How to Manage a Working Memory

How to Manage a Working Memory

Like most teenagers, my phone is near me the majority of time. There has been plenty of times when I am sitting at my desk and I think to look something up on the internet. I’ll grab my phone and pull up the safari app but as I go to the search bar, I forget what I was going to type. It can even happen when I’m just laying down or out shopping. I forget what message I was going to send to a friend or why I opened my emails. I blow it off and think that if it was really important, I would remember why I opened that application. Then a few minutes later, I remember what I planned on doing. American author, Nicholas Carr, in his article “What Scientific Concept Would Improve Everybody’s Cognitive Load” for the web page, Edge, analyzes why memory lapses happen as often and why it is normally over looked. I agree with the idea that the more information the brain receives at once, the less it retains.

In “Cognitive Load” Carr explains how the incidents we brush off as “absentmindness” or “senior moments” as a fundamental limitation to our minds working memory. Carr begins to state facts that our working memory stores short term information, which is everything that goes into our mind throughout the day. He states the brain can only hold three to seven pieces of information at a time. Cognitive load refers to the total abundant of information the brain receives constantly and the working memory mental effort. The capability to think critically decreases which causes us to remember less. Carr asserts that the more aware we are of our working memory, the more we can manage it. He concludes by saying the overload is a physical state and to slow down our knowledge enough for it to be absorbed “it’s best to turn the information faucet down to a trickle” (Carr).

Without doubt, Nicholas Carr created a strong informational article that had great logical, ethical, and emotional appeals. He made personal connections to capture the reader’s attention, stated proven facts, and researcher’s observations. I also think that Carr lost the interest of the few people who do not get easily distracted and that can handle several pieces of information compared to those that don’t.

Furthermore, Carr gives ethical reasoning by explaining case studies that psychologist made. For example, “In the 1950s, Princeton psychologist George Miller famously argued that our brains can hold only about seven pieces of information simultaneously” (Carr). However, after doing more research, they came up with the conclusion that number is too high and it now three or four elements. Excessive amounts of information at the same time is impossible to retain. As one continues to read, the logic Carr uses and the sources he credits gives you another reason to continue your reading. I can relate to many things that he explains. For example, Carr states that “an overload working memory also tends to increase our distractedness… the neuroscientist Torkel Klingberg has pointed out, we have to remember what it is we are to concentrate” (Carr), if you exceed capacity, it causes you to get distracted. There has been plenty of times when I’m trying to study material and my mind begins to wonder to other things.

Another way Carr creates a strong article is by stating logical facts. He uses researchers’ theories such as “developmental psychologists and educational researchers have long used the concept of cognitive load in designing and evaluating pedagogical techniques” (Carr), having to do with the amount material teachers give to their students too quickly, to get his point made clear for the readers. Nicholas Carr develops his theory that when we exceed our cognitive load, the ability to skillfully evaluate situations deteriorates, “information zips into and out of our mind so quickly that we never gain a good mental grip on it” (Carr), our mind does not have time to slow down the information we are taking in so we can process it. As I’m trying to recall material for a test, it might take me a while to think of the answer. Carr cites credible sources and gives the audience knowledge on what is going on inside their brain that’s causing them to have senior moments from time to time.

Lastly, Carr appeals

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