Sequenced Details: Working Memory Expansion - Your Best Mental Skill Created

Every moment of our day is rushed, serial. Each event becomes part of a singular-one-piece, holistic grid, creating unbearable tension, pressure, and stress.

Enveloped with daily fast driving, quick texting, constant, communicative blunders and demands, our thoughts become disrupted. We hurry, multi-task, resolve problems, issues; but, with a holistic, one-track mind. We remain fixated, less productive, in our daily routines.

Unwittingly, we create our own frantic, strange inner world that seldom interfaces with the outside hurried, demanding world. There is never enough time to enjoy life as we would like. Exhausted, we need and want some kind of relief.  Can a strategically trained mind, with sequential thought, become liberated, finding new, focused self-assurance,  even possible?            

Solution: We can upgrade ourselves to be a sharper, more autonomous, individual by applying strategic working memory training. [1] We can transition to a methodical mindset capability by applying detail awareness, through sequenced, chunked-coded, information. [2]  Series of step-wise operations require focused speed and accuracy. This will add not only proficiency to our tasks, but create a calm, methodical, mindset.

Thirty years ago, I wrote a similar, but technical article, on this same venue, [3]  and now sorely see the disastrous, dangerous, outcome of detail issues that are routine now, in all academic and professional fields.

Change Can and Should Begin Early

The best scenario is to begin sharp cognition enhancement early on. If young and teenage students become routinely aware of their own learning brain skill strengths and weaknesses, like athletes and musicians know their improvement goals, mental enhancement then becomes an habitual, ongoing process. [4]

The school learning process has always been a chicken/egg – ying/yang question as to why the student was not learning the content (lack of motivation, behavioral), or poor teaching (poor choice of lesson applications, or lack of class control). Subsequently, many children may wade through the academic process, unknowingly with cognitive shortcomings, and then, as adults, must create their own upward mobility through determination, insight, and courage through advanced education and training.  

And then, to find they have the same cognitive weaknesses that can further decline with age.

An old adage: “The Devil is in the Details”

You might say; “Why should I care about detail errors – I get paid anyway. Even double, with constant re-work.”

Yet, even with this faulty logic, steps can not be omitted, or the entire operational system fails. The end consumer pays. Mental, procedural skill abilities are now in high demand. We can interface with this demand, by showing awareness of, and then applying, good logical-sequential, solutions to avoid, or rapidly correct, these routine detail errors.

Understanding detail function is your  best career route, as supervisors notice your proficiency ;evel. And, you could spend years spinning your tires at low wages, job uncertainty, unnecessarily.

Working Memory Recognized and Understood
There are two primary memory and cognition processing types: visual and auditory-listening memory, (details and sequential). [5] Optimally, they should work in sync. Working in tandem cerates conceptualization, with understanding, and higher thought levels. There are sub-ordering categories within each type: words, letters, numbers, and sentences. [6] Subsequently, integrated visual and listening sequencing is the root of all academic and technical learning: following oral and written directions, reading writing, spelling and math.

Use it or Lose it with Continual Detail Workouts: Pills Will Not Create Sequences

 You can;
1) practice with the many existing, online, memory exercise routines like athletes and musicians do. But, they have their own specific practice drills, as they expect continued drill and practice as basics of their discipline, for excelling and maintaining performance edge.  

Or, 2) engage in a researched, data-evidenced, sequencing-skill building program, offering your own personal outcomes. You can use practice routines as a family, or within other group units.

A Numerical Practice Sample

Continued rehearsal practice can jump start your working memory for increased strength and capacity.  As a former “Mind and Brain - Vision” Kansas City chapter editor, and national contributor for the Association of Training and Development, (ASTD, Now, ATD, The Association for Development Talent), I wrote about the necessary skills of brain building through detail-sequencing: “Building a More Powerful Brain”. [7] All operational procedures, as in computer programming, technical skills, business management, or surgical routines, are a series of coded details and spans.

You may discover that keeping numerical figures straight, while listening to feedback instructions during data entry situations, is particularly difficult.  Additionally, many of us can not apply telephone numbers without looking.  We have most of the numbers we routinely use, entered into our cell phones. But, there may be non routine telephone numbers to enter at times. And, we generally look at them.

Okay then, let’s practice a few simple chunked number spans to improve our numerical sequencing.  Have someone read the number series to you, so you do not see the text.  Since telephone numbers are easy seven spans, try saying a few both forward and in reverse.  Scanning backward will help you visualize the numerical placement to avoid transposing. Then say it forward again. You can find many similar online practice games like this example.

Say this number series:  932-4737

Now in reverse:  7374-239

Repeat the correct number series forward:  932-4737

Here are two more.  Now, you can create your own as you drive home or to work:

1)          832-4787
    7874-238
    832-4787                                 

2)         239-5782
   2875-932
   239-5782 
        

You can now start developing your own sequencing skill, working memory, with continued practice. Mental toughness improvement can also soon be achieved through Mem-ExSpan’s short, online, practice sessions applying puppetry, comedy, acting, and music.   

Mental skill sequencing awareness and change gives ultimate job and career-choices for autonomous, life-long, personal freedom.

Jan Kuyper Erland, is a Performance Analyst, Content Development Researcher, and Intervention Specialist for Mem-ExSpan, Inc. 

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[1] Erland, J. K. (1999). Retraining cognitive abilities: A longitudinal study. Journal for Accelerated Learning and Teaching, 14. 1. 3-42. (ERIC ED #436 962).

[2]  Erland, J. K. (c 1989). Hierarchy of Thinking. Mem-ExSpan, Inc.

[3]  Erland, J. K. (1992). Cognitive skills training improves listening and visual memory for academic and career success. Journal of Accelerated Learning and Teaching. 20. 1. ERIC Clearinghouse (ED #353 286).

[4] Erland, J. K. (© 2008). unpublished document. Five Generations, 27-years of Iterative Brain-Based Accelerative Learning Experimentation, Demonstrate Cognitive Skill Improvement Enhances Academic Achievement and Career Goals.
(https://www.memspan/jalt)

[5] Guilford, J. P. (1986). Creative talents: Their nature, uses, and development. Buffalo, NY: Bearly Ltd.

[6] Woodcock, R. W. & Johnson, M. (3^rd ed. 2001, 1989, 1977). Tests of Cognitive Ability: Psycho educational battery. Hingham, MA: Teaching Resources Corp. Standard and Supplemental Batteries Examiner’s Manual. Allen, TX. DLM. 

[7] Erland, J. K. (Winter 1998-1999). Building a More Powerful Brain. Performance in Practice. ASTD. pp.13-14. (ERIC ED #439 445).

Cognitive Skills’ Outcome-Based Intervention Revealed the Latency Effect for Struggling Learners

Published October 22, 2010 by
The Special Education Advisor http://bit.ly/9FYsZv

What are the learning pathways? Research tells us that learners absorb new information through the primary sensory visual, auditory, kinesthetic-tactile pathways, (VAKT: Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic-Tactile teaching method, http://www.dyslexia-parent.com/VAKT.html) and these entrances must be in working order. They also should optimally function together, or integrate.

One or two pathways may be stronger than the others, and can compete with the weaker ones, creating an out-of-sync learning input structure. Visual processing speed may be faster than a lagging auditory (listening) processing speed, creating a conflict between the two. (Rumelhart & McClelland, 1986). Without auditory-visual integration, (Hessler, 1982) the result is a “slow, inattentive learner” although the student is highly intelligent (Erland, July 1983).

Parents, unaware of the foundational cause of their child’s learning problems, flounder with eliciting expensive tutors, which do some good. Practice “Drill and Skill” software training also helps to some degree, although it is like handing an energizing coke to a runner with a broken leg. Like information processing, the race can not be won until the leg is repaired and mended.

The Role of Cognitive Skills Measurement and Training. Cognitive skills’ retraining of Guilford’s select mental abilities (Guilford, 1984, 1967) can be elected so the student can absorb, learn, understand, and apply new information. Many cognitive skills training programs have been developed by private companies and textbook companies have not absorbed such programs into their product lines. Unfortunately, this sensory integration, or “opening up the learning pathways” should be trained before the child learns basic skills.

Not only does the average parent or young adult learner not understand the relevance of cognitive skills training programs, but locating an efficient one is difficult. Many programs exist, and vary in their testing-measurement, evaluations, and applied methodologies. Those in populated areas may drive miles to obtain training, pay large, ongoing fees for a program that takes years of application to see results. The solution lies in remediating cognitive skills in the classroom, like a teaspoon of sugar to raise student ability levels.

The Latency Effect Revealed. Learning improvement results may not be evident because there is a “Latency Effect” for problem learners to show academic achievement results on national standardized achievement scores. This latency effect was discovered with a two school, eleven classroom experimental, longitudinal study. (Erland, Fall 2000).

Intervention Training Results of Two Fourth Grade Classrooms. I implemented a cognitive skills intervention and measurement study of two classrooms of low-achieving fourth grade parochial school students, (n=44) tracking their test results for the subsequent two years, with minor attrition. (Erland, Fall 2000). The gains can not be attributed to the subsequent teachers’ instruction, because the students were dispersed between three different classes each following year, and their subsequent test scores were reconfigured as the original experimental group. Longitudinal studies are difficult to implement because of transient students. If the students are not present, they can not be subsequently tested.

Most of the students had auditory (listening) weaknesses, and a few had severe visual processing deficits. In other words, they had learning, information processing issues, and their previous the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS, Riverside, 2000) low scores reflected this, falling below the norms as individual classrooms (Erland, Fall 2000, table 1, p. 16). If would be a case where the teacher(s) could have been fired. But, they were, in fact, excellent teachers, and willing to apply a promising methodology that would possibly correct these student processing deficiencies.

The results showed a scaled variation of when, and at what point, the student began to “learn new information.” The fourth grade students in two classes in the ITBS subtests of Reading Comprehension, Math Total, Math Problems, Spelling, language, and Science (Erland, Fall 2000, pp. 32-34) revealed not only some immediate results, but also indicated a range of marked learning growth over a two-years of post-testing standardized measurements.

There was strong change for many at the one-year longitudinal point, and another group showed gains the second year following the intervention. This indicates that once the information sensory pathways are opened, the student can then begin understanding and applying classroom instruction. (Erland, Fall 2000) http://www.memspan.com/jalt.html

Academic Achievement Results Now Expected. School administrators and districts are now increasingly demanding outcome-based academic achievement results. Unfortunately, the pressure is applied to the teacher, who may not have the necessary intervention tools at her fingertips. It is difficult to teach an entire classroom, where many of the students have info processing blockages, and can not, and subsequently do not, attend to instruction.

Administrators and school districts, eager to show academic achievement improvement, should recognize the problematical slow learner-latency effect even having strong classroom instructional input by the teacher. They also might consider accepting and adopting effective cognitive skill programs as a helpful classroom tool to raise the proficiency learning levels of the students. This would systematically raise achievement test scores without resorting to “teaching how to take the test,” which replaces hours of valuable classroom instructional-skills-learning time.

Classroom Partnered Learning. Consequently, with a room with many learning problems, teachers often resort to small group “partnering teams” in a differentiated classroom, where the slow learner copies the information from the more adept processing student leader. Unfortunately, the struggling student is not “learning”, but merely completing an assignment, to receive a grade, which will be an A or B to appease the parent. This student is subsequently, “passed through the system” with perhaps a limited career future.

Response To Intervention. Once students understand the teacher’s classroom instruction, it can be then applied; although this changing-evolutional process may be immediate or take one-two years. But, even with this latency effect, it is important that gains can be made by even the most problematical learner, rather than minimally or not at all, and then firing the teacher.



Erland, J. K. (Fall, 2000). Brain-Based accelerated learning longitudinal study revealed subsequent high academic achievement gain for low-achieving, low-cognitive skill fourth grade students. The Journal of Accelerated Learning and Teaching, 25, (3&4).

Erland, J. K. (July 1983). Methods and techniques of Cognitive Behavior Modification for accelerating both visual and auditory memory in learning disabled adolescents and young adult through inter-hemispheric specialization strategies. An instructional workshop session and manuscript.

Guilford, J. P. (1984). An odyssey of the SOI model: An autobiography of Dr. J. P. Guilford. Tokyo: Japan Head Office International Society For Intelligence Education.

Guilford, J. P. (1967). The nature of human intelligence. New York: McGraw Hill.

Hessler, G. (1982). Use and interpretation of the Woodcock-Johnson psycho-educational battery. Hingham, MA: Teaching Resources.

Riverside 2000. (1994). Iowa Tests of Basic Skills Integrated Assessment Program, Technical Summary I. Chicago, IL: The Riverside Publishing Co.(a subsidiary of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

Rumelhart, D. E., McClelland, J. and the PDP Research Group. (1986). Parallel distributed processing: Explorations in the micro structure of cognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

VAKT: Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic-Tactile teaching method, http://www.dyslexia-parent.com/VAKT.html

Mem-ExSpan's Jan Kuyper Erland Education Results Table

Mem-ExSpan's Jan Kuyper Erland Education Results Table

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Memexspan: Educational Speaker, Jan Kuyper Erland, Teachers and Parents, Live Person

Memexspan: Educational Speaker, Jan Kuyper Erland, Teachers and Parents, Live Person

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Improving Learning Acquisition in the Classroom

Classrooms today are challenging for even the most experienced teacher, let alone new ones who are entering the field. Today’s classrooms are known for their diversification of students’ ability and knowledge base levels, which leads to a broad range of learning pace. This is on top of gender, economic, parental support, disabilities, advanced learners, and motivational differences.

To cope with this dilemma, the Response to Intervention (RTI) Model set three-tier assessment guidelines, including early individual and classroom-group screenings to detect behavioral and learning problems. These assessments are directed to helping each child learn and become a success in school. Many children fear failure in front of others. The slow or disabled learner then loses confidence and motivation to learn, and can become a behavior problem.

The differentiated classroom is a curriculum infrastructure model to add fluidity to instructing multiple ability ranges. Imagine what the teacher has to contend with trying to teach diverse student learners, many of them behavior problems.

Would’t be wonderful if most students learned and worked as one unit at similar paces, and broad cognitive ability ranges remained few to each classroom? There is a solution: this philosophy requires accelerating information processing with accentuated visual and listening memories for each and every child.

To begin, there must be group screenings tests to determine the pre-classroom student memory levels. Although this requires additional teacher involvement, it is worth the effort by knowing your student profiles. Then you can move forward to improve learning capacities and speed or pace of learning. Every student moves forward so they can then understand typical group instruction.

Step 1: Parents request a referral for school testing for their child. Schools are typically backed-up with multiple requests, but there are also private resources through psychologists and private practitioners qualified to assess. According to the IDEA (2004) mandate, if schools to not assess your child, they must pay for private testing. There are many cognitive skills tests that measure visual and auditory processing speed. Professionally trained diagnosticians must administer them. In schools, it is the certified, assessment team. Classroom screening procedures with simple checklists also are available for teachers to determine these ranges.

Step 2: Find a solution. There are many RTI products on the market. Find one with scientific, longitudinal findings. Although my product, The Bridge to Achievement, (BTA), is still in the BETA stage, it is a student-adult ability-charger. The 5-generational, scientifically documented e-Learning program includes five 1-3 year longitudinal studies with individuals, school students, and adults in business and college settings.

The program automates student pacing levels in the classroom or at home. It is taught by puppets as models, which increase student motivation, and removes the fear of making mistakes while learning. Students improve their information processing levels in a short period of time.

When students have improved their learning and pacing levels, instruction in the classroom becomes easier for the teacher. Teachers are relieved, as their teaching day becomes easier with an integrated classroom. Children and their parents become satisfied as they see their child transformed into active, happy learners.

I have a new research report, now in publication review process, showing the multi-tiered effects of my 29-years of Accelerated Learning research with various populations, ages 9 to adult. All but one experiment had one-to-three years post longitudinal tracking showing that my choral speaking with puppetry methods maintained. It is unique research that you will want to follow.

My dream is that most of us will want mental fitness in the future the same way we want physical fitness. It will be that easy to move forward to higher levels. We won't have to be left behind.

"Cognitive Skills Training or Brain-Based Learning; Which Is It?"

Cognitive Skills training has a long history from the 1960s into the 1970s. Since it is a scientific, technical term, the average lay person is not sure as to what it really means. It can convey a detrimental underlying meaning that something mentally is wrong with the person.

This is not the case. Unless you understand the psychometric testing that measures the information processing and cognitive skill components, the subject becomes complicated. Unless one has advanced course work in this area, it is difficult to explain memory and cognitive processes in simple terms. Yet, we all have a particular cognitive profile, and most of us do not realize or know what it is.

For years, cognitive psychologists tested for problems, and gave medication or remediation. Little assistance was available for the average person. Teachers knew they had learning and behavioral difficulties in the classroom. Yet, it became too tedious and time consuming to complete full psychological batteries on the many children requiring identification. And, only the certified School Psychologist could administer the complex testing batteries. Yet, something had to be done.

In jumped "Brain-Based Learning" into the typical classroom. Many teachers and lay people came up with an irrational exuberance of solutions. The problem was that these techniques or methodologies were randomly implemented and not scientifically tested. It became a "hit and miss" proposition.

Interestingly, it requires minimally 12 hours of pre- and post-testing and a few more hours of evaluation to arrive at solid conclusions. This level of work becomes mind-boggling, and psychologists and specialists deservedly charge solid professional fees.

Since people are not willing to make large investments unless there is a real nagging necessity for it, subsequently the average person is not often, or ever, tested for cognitive skills weaknesses.

Yet, I conducted these exhaustive, comprehensive, standardized measurements and evaluations on thousands of high average, average, low average, and gifted individuals as part of the course pro bono because of my scientific curiosity. Each had a unique profile, which could be improved.

Importantly, I could see dramatic change with my intervention, although experienced at different time intervals by each individual. I knew how important it would be to document it completely.

Living in a university town, full professors and statisticians volunteered their services for this important analyses work, that entailed twenty years of publications and almost thirty of applied research practice. I had many scholarly advisors. As the work progressed through publications and peer review, additional psychology and education professors from different universities analyzed and followed the unique data compilations.

Scientific discovery was in process.

Today, there are programs that have statistical results, but few that have longitudinal findings. In other words, does the training intervention "last"? It takes years to collect this type of data, especially among various demographic groups. It is also difficult to locate the same individual years down the road for subsequent testing. Additionally, even if they are located, are clients willing to be retested years later?

Of my seven experiments, six studies, with a variety of ages and demographic groups, had 1-3 years longitudinal tracking with complete positive findings.

For further information, see the link "scholarly publications" on the nav bar. For comment, click on:" Respond Further on Jan's Blog."

"Multi-Sensory Training in the Traditional Classroom?"

Many schools today are embracing change to help learner's perform easier and at a faster rate. There are multitudes of commercial programs, yet few have in-depth scientific documentation. This is because it takes years and years of experimentation to obtain it.

Multi-sensory education has been around for many years, even before I applied it in 1980, nearly thirty years ago, having learned from the experts and textbooks of that time.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a push for sensory integration through auditory-visual-motoric-kinesthetic applications, led by Jean Ayres, Chalfant and Scheffelin, and others. (in Lerner, J. W. 1976, 1971; Children with Learning Disabilities, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston p. 180). Inter-sensory exercises were emphasized during the 1970s, then they were abandoned. Other, often lesser effective, methods replaced them.

The missing link was the creative inter-sensory Accelerated Learning applications that could be applied to these theories. In 1980, I applied them with The Bridge To Achievement program, and it has taken me nearly thirty years to show documentation that they work. Traditionalists were skeptical and children , especially those with learning difficulties, often floundered, as they stayed within a narrow educational mindset.

Now, brain science is verifying the early works of the eminent professors and the practitioners, like myself. The last several issues of Brain in the News by the Dana Foundation, Washington DC, tout how Neuroaesthetics and Neuroeducation are moving forward together. They state that the elements of the theater through simultaneous use of several sensory inputs, work for activating the brain for learning (July 2009, p. 3).

The multitudes of published learning applications may very well move in this direction, because they do create the academic achievement change that is now not only necessary, but mandatory.