One that's particularly significant is working memory, which is a mental sketchpad that allows people to keep separate information in their mind while performing some kind of manipulation on it. Working memory is a system with limited capacity. When a mathematical task requires actively processing or keeping too much information in memory for a child, there is a loss of information and, as a result, poor performance. Children with dyscalculia show critical problems at the level of working memory, especially with visuospatial memory (Szucs et al, 201. To make it easier for children with this type of problem to perform the mathematical exercises proposed in class, it is necessary to develop intervention programs designed to avoid information overload in working memory.
As we will see in future posts, different activities can be carried out to promote opportunities for mathematical learning in children with limited working memory capacity. It's also clear that focus and concentration go hand in hand with the development of working memory. If a student is distracted while doing a mathematical calculation, their working memory is easily overloaded and their thinking ability is interrupted.
