents (Kelly, et al, 1993).

Approximately 8-10 % of hearing children in the United States have been diagnosed with

attention deficits (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). Other subjective rating

scales have suggested no difference between deaf and hearing children in attention skills

(Meadow, 1976).

On empirical measures of attention, deaf children have been compared to hearing

children. These comparisons have revealed:

 deficits (Altshuler, Deming, Vollenweider, Ranier, & Tendler,1976; Mitchell &

Quittner, 1996; Mykelbust & Brutten , 1953; Proksch & Bavalier, 2002; Parasnis,

Samar & Berent, 2003; Werner & Strauss, 1941)

 superior ability (Larr, 1956; McKay, 1952).

Deaf individuals are better at attending to and processing information in peripheral vision than

hearing individuals (Chen, Zhang & Zhou, 2006; Loke & Song, 1991). The lack of hearing to

alert the deaf to the location of motion or animate objects in the environment may have fostered

this compensation. However, in a classroom where attention should be centered on the teacher or

interpreter attending to peripheral movement may be problematic (Dye, Hauser, & Bavelier,

2008). Sustaining and appropriately directing attention in the classroom does appear to be

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troublesome for deaf students. Matthews and Reich (1993) found that deaf high school students

attended to a classmate’s signing about 30% of the time when that classmate was communicating

with the teacher about class material. When the teacher was signing to the whole class the

students attended to the teacher 44% of the time. If the teacher addressed a particular student,

that student’s attention to the teacher increased to 50%. Marschark, et al., (2005) found similar

inattentiveness in college classrooms of deaf students.

Memory load.

Memory load is the cognitive complexity a task presents to an individual. For example,

the memory load inherent in comprehending a twelve word sentence is higher than that for

comprehending a three word sentence. As memory load increases performance often decreases

(Denh, 2008). One factor that increases memory load is the redundancy and juxtaposition of

similar words in a sentence. For hearing individuals such sentences are termed tongue-twisters

(“She sells seashells by the seashore”). Tongue-twisters increase task memory load.

Subsequently, comprehension is significantly less accurate for these sentence types as compared

to simple control sentences (“She buys her clothes at Old Navy.”) (Kennison, Sieck, & Briesch,

2003; McCutchen & Perfetti, 1982; Perfetti & McCutchen, 1982). Thus, formational similar

items employed in the dame utterance can increase memory load.

When processing sign language deaf adults have been shown to code items based on the

cherological (Stokoe, 1960) or sign-based formational features of the items (Bellugi, Klima &

Siple, 1975; Hamilton & Holzman; 1989; Hanson, 1982; Shand, 1982; Wilson & Emmorey,

1997, 1998). Deaf children have also shown evidence of cherological coding for signs

(Hamilton, 1984, 1985; Hirsh-Pasek & Treiman, 1982; Treiman & Hirsh-Pasek, 1983). Print, it

appears, can be coded phonologically (Hanson, 1990; Hanson & Lichtenstein, 1990) or

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cherologically (Krakow & Hanson, 1985; Shand & Klima, 1981; Wilson & Emmorey, 1997,

1998). For deaf individuals, Treiman and Hirsh-Pasek (1983) examined the comprehension of

“finger-fumbler” sentences (Kilma & Bellugi, 1979 ) in which signs for the printed words were

formationally similar. Results indicated that as task difficulty increased, reading comprehension

of single sentences decreased for less-proficient deaf readers. Comprehension was significantly

lower for sentences which contained words whose signs were formationally similar such as “I ate

apples at home yesterday.” than for control sentences such as “I ate the bananas at work last

week.”. According to Treiman and Hirsh-Pasek, the underlined words have signs which are

considered visually similar. These words were culled from the data collected by Bellugi and

Siple (1974), Bellugi, Klima, and Siple (1975), and Klima and Bellugi (1979). Their similarity

lies in the fact that they are all produced in locations around the mouth and lower front side of

the face. EAT and HOME also share handshape while HOME and YESTERDAY share a similar

movement and location.

In the area of sequential recall, Rudner and Ronnberg (2008) have provided evidence that

deaf adults are similar to hearing adults in sequential recall of pictures when memory load

requirements are low. However as memory load increases sequential recall becomes more

difficult for deaf individuals sooner than for hearing individuals.

Memory Strengths and Research Questions for Language Learning and Education

Free recall.

For free recall or recalling a list in any order, memory span is equivalent in adult deaf

ASL signers and hearing English speakers for printed words (Hanson,1982, 1990) and ASL signs

and spoken words, respectively (Boutla, Supalla, Newport and Bavelier (2004). For children

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Liben (1979) has found free recall for line drawings to be similar for deaf and hearing subjects.

Similarly, there is no significant difference between the free recall of sequentially presented

shapes by deaf and hearing children (Todman & Seedhouse, 1994). Can this strength be useful

in academic learning where free recall ability is beneficial such as remembering the names of the

states or the bones in the body?

Visuospatial recall.

Visuospatial recall refers to the recall of items presented in some form of visual array

such as blocks on a table or objects in a grid. For sequential recall of nonlinguistic visuospatial

items, such as in the Corsi block test, deaf adults and children prove superior to hearing

individuals (Alamargot, Lambert, Thebault,& Dansac, 2007; Geraci, Gozzi, Papagno, &

Cecchetto, 2008; Logan, Mayberry, & Fletcher, 1996; Wilson, Bettger, Niculae, & Klima, 1997).

In the Corsi block test, the experimenter touches a static series of blocks randomly arranged on a

board and the subject must touch the blocks in the same sequential order. In a similar task, the

Knox Cube test which employs a static straight line of blocks, deaf children are also superior to

hearing children in sequential recall of this visuospatial array (Blair, 1957). Deaf children have

also shown equal sequential visuospatial recall ability to hearing children in the Simon game in

which a sequence of flashing colored lights arranged in a circle is recalled by touching them in

order of presentation (Tomlinson-Keasey & Smith-Winberry, 1990).

Also in the nonlinguistic visuospatial domain, Parasnis, Samar, Betger, and Sathe (1996)

utilizing the Revised Visual Retention Test (Benton,1974) found no significant difference

between hearing and deaf children in their ability to recall (by drawing) a series of geometric

figures presented via a static sequential pattern (a line of figures presented all at once). Utilizing

adult native deaf signers and the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test, Hauser, Dye, Cohen, and

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Bavelier (2007) found no significant difference between hearing and deaf subjects on recall by

drawing of simple and complex geometric figures. The Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test

addresses spatial perception and visual memory. Similar results on this test have been found for

deaf children (Eldredge, 1984; Eldredge & Zhang, 1988; Parasnis & Kirk, 2004).

Deaf adolescent and adult subjects also have performed equal to hearing subjects on recall of

static sequential presentation of shapes (a line of shapes shown all at once) but less well than

the hearing subjects on temporal sequentially presented shapes (the shapes were presented one at

a time and disappeared before the next shape appeared) which required serial recall. Similar

results were found when digits (linguistic stimuli) were utilized as the recall items (Olsson &

Furth, 1966).

Also investigating linguistic items, Flaherty and Moran (2004) studied the sequential

recall of deaf and hearing college students who read phonologically-based English and Japanese

deaf and hearing college students familiar with reading kanji symbols (logographs) which are not

phonologically based. This study found deaf participants showed shorter sequential memory

spans than hearing participants for English words. However, sequential memory spans were

similar for deaf and hearing participants for words in kanji. Japanese deaf students reported using

a visual gestalt memory strategy, seeing the sequence as a whole rather than the sequential

strategy often reported by the English-reading deaf students. Similar results were revealed in a

study utilizing only hearing and deaf Japanese students (Flaherty & Moran, 2001).

Investigating free recall of visuospatially arranged linguistic items, Blair (1957) found

deaf children superior to hearing children in the free recall of everyday objects placed on a grid.

The children were shown fifteen items on a grid for twenty seconds. The items were then

removed and the children’s task was to place them back in their original location.

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It appears that deaf individuals’ strength appears to lie in the recall of information presented

in static visuospatial format. This appears to hold for both nonlinguistic and linguistic items.

Can educators devise presentation strategies which allow deaf students to take advantage of this

memory strength for the processing of sequential linguistic information, particularly English

print?

Imagery.

Imagery is the ability to create, maintain, and manipulate a visual image in WM. Enhanced

visuospatial abilities of deaf individuals compared to hearing individuals have been reported for

imagery (Blair, 1957; Emmorey & Kosslyn, 1995; Emmorey, Kosslyn, & Bellugi,1993; McKee,

1988) and mental rotation of visuospatial stimuli (Emmorey, Klima, &Hickcok, 1998; McKee,

1988). Can use of the deaf individuals enhanced imagery ability be utilized for increased

learning and academic achievement to either enhance WM or reduce the WM load presented by

a learning task?

Dual-encoding.

Dual-encoding refers to the individual’s use of both sign and speech codes when signs and

speech are presented simultaneously. This simultaneous presentation is called simultaneous

communication. Though often maligned in research literature, simultaneous communication of

lists of words was recalled better than sign-only and speech-only presentations by both hearing

and deaf signers. This effect was particularly strong for deaf signers (Hamilton & Holzman,

1989). Problematically, however, research has shown that skill in the use of simultaneous

communication is often erratic with elements of the syntax, grammar, and meaning of a message

being inconsistent. In the classroom, most teachers use a form of PSE that is neither a strict

coding of English nor ASL but contains features of both languages, along with speech, and

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consistently follows English word order (Akamatsu, Stewart & Mayer, 2004). Hearing teachers

using PSE often drop signs from signed sentences (Kluwin 1981; Luetke-Stahlman, 1988;

Marmor & Petitto 1979; Woodward and Allen, 1988). I n classroom signing Luetke-Stahlman

(1991) found that hearing teachers trying to represent English when signing were able to encode

the meaning of the target sentence about 71 percent of the time and omitted a sign or sign marker

over 50 percent of the time and also used wrong or invented signs. These same signers believed

they were accurately communicating via signs. Other researchers, however, found that if teachers

were given appropriate training and were committed to signing English, they could effectively

sign at a speech-to-sign ratio of greater than 90 percent. This was not the majority of hearing

signers, however (Mayer and Lowenbraun, 1990).

Research is needed in this area. Is recall and comprehension of simultaneous communication

superior to sign-only communication in the classroom during presentation of information more

complex than simple word lists? If so, can the utilization of simultaneous communication be

improved in general or should its use be targeted for controlled simple communication settings?

Memory Strengths when Strategy Employed

Phonological encoding.

Phonological encoding refers to speech-based/articulatory encoding (Dodd & Hermelin,

1977; Hanson, 1991). This forms the basis for the “functional equivalence hypothesis” as stated

by McQuarrie and Parrila (2009)

“The central claim of the functional equivalence hypothesis posits that visible speech

information (seen articulatory gesture) extracted from the speech signal by the deaf

learner is interpreted as a phonologically plausible signal by the brain (Campbell, 1987;

Dodd, 1976; Dodd & Hermelin, 1977). …On this basis, it has been further suggested that

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with the help of the visual information acquired through speechreading (Campbell, 1987;

Dodd, 1976; Dodd & Hermelin, 1977) and the articulatory feel of words that comes

through intensive speech training (Marschark & Harris, 1996), deaf children can develop

phonological representations of words. “

The use of a speech-based phonological code has been positively correlated with reading

comprehension in hearing children (Cain, 2006, de Jonge & de Jonge , 1996; Engle, Carullo, &

Collins, 1991; Engle, Kane, & Tuholski, 1999; Goswami & Bryant, 1990). Thus, phonological

encoding is currently a “hot” topic in deaf education, particularly in the area of reading (Allen, et

al., 2009; Paul, Wang, Trezek, & Luckner 2009; Mayberry, del Giudice, & Lieberman, 2011;

Wang, Trezek, Luckner & Paul, 2008).

It appears, though, that when reading, some deaf individuals employ phonological

encoding while others do not. Research indicates that deaf children are less likely than hearing

children to employ phonological coding in WM, reading, and spelling across a range of tasks

(Beech & Harris, 1997; Harris & Beech, 1998; Leybaert & Alegria, 1995; Merrills, Underwood,

& Wood, 1994; Nielsen & Luetke-Stahlman, 2002; Transler & Reitsma, 2005). When employed,

phonological or articulatory-based coding has been shown to facilitate sequential recall by deaf

adults (Kyle, 1981; Lichtenstein, 1998) and children (MacSweeney, 1998) and also been

positively correlated with reading comprehension ability of deaf individuals (Campbell &

Wright, 1988; Dyer, MacSweeney, Szczerbinski, Green, & Campbell 2003; Harris and

Beech,1998; Kyle & Harris, 2006, 2010; Lichtenstein, 1985, 1998; Perfetti & Sandak,2000;

Wang, Trezek, Luckner, & Paul, 2008). No positive relation has been found between phonemic

awareness (the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate phonemes) and reading ability of deaf

students (Harris & Beech, 1998; Kyle & Harris, 2006; Narr, 2008).

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Mayberry, del Giudice, & Lieberman (2011) in a meta-analysis of studies investigating

phonological encoding and reading in deaf students found that phonological encoding accounted

for only about 11% of the variance in reading ability while language ability accounted for 35%

of the variance. Not surprisingly, language does account for more variance in reading ability than

phonological encoding. The development of language is crucial for all aspects of a child’s life

and sign language is often the most effective tool for facilitating language acquisition for deaf

children. That does not negate the fact that phonological encoding does account for some

variance in reading ability and is an important area to consider.

Thus, the ability to code information phonologically is a WM strength which should be

considered when designing instruction. Phonological encoding does not rely on higher level

phonemic awareness for which hearing ability seems important. Rather phonological encoding

for deaf individuals appears to rely on whole word phonological/articulatory encoding that may

be enhanced via the development of speechreading which has been positively correlated with

reading ability of deaf children (Harris & Moreno, 2006; Kyle & Harris, 2006, 2010).

Can speechreading training which specifically targets the development of

phonological/articulatory coding enhance the sequential recall, and language and reading

comprehension of deaf students? Can speech articulation training enhance the quality and use of

phonological/articulatory encoding?

Rehearsal.

Rehearsal refers to the overt or covert repetition of items to be recalled or learned. For

deaf learners overt sign rehearsal has been shown to increase immediate sequential recall of :

 printed words (Bonvillian, Rea, Orlansky, & Slade , 1987)

 images (Bebko, 1984; Bebko & McKinnon, 1990)

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 signed phrases (Weaver, Hamilton, Bruckman,& Starner, 2010).

It is important to note that deaf students do not spontaneously utilize rehearsal as early in

life as hearing students. Rehearsal appears in hearing students around age 7-8 as compared to

deaf signing students at age 10 or later (Bebko, 1979; Flavell, Chinsky, & Beach, 1966, Gill,

Klecan-Aker, Roberts, & Fredenburg, 2003). However, after instruction in overt rehearsal and

employment of this strategy deaf students have performed as well as hearing students in recall

tasks (Bebko, 1984; Belmont, Karchmer, and Pilkonis, 1976).

One study has reported evidence of 6- and 8-year old deaf children spontaneously using

both sign- and speech-based rehearsal during recall tasks for pictures, shapes, fingerspelling, and

print. Rehearsal, however, did not appear to enhance recall for these children (Liben & Drury,

1977). The emergence of rehearsal in deaf students appears to be directly related to language

experience, (Bebko & McKinnon, 1990) and more specifically, language proficiency and

automatized or automatic language processing. (Bebko & Metcalf-Haggart, 1997; Bebko, Bell,

Metcalfe-Haggert,& McKinnon, 1998).

Implications for Learning

Memory Deficits

Perhaps the most striking implication regarding the deaf individual’s deficiencies in WM

lies is the fact that they are all processes that are utilized during the comprehension and learning

of language. Attention is absolutely necessary as a first step in acquiring language data in the

environment. Processing speed must then be adequate to encode and manipulate this data.

Automatized recognition of signs is imperative so that the “bottleneck” described by Mayberry

and Fischer (1989) does not stress memory load causing processing difficulties. Finally, the

ability to maintain sequential linguistic information in WM is a key component of cognition,

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particularly during language parsing (McElree, Foraker,& Dyer, 2003; Sperber, Premack, &

Premack,1995 ). Willis and Gathercole (2001) have suggested that limited, less accurate

sequential WM ability may be responsible for slow acquisition of language in hearing children

and thus sequential memory skills are considered a crucial part of the language learning

mechanism for young children. The lack of sequential processing skills or failure to use a

sequential strategy during processing of linguistic information in WM may limit the deaf

individual’s ability to grasp syntactic order. Such a deficit can negatively affect language

development and subsequently comprehension of signed or printed material which negatively

impacts academic achievement.

With deficient WM abilities deaf children of hearing parents, in particular, are put in

double jeopardy for communicative and academic failure. Not only are they deprived of

language interaction (Goldin-Meadow & Mylander, 1990; Goldin-Meadow,1999; Gallaudet

Research Institute, 2008; Lederberg, 2006) that fosters communicative and academic growth

(and most likely WM capacity for language), they are attempting to process the relatively few

accessible linguistic interactions they are privy to with WM abilities that are sub-par compared to

hearing children who receive a wealth of linguistic input and interaction. The quantity and

quality of language interaction has also been related to language learning and educational

achievement of hearing children (Risley & Hart, 2002). Research has found strong predictive

relationships between language skills and reading ability which is a major component of

academic achievement for hearing children (Bowey & Patel, 1988; Dickinson, McCabe,

Anastasopoulos, Peisner-Feinberg, & Poe, 2003; Juel, Griffith, & Gough, 1986; Snow, Tabors, &

Dickinson, 2001) and deaf children (Harris & Moreno, 2004; Kyle & Harris, 2006; Mayberry,

del Giudice, & Lieberman, 2011; Padden & Hanson, 2000; Strong and Prinz, 1997). The

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synergistic relationship between language, WM, and reading is currently realized in deaf high

school students, as 50% read at the 4

grade level or below upon graduation(Gallaudet Research

Institute, 1996; Traxler, 2000) and 30% leave high school functionally illiterate (Marschark,

1997; Marschark, Lang, & Albertini, 2002). The academic achievement of deaf students has

remained at these levels for approximately thirty years (Qi & Mitchell, 2007) regardless of the

educational or language policy of the day. Language delay and educational underachievement of

deaf individuals may then be attributed to at least two factors; lack of accessible linguistic

interaction with skilled signers and subsequently deficient WM skills to assist during language

and academic learning.

Memory Strengths

The WM strengths of deaf individuals in the areas of free recall, imagery, visuospatial

recall, dual encoding, phonological encoding, and rehearsal all have implications for improving

the design and delivery of instruction. The deaf individual’s strengths can be utilized and

deficiencies remediated or compensated for so that communication and academic achievement

can be enhanced. The WM strengths, just listed, are applied in the instructional design of the

WM interventions described below in order to enhance processing skills and subsequent

learning. Other strategies may also be useful and empirical validation is necessary in all cases.

Applications for learning

WM Interventions

Gerneral definitions.

Now that the WM deficiencies and strengths of deaf learners and the subsequent

implications have been described how can these deficiencies be remediated or strengths utilized

to enhance learning? One way is through WM interventions. Feifer and DeFina (2000) have

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suggested that memory intervention is most successful during early childhood and early

elementary years due to brain maturation. Change is more difficult once neural structures are

established and myelination is complete. However several studies have shown that children age

7-15 can benefit from WM intervention (Comblain, 1994; McNamara & Scott, 2001; Minear &

Shah, 2006).

Denh (2008) describes interventions for WM as either compensatory or remedial.

Compensatory methods typically involve training in memory strategies and may also include

various external aids and methods for bypassing the deficient processes and reducing task

demands. Remedial methods generally address the individual’s memory deficits to enhance

them. The research literature is mixed in its findings regarding the effectiveness of remedial

interventions. Lee and Riccio (2005) found remedial intervention ineffective but others

(Comblain, 1994; Holmes, Gathercole & Dunning, 2009; Klingberg, Forssberg, & Westerberg

2002; Klingberg et al., 2005; Mezcappa & Buckner, 2010) have described successful remedial

interventions. A combined intervention approach utilizing both compensatory and remedial

techniques has been shown to be most successful (Denh, 2008).

Interventions can also be either domain specific or domain general. Domain specific

skills are those involving specific areas of knowledge such as language skills or math facts.

Domain general skills focus on higher order more abstract cognitive skills such as WM capacity

(Roberts, 2007). Remedial and compensatory interventions addressing these two domains will

now be described. This list is not exhaustive as other activities can also serve to address WM

and enhance language learning and academic achievement.

Specific interventions.

Preschool years- birth to kindergarten.

MEMORY SKILLS 21

As has been stated in many research articles in the area of deafness early exposure to

accessible language is imperative. This often means sign language. Interaction with fluent

signers allows the child to develop the language and processing skills needed to achieve

academically. As a general rule of thumb for interacting with young children and beginning

signers, adults should sign slowly, clearly, and utilize short sentences so as not to overload the

child’s memory during processing. This is a strategy used by parents of young hearing children

(Snow, 1977), teachers of children learning English as a second language (Kottler, Kottler, &

Street, 2007) and is suggested for teachers of children with WM deficits (Gathercole & Alloway,

2008).

An environment in which the child is surrounded by fluent signers is often not available

to most deaf children, however (Goldin-Meadow & Mylander; 1990, Goldin-Meadow,1999;

Gallaudet Research Institute, 2008; Lederberg, 2006). As a substitute, signed video and games

may be tools that can help enhance the child’s facility with vocabulary, automatic sign

recognition, and hence WM. It should be stated, however, that signed video and games can not

be seen as an equal substitute for interaction with fluent signers.

During the sign presentation in the video or game it is probably best to have a still image

behind the signer as deaf individuals have been shown to attend to peripheral distractors (Chen,

Zhang & Zhou, 2006; Loke & Song, 1991) rather than the central information which in this case

is the signer. If the content of the media contains action that the signer is describing it may be

best to utilize a sequential presentation in which the signer is followed by the action, again for

attention reasons. The efficacy of signed videos and games and the particular presentation

formats that facilitate language processing and development are open research questions which

MEMORY SKILLS 22

merit investigation. Many signed videos and games are available on commercial DVDs and for

free at the “Electric Language Factory” (ELF, www.cats.gatech.edu/cats/ELF/index.htm).

Rehearsal can be utilized with young deaf children to improve sequential WM skills and

subsequently language processing skills by reciting nursery rhymes, singing songs, and

performing action chants. This is a common practice in many homes and preschools for hearing

children and may serve an unintended purpose of developing sequential WM for language. “Jack

be nimble” and “The wheels on the bus” are examples of English rhymes and songs,

respectively. Action chants are simple rhymes that are accompanied by physical actions as

opposed to simply saying the rhyme. “Ring around the rosie” is an English action chant in which

children hold hands and walk in a circle reciting the chant and then “all fall down”. An ASL

action chant which follows the format of an ASL number story could be “ONE, TWO

SQUIRRELS HOP-AROUND” after which the persons reciting the chant hop around the room.

Other examples of sign language nursery rhymes, songs, and chants are available on YouTube,

sign2me.com and in Hamilton (1987, 1988). As was noted earlier deaf children are similar to

hearing children in recall of sequential information when trained to rehearse. The rote recitation

inherent in producing signs of rhymes, songs, and action chants may aid in the development of

sign language and WM skills, particularly rehearsal. It is suggested that pictures, animations, or

physical responses such as hopping, as in the action chant above, accompany production of these

verses to allow for better understanding of the signing.

Completing daily household tasks can further assist the child in sequential WM

development. The adult can start by asking the child to do a single task such as “Get your shirt.”

And then progress to two tasks such as “Get your dirty clothes and put them in the wash” and

then to three or more tasks which should be done sequentially. The use of the ASL mechanism

MEMORY SKILLS 23

for referencing items of a list on the non-dominant hand (Baker-Shenk & Cokely, 1991) may

facilitate recall for the child as this provides a visuospatial reference for each item. Adults could

help the child rehearse the tasks to be done as both use the non-dominant hand placeholders.

Empirical validation of this ASL mechanism as a memory support tool is needed.

For free recall, the parent can tell the child what items are needed in the store during a

shopping trip and then have the child lead the search to find them. For young children who

cannot find items in a store yet the parent can simply tell the child an item or two they need as

they go through the store and when they find the item repeat the name of the item. Parents can

increase the number of items as the child becomes more adept with language. For other activities

that address WM with young children see Gibson, (2003).

School years- grade 1-12.

Regardless of students’ language background and WM ability schools are mandated to

teach academic content. For that reason, this paper will discuss techniques to address WM skills

within the domain specific areas of language arts, mathematics, and content area subjects as well

as techniques for managing WM load through instructional design.

Language art- Language comprehension.

The drag-and-drop feature available in PowerPoint provides an easy-to-use tool for

teachers to develop activities that focus on sequential memory during sentence comprehension.

Figure 1 shows a slide that can be used for such an activity. Many of the images are animated to

represent the action of the verb as clearly as possible. These and similar images are available at

www.animfactory.com

MEMORY SKILLS 24

Figure 1. Drag-and-drop slide

Using the slide in figure 1, the teacher can present a sentence in sign and a student can drag

images on to the white area to create a picture that represents the meaning of the sentence. The

student must maintain the sequential order of the sentence in WM long enough to comprehend it

and then manipulate the images to create the picture. It is important to use sentences in which the

subject and object are interchangeable. This forces the students to use sequential information to

correctly comprehend the sentence. Short sentences such as “The girl is scolding the man.” and

“The man is scolding the girl” are just two examples. Longer sentences such as “The mouse is

looking at the fat man” and “The man with the popcorn and drink is watching the girl who is

crying.” can also be used with this same slide.

MEMORY SKILLS 25

It is also important to use absurd or silly sentences that require sequential processing in

order to be understood correctly. The students must follow the word order of the sentence to

correctly comprehend the sentence even when the result produces an image with a low

probability of actually occurring in real life. A sentence such as “The cat is scolding the girl” can

be made using the images in figure 1. Until about age 4 years 6 months, hearing children will

often comprehend such sentences by using an “event probability” strategy (i.e., make sense of

the sentence regardless of word order), in this case producing a picture showing the girl with the

cake scolding the cat near the spilt milk. Evidence for this behavior has been found not only for

English speaking children (Stroehner & Nelson, 1974) but also for speakers of Italian (Bates,

1976; Bates, MacWhinney, Caselli, Devescovi, Natale, & Venza, 1984; Duranti & Ochs, 1979),

French (Sinclair & Bronckart, 1972), Spanish (Reyes, 2003), and German (Lindner, 2003). Data

collected by the author for ASL indicates non-native signers, hearing and deaf, tend to use “event

probability” during language processing, often to a greater extent than hearing children.

Also of interest in this area is the work of Treiman and Hirsh-Pasek (1983). Their

research indicated that sentences which contained signs which were visually similar were more

difficult to comprehend than sentences with visually dissimilar signs due to the WM load

involved in each (see discussion above). When constructing sentences for a comprehension task

teachers should be aware of this phenomenen so they can either avoid such sentences or include

such sentences depending on the students and goal of the lesson.

Language arts- Reading.

Reading English print is primarily a sequential WM processing task as English utilizes a

rather strict adherence to word order to communicate meaning. For instructional purposes, print

can actually serve to reduce WM load inherent in the sequential presentation of signs which

MEMORY SKILLS 26

appear and then are gone. Print provides a static visuaospatial sequential stimuli and allows the

teacher to visually reference key words or phrases by simply pointing to them. Thus, the

compensatory elements afforded by print and employed by the teacher may help reduce the WM

load inherent in processing sequential language for non-native signers. All words used in such an

activity must be automatized or the added memory load of encountering unknown words will

negate the advantage gained from the static sequential presentation.

The drag-and-drop task described above can also be utilized for reading instruction and will

allow for imagery to be used by the teacher and students to aid in comprehension. Rather than

single sentences, a story could be used as the content for the activity. For illustration purposes, a

reading activity addressing pronominal reference will be described. Using figure 1, the short

story presented could be “The man scolded the cat. He was angry. She spilled the milk”. After

creating a picture to show the meaning of the first sentence the images created can be used to

support further comprehension of the pronominal reference in the other two sentences. The

teacher can refer to the image created on the screen to show pronoun reference. A similar

sentence sequence could then be presented substituting different nouns and asking the students to

imagine what the scene would look like and then draw it, drag-and-drop images, or answer

questions about the new sentence sequence to indicate comprehension. Pictures and text from

storybooks, guided readers, or chapter books could also be used. A commercially available

program, the Lindamood-Bell Learning Process program, has been shown to improve reading

scores of hearing students by teaching the students to use visualization and imagery (Sadoski &

Willson, 2006). This may be a useful program for deaf students.

Processing speed is very important during reading (Legols & Perfetti, 1978; Perfetti &

Lesgold, 1978) and is best represented by the term automaticity, the instantaneous recognition of

MEMORY SKILLS 27

words. Grushkin (1998) has suggested that automatic word recognition can alleviate memory

load during the act of reading comprehension. Conversely, struggling to recognize words when

reading causes fewer WM resources to be available during reading comprehension (Denh, 2008).

Simple repetition activities to foster overlearning of printed words can help the learner attain

automaticity.

Reading words or sentences presented for a short period of time can assist in developing

speed of processing. This can be done in the classroom via PowerPoint presentation with the

word, sentence, or short paragraph presented on a slide which is set to transition to a blank slide

via the timer feature in PowerPoint. The use of tachistiscope programs may also be useful. There

are several free programs available on the internet such as RAM4

(http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/languages/classical/ram/ram.html). A low tech solution is to

simply present the target word(s) on a white board and then cover or erase them after a short

time.

Captioned video is also useful for building processing speed and sequential WM as the

caption presentation is time-limited and sequential. The teacher can pause the video immediately

after the presentation of the caption and ask the students what the caption said and questions

about the caption. The caption presentation also can build focused attention as the student must

ignore the activity on the screen and focus attention on the captions. Without automatic word

recognition, proficient processing speed, sufficient sequential WM, and the ability to focus

attention on the caption and not the peripheral action it would seem that captioned video is non-

beneficial to the viewer.

The lack of knowledge of English printed words also affects reading greatly. When

readers know less than 90% of the words in a passage comprehension drops to 50% or less

MEMORY SKILLS 28

(Johns, 2009). This is particularly true for deaf readers (Albertini & Mayer, 2011; Davey &

King, 1990; LaSasso & Davey, 1987; Paul, 1996; Paul & Gustafson, 1991; Paul & O'Rourke,

1988). During the reading of any print material, online or off, the English-ASL dictionary

SMARTSign-Dictionary (www.cats.gatech.edu) provides a tool for quickly finding a sign or

signs for a word and also reduces the memory load inherent in mentally searching for signs for

unknown or non-automatized words. Students can simply type the English word into the

SMARTSign-Dictionary and then see the sign(s) for that word. Often picture support is provided

to enhance the learning of the word-sign pair by providing imagery for the concept represented.

This is especially important for young readers who are new to signs and may be encountering the

sign for the first time via exposure to the English word in a book. “Google images” also provides

a powerful tool which allows users to enter words and search for images. “Google images”

essentially functions as a picture dictionary.

Online electronic dictionary use is common among adult second language learners. Lan

(2005) reports that over 70% of the interviewed students at Hong Kong Polytechnic University

who were learning English as a second language were online dictionary users. Use of an

electronic dictionary such as the SMARTSign-Dictionary may assist deaf readers during the

reading process. It can be used on desktop computers or laptop computers, tablet computers, and

cell phones for mobility.

As discussed earlier language ability accounts for a large part of reading ability. Viewing

the reading process as a whole, language skills, vocabulary knowledge, reading fluency as

evidenced by the automatized recognition of words, and general world knowledge also make

major contributions to reading comprehension (Denh, 2008). Phonological encoding is also

important. To develop phonological encoding, activities focusing on speechreading (Kyle &

MEMORY SKILLS 29

Harris, 2006, 2010) and articulation (McQuarrie & Parrila, 2009) can be done. It seems

important to relate speechread and spoken articulated words directly to known printed words in

order to have an effect on reading (Marschark & Harris, 1996).

In the classroom, speaking information during highly contextualized routine situations

can address phonological encoding via speechreading. If it is time for lunch and the teacher has

daily signed “Time for lunch” this information can be presented via signs then speech and finally

through speech alone as the students become familiar with the situation. It will be important to

ask the students what was said and then also quickly present the print for the spoken words to

make the speechreading-print connection. Asking the students to say the phrase will also build

the phonological/articulatory representation for the target phrase. It is likely that the

representation the student produces does not need to match a “perfect English” representation of

the words. The representation should however be different than the representation of other words

or phrases. This will allow the student to utilize an internally consistent phonological/articulatory

code which is of benefit in WM. If the students codes all words with the same articulatory code

(e.g., buh) it seems less likely that such a code will be beneficial. Speech therapists may make a

significant contribution to literacy development by including speachreading and articulation

activities related to print in their work with students. Research is needed to determine the

empirical validity of this hypothesis.

Language arts: Writing.

Building English schema via visuospatial scaffolding has proven successful in helping

deaf students develop basic English writing skills (Hamilton & Jones, 1989). According to Chi,

Glaser, and Rees (1982) a schema categorizes elements of information according to the manner

in which they will be used. Schemas are examples of sophisticated rules and are stored in long

MEMORY SKILLS 30

term memory. It is important for schemas to become automatized so they can be used quickly

and effortlessly. Practice with the schema help them become automatized (Paas, 1992). Learners

who have automated schema have more WM capacity available to use the schema to solve more

sophisticated problems (Sweller, 1988).

Denh (2008) describes scaffolding as a strategy that can enhance WM. Scaffolding provides

the learner with initial support for the learning task and gradually removes the support while

maintaining a low-error environment for the student. As students show success, the support is

removed until the student is performing the task correctly without the scaffolding. A tool that

provides scaffolding for building schema for writing basic English sentences, “Simple Sentence

Lab” (SSL), contains activities that are both compensatory and remedial in nature. Teachers can

utilize any subject matter in SSL simply by typing sentences into the program. The sentences

could be about a field trip, storybook, news event, or academic content from science or social

studies. As few as five and as many as fifteen sentences can be entered. These limits are

established to manage WM load by not overloading it. Long stories can be broken into chapters

and content information can be broken into multiple units if necessary. Over a dozen activities

which address sequential memory, sentence production, spelling, chunking of English phrases,

rehearsal, and schema building for written English are available and provided in a suggested

sequence that initially provides supportive scaffolding and then progressively removes it. Both

computer-based and paper-and-pencil tasks are utilized.

MEMORY SKILLS 31

Figure 2. Simple Sentence Lab screen

Figure 2 illustrates the schema and visual scaffolding provided for sentences entered into

the SSL program. Students can create a story, summarize content, or answer teacher questions

using this schema. As shown in figure 2, the student has already typed in the subject noun phrase

of a sentence and is ready to type the verb phrase. When that is done correctly the grid and text

entry box move to the third column and the student enters the final phrase. The scaffolding

support provided by the columns and sliding grid is faded away as students are successful. The

English sentences produced will be syntactically and grammatically correct due to the responses

allowed in each column. The visual schema and procedure of SSL allows only correct syntactic

sentences and a built-in grammar only allows grammatically correct responses. For example, the

student can type “Rattle snakes eat mice.” but not “Rattle snakes eats mice”. As shown in Figure

MEMORY SKILLS 32

2 “eats” is grayed-out and SSL’s artificial intelligence will not allow it as an acceptable verb due

to the subject-verb agreement necessary with “Rattle snakes”. The semantic accuracy of the

students’ responses must be evaluated by the teacher. SSL would allow the grammatically

correct sentence “King snakes can’t kill mice.” when actually the opposite is true. This allows

teachers to see what students understand about the target content while providing scaffold-

supported practice for writing English.

SSL provides a grammatically “errorless” environment for learning English which is

important for students with WM deficits (Gathercole, Lamont, & Alloway, 2006). Compensatory

support via a static visuospatial organization of English utilizes the deaf individual’s strength in

sequential recall of static visuospatial items (the SSL grid) and also lessens sequential WM load

as well as organizing English words via grammatically-based chunking. Chunking is the

grouping of to-be-remembered items into meaningful rule-governed units. Verbal sequential

WM capacity expands as chunks are formed by the items to be managed in WM (Denh, 2008).

This is particularly useful in language processing as chunking allows an increase of nearly

threefold in memory span of native speakers when sentences rather than unrelated words are to

be recalled (Baddely, 2003, Case, 1977). Language chunks appear to be based on the rule

governed constituents of the particular language known by the individual such as noun-phrases

and verb-phrases (Case, 1977). Thus, chunking is a very important aspect of maintaining and

manipulating linguistic items in WM. Providing external visual aids that show the students

English chunks as in figure 2 may help them to create chunks corresponding to phrases or

clauses, thereby creating more manageable units of information (Montgomery, 2003). SSL is

free and available at www.cats.gatech.edu/cats/CatSoft/SSL.htm .

Language arts: Vocabulary and spelling.

MEMORY SKILLS 33

In this paper, learning vocabulary will refer to learning the meaning of unknown words or

signs. Once a word or sign is part of the students known vocabulary the spelling of the printed

English word can be learned. The student may be simultaneously learning vocabulary and the

spelling of that vocabulary in school.

Learning vocabulary in a classroom can be enhanced by utilizing visual imagery. Studies

indicate that the imageability of a word is a key factor in determining its ease of acquisition

(Gillett, Gleitman, Gleitman, & Lederer, 1999; Ma, Golinkoff, Hirsh-Pasek, McDonough, &

Tardif, 2009). Visual imagery has been shown to be particularly useful for students with deficits

in verbal WM when they possess a strong visuospatial WM. Mnemonic strategies in which a

verbal utterance, in this case the meaning of a word or sign, is related to a visual image have

been successfully used for many years to assist in recall and learning (Eslinger, 2002; Levin,

1993; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1998; Pavio & Caspo, 1969). It is most effective when the image

created is unique, funny, or bizarre (Ritchie & Karge, 1996). As mentioned earlier, the

Lindamood-Bell Learning Process program focuses specifically on the use of imagery to enhance

reading and its tenets and procedures could be employed during vocabulary learning. For deaf

students providing an image along with a sign(s) for vocabulary would appear to be helpful.

Combining visualization of the meaning of the verbal string with rehearsal has been found to be

more effective than rehearsal alone (Clark & Klecan-Aker, 1992).

Learning the spelling of words (that is the sequence of letters in a word) generally

involves the use of rehearsal. For increasing sequential WM skills, rehearsal has been found to

be a useful strategy (Comblain, 1994; Minear & Shah, 2006) and facilitates information storage

in long-term memory (Denh, 2008). Training deaf students in the use of rehearsal at an early age

can pay benefits immediately and in the future.

MEMORY SKILLS 34

Chunking can be also used to reduce memory load for deaf students as they learn

vocabulary which will be used during reading or writing by taking advantage of the single sign

ASL representation of English phrases such as “look up”, “jump over”, and “get on”. When these

printed phrases are recognized as a chunk, sequential memory span has fewer items to maintain

thus reducing memory load. Teaching the student these English phrases as is done in the

Fairview method (Schimmel & Edwards, 2003; Schimmel, Edwards, & Prickett, 1999) may

prove beneficial.

For classroom vocabulary or spelling instruction the use of simultaneous communication

may be beneficial. Deaf individuals have been shown to recall simultaneous communicated lists

significantly better than lists that were presented only in sign (Hamilton & Holzman, 1989). By

utilizing simultaneous communication for controlled, structured classroom presentation of

vocabulary and spelling the memory enhancement of this dual code may be realized while

eliminating the detrimental aspects of simultaneous communication such as dropped signs and

faulty syntax. Drasgow and Paul (1995) suggest that the processing requirements for producing

simultaneous sign and speech causes signers to delete or incorrectly code signs due to WM

overload. By limiting simultaneous communication to short bits of information during

vocabulary and spelling instruction WM overload may be eliminated for the teachers while the

simultaneous signal enhances recall for the students. This suggestion requires empirical

validation.

Math.

Visual imagery has been shown to be particularly valuable in learning mathematics for

hearing students (McLean & Hitch, 1999) and deaf students (Blatto-Vallee, 2007; Lang &

Pagliaro, 2010). Nunes, (2006) has described visual displays that may enhance mathematics

MEMORY SKILLS 35

learning by deaf students. These provide scaffolding to support number recognition for early

math facts and for more advanced math processes such as word problems.

Static sequential visuospatial presentation of math facts (e.g., 2+4=6) provides students with

an information format that allows for use of their WM strength in this area and may foster more

efficient learning. Providing math fact tables for study may also assist students by providing a

visuospatial schema of the to-be-learned facts. This scaffolding can be faded away as it is

internalized and students automatize the math facts.

To increase processing speed and automaticity as well as attention the teacher can use a

timed PowerPoint presentation to flash a math fact or simply write the math fact on the

whiteboard and then erase it. After the math fact is removed from view students can write it on

paper in a race type of format which will also encourage an increase in processing speed.

Dictating math problems to students may also aid the development of WM and math skills.

This is a remedial intervention designed to “exercise” and increase WM as opposed to the

compensatory strategy described earlier utilizing static sequential visuaspatial presentation. The

students can write the dictated problem on paper and then solve it. If needed, the words used in

the dictation can be randomly displayed to eliminate the WM load caused by unknown spellings.

Alternatively, the words could be arranged in a visual schema similar to the one shown earlier in

Figure 2. This schema adds scaffolding for recalling the dictation using English syntax.

By writing the problem on paper WM load is reduced during problem solution and the

teacher also can see how much of the problem the students actually recalled. To exercise and

enhance WM load capabilities the teacher can require the students to solve the problem without

writing it on paper after they are successful in the writing task. This is an example of scaffolding

being removed.

MEMORY SKILLS 36

Using the ASL grammatical feature in which objects are located in space and then referred to

may also be an effective means of reducing working memory load. This type of presentation

would also allow deaf students to employ imagery to “see” the math problem and allow the

teacher to manually manipulate the invisible items to explain the necessary mathematical

process. For example, the word problem “Jack has 3 dogs. Jill has two dogs. How many dogs do

they have all together?” could be signed by placing Jack’s 3 dogs in a location in the left of the

signing space, Jill’s 2 dogs in a location to the right and holding the signs for 3 and 2 in the

respective locations. The signs can then be brought together in a middle location showing that 3

and 2 combine.

Memory load can also be reduced during math activities by providing calculators for students

who have not automatized math facts. This would be useful in learning the process of balancing

a checkbook or planning a budget. For higher order math processes such as those in geometry,

trigonometry, or calculus automatized math facts are imperative so that WM can focus on the

math processes involved in these subject areas and not be overloaded by deficient computational

knowledge.

Content areas: Science, Social Studies.

Deaf individuals have shown equal free recall abilities as compared to hearing individuals

across several tasks. Two particular types of learning tasks, labeling tasks such as labeling the

fifty states on a map, and categorizing tasks such as categorizing animals versus plants lend

themselves to free recall. These types of activities accompanied by rehearsal practice can

enhance the learning of content which is not sequentially bound.

Rehearsal can be valuable in the area of learning factual information in content areas. Using

repetition for this important information can facilitate long term storage of these facts (Denh,

MEMORY SKILLS 37

2008) and improve the automaticity of their access for higher level cognitive processes such as

understanding chemical bonding between atoms or the principles of a democratic government.

By utilizing the consistent visuospatial schema for English as provided by SSL (see figure 2)

with a variety of content, the content information may be learned more efficiently and English

language skills may increase (Hamilton & Jones, 1989). Variability of practice materials results

in beneficial effects on transfer of learning (Cormier and Hagman, 1987; Jelsma, van

Merrienboer, and Bijlstra, 1990; Singley and Anderson,1989). Thus, variability (different subject

area content) over the problem situation (learning the content and producing English sentences)

is expected to encourage learners to develop efficient schemas for the target information because

it increases the probability that similar features can be identified and that relevant features can be

distinguished from irrelevant ones. Consistent use of a tool such as SSL is imperative if it is to be

successful in building schema.

Rudner and Ronberg (2008) suggest that a presentation style that places less emphasis on

the temporal order of information may facilitate recall performance for deaf subjects. The use of

visuospatial tools such as flowcharts, boxes, or diagrams fit this presentation style. Such tools

reduce memory load (Grushkin, 1998) and subsequently enhance recall and learning. O’Donnell

and Adenwalla (1991) compared the use of visually diagrammed information maps and texts by

deaf undergraduate biology students. These students scored higher on recall and multiple choice

comprehension tasks when using the visually mapped information for learning purposes.

“Thinking maps” (Hyerle & Yeager, 2007, www.thinkingmaps.com) take advantage of

the visuospatial abilities of deaf students for static presentations of information. These are

graphic organizers with different visual structures that are designed to consistently represent the

same type of relationships between information thus building a schema for the content. Such

MEMORY SKILLS 38

graphic organizers are especially powerful when the students create the organization of the visual

schema themselves (Davies, 1980). “Inspiration”, “FreeMind”, and “XMind” are computer

programs that allow for quick free-form construction of visual graphic organizers. The last two

listed are free and available online. Luckner, Bowen, and Carter (2001) have also described

visual displays for reducing WM load for deaf students.

General concerns for all instruction.

Attention.

Attention is extremely important during WM processing (Engle, 2002). If a student is not

attending, little information can be acquired or comprehended. An attention strength of deaf

individuals may also serve to be a problem during language processing. Deaf individuals are

highly attuned to information in peripheral vision. Thus, movement on either side of the student

or teacher can be distracting. To develop attention to the signer and not peripheral movement a

teacher could give directions while standing near a computer or television screen that displays

some type of movement. Students then follow the directions. Start with short simple directions

and progress to longer directions. It may be useful to explain to the students the purpose of the

activity in order to enlist a metacognitive strategy that encourages the students to make a

concerted effort to attend to the signer. Also, by adding a distractor such as a moving image to a

slide of information being presented focused attention can also be addressed. However, be aware

that adding such distractors may cause even greater loss of attention to the teacher than the 50%

described by Matthews and Reich (1993). Research into the use of such attention building

activities is needed.

Memory load.

MEMORY SKILLS 39

The classroom is notorious for overloading the memory abilities of all students on a daily

basis (Denh, 2008). Assessing the WM load of a task and adjusting it as necessary is important

for facilitating student success. Some general principles for reducing WM load are:

 Language processing, particularly of long utterances, may overload WM.

Comprehension of verbal material will be enhanced by using language that is simple,

structured, and redundant.

 Multitasking by students places undo strain on attention and hence WM. Focus on

one activity at a time.

 Students with WM deficits can learn if they have ample exposure to material while

the demands on WM are minimal.

 Allow students time to process new information. More learning occurs when students

are given time to rehearse the information and apply memory strategies.

 Repetition or practice of a task is very important.

 External support aids such as visual cues, checklists, and prompts will reduce WM

load.

 Provide learners with graduated learning support (scaffolding) until the support is no

longer needed. Gathercole, Lamont, and Alloway (2006) have suggested that

“errorless learning”, where errors are prevented or minimized, is much more effective

for individuals with WM deficits than “errorful learning”, essentially learning by trial

and error. Several studies have shown this to be the case (Baddeley & Wilson, 1994;

Clare, Wilson, Carter, Roth & Hodges, 2002; Hamilton & Jones 1989). If a child has

a WM deficit it is extremely important to minimize task failure due to WM load.

MEMORY SKILLS 40

American Sign Language may also help reduce WM load. Geraci, Gozzi, Papagno, and

Cecchetto (2008) have suggested that ASL grammar has evolved overtime to utilize the

enhanced visuospatial memory abilities of deaf individuals and downplay the deficits. Such a

development seems only natural. Research should address how the use of ASL (for reducing

WM load) and simultaneous communication (for providing an enhanced signal which is recalled

better than sign alone) can be best utilized for communication and instruction.

WM activities in the classroom.

Denh (2008) suggests the following tenets for addressing WM in the classroom. WM

activities should:

 be brief and focused on one strategy.

 be spaced, with two or three per week over a long period of time.

 provide plenty of practice that allows the child to utilize the target strategy and

encourage the child to attribute his/her success to the strategy.

 provide multiple sessions so that ultimately the strategy is overlearned.

 provide positive reinforcement for successful use of the strategy.

 include teaching a child when and how to use a strategy so the child can apply this

metacognitive knowledge as necessary.

 match the needs of the learner and be adaptive. As the child’s skills increase so

should the task difficulty (Holmes, Gathercole & Dunning, 2009; Klingberg et al.,

2005; Klingberg, Forssberg, & Westerberg 2002)

Utilizing these tenets and enhancing WM can facilitate language learning and academic

achievement of deaf students

MEMORY SKILLS 41

Conclusion

This paper has reviewed literature on the memory skills of deaf learners and

described activities which take advantage of the deaf individual’s memory strengths to

facilitate learning and reduce memory load or to enhance deficit memory skills which are

important to learning. The deaf learner’s memory deficiencies include sequential

memory, processing speed, attention, and memory load. Strengths include free recall,

visuospatial recall, imagery and dual encoding. When utilized, phonological encoding

and rehearsal emerge as strategies which enhance recall. These strategies are not

spontaneously used by all deaf individuals, however, and may be prime candidates for

instruction.

Instructional design and classroom practices can utilize deaf learners’ memory

strengths, compensate for weaknesses, and attempt to remediate basic information

processing skills so that linguistic competence and academic achievement can be

increased. Activities that can address these areas have been described above. Not all

suggested activities have been empirically validated as the importance of WM in

education is just now being realized. The specific questions below should be investigated.

 Can visuospatial organization facilitate recall and learning of sequential linguistic

information such as English syntax?

 Can deaf individuals utilize imagery for increased learning and academic

achievement?

 Can viewing signed video and playing sign-enhanced video games enhance

language learning?

MEMORY SKILLS 42

 Due to the visual constraint of being able to attend to one item at a time (Wolfe,

2000) what particular presentation formats for media can best facilitate language

comprehension and learning?

 Can attention to the signer, rather than to peripheral distractors in a classroom, be

trained so it exceeds the current 50% benchmark?

 Can speechreading training which specifically targets development of

phonological/articulatory coding enhance the sequential recall, and language and

reading comprehension of deaf students?

 Can speech articulation training facilitate phonololgical/articulatory coding to

enhance recall regardless of vocal intelligibility?

 Is recall and comprehension of simultaneous communication superior to sign-only

communication in the classroom during presentation of information more

complex than simple word lists? If so, can the utilization of simultaneous

communication be improved? Is simultaneous communication best utilized only

in limited presentation/communication instances as opposed to open-ended

communication?

 Can use of ASL spatially established referents and manipulation of these referents

facilitate math problem solving?

 How can the use of ASL (for reducing WM load) and simultaneous

communication (for providing an enhanced signal which is recalled better than

sign alone) be best utilized for communication and instruction?

MEMORY SKILLS 43

Finally, instructional practice can adopt the suggestions of Denh (2008) and others for

limiting working memory load and creating error-free learning environments to enhance

learning. For example, the use of visual schemas and scaffolding hold great promise for deaf

education due to their ability to reduce memory load and call into play the visuosapatial WM

strengths of deaf students. This paper has provided a starting point for raising the awareness of

educators of deaf students on the important issue of WM. It has also detailed suggestions for

areas of future research investigating the utility of specific WM activities. The field of WM and

its application to education provide new and exciting possibilities for enhancing language

learning and academic achievement of deaf students

MEMORY SKILLS 44

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