Identifying weaknesses in working memory

An individual may be constrained by their working memory capacity if he/she:

1. Is easily distracted when working on or doing something that is not highly interesting.
2. Has trouble waiting his/her turn, for example in a conversation or when waiting in line to get help.
3. Struggles with reading comprehension and has to read through texts repeatedly to understand.
4. Struggles with problem solving that require holding information in mind, for example mental math calculations.
5. Is inconsistent in remembering math facts.
6. Struggles with completing tasks, especially multiple step tasks.
7. Has difficulty remembering long instruction given in several steps, for example following recipes, directions or school/work assignments.
8. Struggles to understand the context in a story or a conversation.
9. Has difficulties when planning and organizing something that needs to be done in separate steps.
10. Has difficulty staying focused during cognitive demanding tasks but attends well when cognitively demands are minimal.
11. Has difficulty integrating new information with prior knowledge.
12. When called on, forgets what he/she was planning to say.
13. Has difficulty taking notes and listening at the same time.

If you think this list describes yourself or someone you care for, you may want to consider discussing that with a Cogmed Qualified Practice. The Cogmed profiles will also help you understand more about how to recognize working memory problems.

Tags: checklist