Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success : A Self-management Approach

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34   CHAPTER 2

are consciously thinking about something or actively trying to remem-

ber a forgotten fact, we are using our WM.

Working memory screens and decides how to handle different stim-

uli. Three events can happen when material gets into the WM (Eggen

& Kauchak, 1997):

• It can be quickly lost or forgotten.


• The content can be retained in WM for a short period of time
  by repeating it over and over (i.e., rehearsing).


• The content can be transferred into long-term memory by using
  specific learning strategies.

The WM is limited in two ways—capacity and duration. At any

one time, the WM of an adult can hold only five to nine chunks of

information. This limitation is referred to as the “7 
 2 Magic Num-

ber” (Miller, 1956). New information coming into WM will, if it

catches the attention of the student, tend to crowd out old informa-

tion already there. If information is believed to be important, it should

not be left in WM, because it will be soon forgotten.

A number of control processes operate at the WM level and pro-

vide it with some flexibility in dealing with information. Chunking,

or grouping information, is one way of keeping more than nine pieces

(7 
 2) of information in WM. For example, it is usually easier to

remember a number such as 194781235 if the numbers are grouped

in threes (194 781 235), because the original nine units are reduced

to three chunks. When we read a word, we think of it as a single unit

rather than as a collection of separate letters. For example, a sentence

can be thought of as a single unit, or chunk, instead of a series of let-

ters and words. By organizing information into larger chunks, the

WM can handle more information, because the organization reduces

memory load. Although our WM uses chunking strategies automati-

cally and unconsciously, these strategies also can be learned.

Ash, 1992, p. 323). Read the following list of letters once. Cover

EXERCISE 2.1: DEMONSTRATING THE CAPACITY

OF WORKING MEMORY

Directions: Try this short memory experiment (Goetz, Alexander, &

the page and attempt to recall them in order. Write your answers on

a separate sheet of paper:

FB

IMT

VU

SAHB