Study title

The term "working memory" describes our ability to hold information in mind and manipulate if necessary for brief periods of time in the course of ongoing everyday activities. The capacity of working memory is limited and, in some children, very small. Over 80 per cent of children with poor working memory will fail to achieve the expected standards at school, largely because their memory is overloaded in classroom learning activities. There are two key approaches for remediating the difficulties faced by children with working memory impairments. The first is a classroom-based intervention in which teachers employ a variety of methods to minimise working memory failures. The second involves training memory capacity directly through a computerised programme. The aim of this project is to support two field trials of the classroom-based intervention and working memory training programme for children with poor working memory. It will also support a range of outreach activities designed to make the research findings accessible to potential users. These will include conferences and workshops for relevant professional groups, providing information to the general public through the web and other media, and preparing and disseminating briefings of best practice in the effective management of working memory problems to relevant policy-makers.