WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:03.439 This is The Reading Instruction Show. I'm your 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:08.300 host, as always, Dr. Andy Johnson. Topic of today's 00:00:08.300 --> 00:00:12.259 podcast is cognitive science and reading. So 00:00:12.259 --> 00:00:14.640 let's see if we can do a little bit of learning 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:20.000 today. Now, neuroscience is a study of the nervous 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.120 system, including the brain, spinal cord, and 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:27.679 neurons. The neuroscience of reading looks at 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:31.699 how the brain functions during reading using 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:34.500 imaging techniques to detect the flow of blood 00:00:34.500 --> 00:00:38.799 and electrical energy. Now cognitive science 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:43.460 is based on the word cognition, which means thinking. 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:49.679 Cognitive science looks at human thinking. Here 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:53.340 one studies the physical brain as it thinks. 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:57.340 and the other studies the thinking the brain 00:00:57.340 --> 00:01:02.079 does. But we can't observe thinking directly. 00:01:03.140 --> 00:01:06.359 We can only observe the effects of thinking. 00:01:06.859 --> 00:01:11.140 Thus, both fields look at the effects of thinking 00:01:11.140 --> 00:01:16.250 to make deductions about thinking itself. Now 00:01:16.250 --> 00:01:19.409 this podcast, the first part, is designed to 00:01:19.409 --> 00:01:21.969 help you understand how reading works from a 00:01:21.969 --> 00:01:27.250 purely cognitive perspective. This provides an 00:01:27.250 --> 00:01:31.129 important context for understanding the theory 00:01:31.129 --> 00:01:34.870 of orthographic mapping, which I have described 00:01:34.870 --> 00:01:38.790 elsewhere. Orthographic mapping is a theory based 00:01:38.790 --> 00:01:42.890 on logical deductions made from research. And 00:01:42.890 --> 00:01:47.189 the questions we must ask about this theory are 00:01:47.189 --> 00:01:51.870 how robust is the theory, how valid are the data 00:01:51.870 --> 00:01:56.049 upon which it is based, and how logical are the 00:01:56.049 --> 00:02:00.609 deductions? And my conclusions are not very, 00:02:01.109 --> 00:02:05.310 not very, and not very. But, getting ahead of 00:02:05.310 --> 00:02:09.930 myself, let's first look at memory from a cognitive 00:02:09.930 --> 00:02:14.539 perspective. Storage tanks. Memory can be thought 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:19.000 of as a storage tank. The informational processing 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:21.500 model, sometimes known as the standard memory 00:02:21.500 --> 00:02:25.319 model, describes three types of storage tanks. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:30.240 Sensory memory, short -term memory, and long 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:35.300 -term memory. Each tank has a different capacity 00:02:35.300 --> 00:02:40.229 and duration. and each tank is used a bit differently 00:02:40.229 --> 00:02:45.289 in reading. Sense memory. Sense memory, sensory 00:02:45.289 --> 00:02:50.409 memory, or sensory registar is where your original 00:02:50.409 --> 00:02:55.050 sense data is perceived. In the case of reading, 00:02:55.789 --> 00:02:59.770 letters and words are perceived here. It has 00:02:59.770 --> 00:03:04.330 an unlimited capacity but a very short duration. 00:03:05.250 --> 00:03:09.949 since memory retains an exact copy of all the 00:03:09.949 --> 00:03:13.009 stimuli you perceive, but you can hold it for 00:03:13.009 --> 00:03:16.430 only one to three seconds. And after this, it 00:03:16.430 --> 00:03:22.030 quickly fades away. Short -term memory. Now, 00:03:22.030 --> 00:03:25.210 while the term short -term memory and working 00:03:25.210 --> 00:03:28.449 memory are often used synonymously, technically 00:03:28.449 --> 00:03:33.110 they are different. Short -term memory is like 00:03:33.110 --> 00:03:37.189 a small storage tank for selected data that's 00:03:37.189 --> 00:03:41.330 perceived in sensory memory. It has a limited 00:03:41.330 --> 00:03:45.229 capacity, holding only seven plus or minus two 00:03:45.229 --> 00:03:49.069 bits of information. And this means that most 00:03:49.069 --> 00:03:53.069 people can hold seven bits of information, some 00:03:53.069 --> 00:03:55.889 can hold up to nine bits, and some only as few 00:03:55.889 --> 00:04:01.219 as five bits. And that's not a lot of information 00:04:01.219 --> 00:04:06.219 bits. Also, the duration here is not very long. 00:04:07.060 --> 00:04:10.219 Without some sort of elaboration or rehearsal, 00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:15.780 this information starts to fade away after 15 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:22.029 seconds. Holding more bits. Chunky. enables you 00:04:22.029 --> 00:04:25.769 to hold more information in the limited space 00:04:25.769 --> 00:04:29.850 in the short -term memory holding tank. This 00:04:29.850 --> 00:04:34.290 is the process of organizing bits of data into 00:04:34.290 --> 00:04:38.610 meaningful, larger holes. Now, to illustrate, 00:04:39.170 --> 00:04:42.389 in your short -term memory holding tank, you 00:04:42.389 --> 00:04:45.230 could hold on to these eight letters, and here 00:04:45.230 --> 00:04:53.680 they are, I, T, I, S, A, C, A, and T. Or you 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:57.980 could hold on to these four words. It is a cat. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:00.899 That's what those letters spelled. Or you could 00:05:00.899 --> 00:05:03.800 hold on to the single idea of a cat with the 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:09.579 related associations. Letters, words, or meaning. 00:05:10.899 --> 00:05:15.180 Of the three, meaning carries the most information. 00:05:16.220 --> 00:05:19.779 Holding the meaning created by reading in your 00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:24.439 short -term memory storage tank is much more 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:28.500 efficient than holding the letters you're reading. 00:05:30.180 --> 00:05:33.160 Now, expert readers use very few letter clues 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:37.120 to recognize words as they read. Instead, much 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:40.779 like gas flowing into a carburetor to mix with 00:05:40.779 --> 00:05:45.259 air and create power, information flows into 00:05:45.259 --> 00:05:48.379 short -term memory to mix with letters and create 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:52.339 meaning. This carburation of letters and information 00:05:52.339 --> 00:05:56.079 provides more space in short -term memory to 00:05:56.079 --> 00:06:00.519 focus on understanding what's being read. And 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:04.439 as I've said many times before, and I'll say 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:08.879 it in the future, this does not mean that we 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:14.589 ignore phonics. Rather, we combine phonics with 00:06:14.589 --> 00:06:18.350 our natural ability to use semantic and syntactical 00:06:18.350 --> 00:06:23.009 information to create reading power. Working 00:06:23.009 --> 00:06:27.209 memory. Where short -term memory is a passive 00:06:27.209 --> 00:06:30.889 receptacle, working memory is an active space 00:06:30.889 --> 00:06:34.769 within short -term memory used to work with information. 00:06:35.810 --> 00:06:41.180 This is where you add analyze, organize, evaluate, 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:45.639 or restructure data, as well as make meaningful 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:49.420 connections. Working memory is also the place 00:06:49.420 --> 00:06:54.160 where metacognition takes place, and metacognition 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:59.100 means thinking about thinking. Here you monitor 00:06:59.100 --> 00:07:02.860 your own thoughts to check for understanding. 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:07.639 This happens during reading when you ask yourself 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:10.899 questions such as, do I understand what I'm reading? 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:14.500 Does this make sense? Do I need to read this 00:07:14.500 --> 00:07:19.600 paragraph again? Metacognition is also used to 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:23.019 ask higher level questions such as, what's the 00:07:23.019 --> 00:07:26.120 main point here? How is this like something else 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:29.500 I've learned? Does this make sense? Did Andy 00:07:29.500 --> 00:07:34.610 just compare reading to a carburetor? automaticity. 00:07:35.430 --> 00:07:38.509 This is the act of performing a procedure or 00:07:38.509 --> 00:07:41.329 cognitive operation without thinking about it 00:07:41.329 --> 00:07:45.670 or with very little conscious awareness. In other 00:07:45.670 --> 00:07:49.269 words, the thinking processes involved with the 00:07:49.269 --> 00:07:53.829 procedure are automatic. And the best example 00:07:53.829 --> 00:08:00.509 of this is driving a car. Now as we drive, most 00:08:00.509 --> 00:08:04.250 of us don't have to consciously think about pressing 00:08:04.250 --> 00:08:07.370 the gas pedal or the brake pedal or steering 00:08:07.370 --> 00:08:12.209 the wheel. We respond to the curves and stop 00:08:12.209 --> 00:08:17.149 signs we encounter automatically, with very little 00:08:17.149 --> 00:08:22.110 conscious attention. Automaticity frees up space 00:08:22.110 --> 00:08:24.870 and short -term memory, allowing us to devote 00:08:24.870 --> 00:08:27.730 more attention to other things, such as road 00:08:27.730 --> 00:08:31.459 conditions or other cars. or our cell phones. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:36.940 Developing automaticity with any skill enables 00:08:36.940 --> 00:08:39.919 us to devote more space and short -term memory 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:44.100 to high -level thinking. And the goal is for 00:08:44.100 --> 00:08:47.480 children to be able to automatically recognize 00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:51.860 words while reading. In this way, they're better 00:08:51.860 --> 00:08:55.720 able to analyze and evaluate ideas and engage 00:08:55.720 --> 00:09:00.960 in high -level thinking as they read. And automaticity 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:05.360 is important for any cognitive operation related 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:08.580 to reading, such as comprehension, critical thinking, 00:09:09.100 --> 00:09:13.460 metacognition, or the application of strategies. 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:19.659 Long -term memory. This is where all your memories 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:23.659 are stored. Episodic, semantic, and procedural 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:25.659 memories, and we'll talk about this in just a 00:09:25.659 --> 00:09:29.200 minute. The long -term memory storage tank has 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:34.000 an almost unlimited capacity to store information 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:39.500 for an almost unlimited duration. This means 00:09:39.500 --> 00:09:43.539 that everything we've ever experienced is tucked 00:09:43.539 --> 00:09:48.159 away in our brain somewhere. So why do we forget? 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:54.820 It's not a matter of storage, rather of retrieval. 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:59.279 That is, the information is still in our memory, 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:03.860 tucked away someplace. We just have a hard time 00:10:03.860 --> 00:10:07.600 getting access to some of it because lots of 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:11.179 other stuff gets in the way. But given the right 00:10:11.179 --> 00:10:16.799 stimuli, that information is accessible. Now 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:20.419 think of how a song or a smell suddenly brings 00:10:20.419 --> 00:10:26.350 up memories of events and places long past. The 00:10:26.350 --> 00:10:31.350 storage locker analogy. Putting data in and taking 00:10:31.350 --> 00:10:35.370 it out of long -term memory is very much like 00:10:35.370 --> 00:10:39.350 putting things in a rented storage locker. Three 00:10:39.350 --> 00:10:42.169 important terms in this process are encoding, 00:10:43.110 --> 00:10:48.289 storage, and retrieval. Encoding is the process 00:10:48.289 --> 00:10:52.629 of organizing and putting information into long 00:10:52.629 --> 00:10:56.549 -term memory. And this is like gathering up all 00:10:56.549 --> 00:10:59.990 your things, sorting them into plastic storage 00:10:59.990 --> 00:11:03.629 bins with labels and putting them into the storage 00:11:03.629 --> 00:11:08.649 locker in an organized fashion. Storage is the 00:11:08.649 --> 00:11:12.549 actual holding of information in long -term memory. 00:11:13.389 --> 00:11:17.710 This is like a storage locker filled with boxes 00:11:17.710 --> 00:11:22.350 and bins. And retrieval is getting access to 00:11:22.350 --> 00:11:25.889 information found in long -term memory and pulling 00:11:25.889 --> 00:11:28.809 it back out into short -term memory. And this 00:11:28.809 --> 00:11:31.850 is like going into the storage locker, getting 00:11:31.850 --> 00:11:35.570 specific things from the boxes or bins, and then 00:11:35.570 --> 00:11:38.070 taking them out so that you can see what they 00:11:38.070 --> 00:11:43.049 are and use them. Now, if the things are organized 00:11:43.049 --> 00:11:46.629 and stored next to related things in the storage 00:11:46.629 --> 00:11:52.419 locker, it's much easier easier to find and retrieve 00:11:52.419 --> 00:11:57.919 exactly what you need. And lucky for us, our 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:03.639 brains naturally do this. They organize new information 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:09.080 and experiences around related things, not around 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:14.139 letters or letter patterns. Now, Let's look at 00:12:14.139 --> 00:12:17.059 the two -way flow of information. Information 00:12:17.059 --> 00:12:19.840 does not just flow from your sense memory to 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:22.399 short -term memory and up to long -term memory. 00:12:23.659 --> 00:12:28.019 In the act of perception and coding and retrieval, 00:12:28.419 --> 00:12:31.860 information flows down from long -term memory 00:12:31.860 --> 00:12:37.289 to short -term memory to even sense memory. And 00:12:37.289 --> 00:12:41.309 this replicates the flow of information described 00:12:41.309 --> 00:12:45.990 in the neurocognitive model of reading. There's 00:12:45.990 --> 00:12:49.549 a two -way flow of information, most of it coming 00:12:49.549 --> 00:12:52.669 down from the cortex or from long -term memory. 00:12:53.889 --> 00:12:57.970 So, long -term to short -term. Information long 00:12:57.970 --> 00:13:00.929 -term memory flows into short -term memory to 00:13:00.929 --> 00:13:05.820 help us understand and encode it. and the more 00:13:05.820 --> 00:13:08.919 information you have about what you encounter, 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:15.080 the easier this becomes. For example, Dave Hanson 00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:19.220 knows a lot about pipe fittings. When he encounters 00:13:19.220 --> 00:13:22.559 new information related to this topic, he's able 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:26.860 to understand and encode it quickly and efficiently 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:31.870 without much memory loss. And when he reads technical 00:13:31.870 --> 00:13:35.830 manuals related to pipe fittings, he reads effortlessly 00:13:35.830 --> 00:13:39.330 and he's able to comprehend and remember much 00:13:39.330 --> 00:13:42.830 of it. And it's not because his brain functions 00:13:42.830 --> 00:13:46.429 any better than yours. Instead, it's because 00:13:46.429 --> 00:13:50.490 his long -term memory is full of pipe fitting 00:13:50.490 --> 00:13:54.970 knowledge. This enables him to easily encode, 00:13:54.970 --> 00:13:58.549 store, and retrieve pipe fitting information. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:03.700 He knows exactly what to look for, where it's 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:07.139 stored, and how it's connected to other things. 00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:13.059 However, when his same brain is exposed to information 00:14:13.059 --> 00:14:17.899 about cryptozoology, encoding seems to be slow, 00:14:18.500 --> 00:14:22.220 inefficient, and labored with much memory loss 00:14:22.220 --> 00:14:26.580 and very little understanding. This is because 00:14:26.580 --> 00:14:29.970 there's very little information in Dave Hanson's 00:14:29.970 --> 00:14:34.149 long -term memory related to this subject. The 00:14:34.149 --> 00:14:38.190 same brain that was interacting with pipe -thinning 00:14:38.190 --> 00:14:42.870 information is now interacting with cryptozoology 00:14:42.870 --> 00:14:47.570 information, yet meaning and understanding vary 00:14:47.570 --> 00:14:51.429 greatly. In one instance, he's a very capable 00:14:51.429 --> 00:14:55.970 reader, and in the other, he's a struggling reader. 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:00.259 The important difference is the type and amount 00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:05.539 of knowledge in long -term memory. So, long -term 00:15:05.539 --> 00:15:09.940 memory to sense memory and perception. We also 00:15:09.940 --> 00:15:13.519 use... information in long -term memory, the 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:16.480 knowledge there, to help us perceive and attend 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:21.200 to stimuli in sensory memory. In terms of reading, 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:24.059 the knowledge in Dave Hanson's head related to 00:15:24.059 --> 00:15:28.240 pipe fittings helps him to easily perceive and 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.700 identify important pipe fitting words and concepts. 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:35.879 He's able to perceive and recognize them much 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:39.539 faster. than he would words and concepts related 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:44.320 to cryptozoology. In the context of pipe fittings, 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:47.980 he needs fewer letters to recognize content words. 00:15:48.700 --> 00:15:52.080 And again, the knowledge in long -term memory 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:57.639 enhances this process. So let's look at types 00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:02.220 of memories, finally. We have three types of 00:16:02.220 --> 00:16:05.799 memory, all of which are stored a bit differently 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:09.139 in long -term memory. Episodic memory, semantic 00:16:09.139 --> 00:16:13.600 memory, and procedural memory, and a very simple 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:16.759 explanation of these with an example are included 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:22.299 here. Episodic memory are memories of the episodes 00:16:22.299 --> 00:16:25.629 in your life. These include what you did last 00:16:25.629 --> 00:16:30.169 week as well as memories of things you did or 00:16:30.169 --> 00:16:33.990 things that happened to you growing up. Remembering 00:16:33.990 --> 00:16:36.769 the time that an elephant stepped on your toe 00:16:36.769 --> 00:16:41.830 would be an example of an episodic memory. Semantic 00:16:41.830 --> 00:16:46.340 memory refers to meaning. This is a memory of 00:16:46.340 --> 00:16:48.960 meaningful things such as facts, information, 00:16:49.100 --> 00:16:51.940 and knowledge. Remembering that there are three 00:16:51.940 --> 00:16:56.500 species of elephants or that elephants are the 00:16:56.500 --> 00:17:00.799 largest land animal would be examples of semantic 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:06.619 memory. And procedural memory. This is your implicit 00:17:06.619 --> 00:17:12.099 memory of how to do things. This memory is unconscious. 00:17:12.430 --> 00:17:15.670 Remembering how to type the word elephant is 00:17:15.670 --> 00:17:19.490 an example of procedural memory. And if you are 00:17:19.490 --> 00:17:22.390 proficient in keyboarding, you don't have to 00:17:22.390 --> 00:17:25.750 consciously think about where your fingers should 00:17:25.750 --> 00:17:30.730 go. So what about orthographic memory, orthographic 00:17:30.730 --> 00:17:35.029 mapping? I have yet to encounter anything in 00:17:35.029 --> 00:17:37.950 the field of cognitive psychology that mentions 00:17:37.950 --> 00:17:41.500 a special memory for the storage of words. And 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:46.099 this idea of orthographic mapping does not fit 00:17:46.099 --> 00:17:50.839 well within this standard information or standard 00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:53.640 memory model or the information processing model. 00:17:54.859 --> 00:17:57.299 This has been The Reading Instruction Show. I 00:17:57.299 --> 00:17:59.440 am your host, Dr. Andy Johnson.