Vulnerable Learning Periods
Another concerning effect that technology has on memory is that it often distracts students during vulnerable learning periods. The period directly prior to or following learning is important for processing knowledge to memory stores. Interference during this time interrupts that process, making storing knowledge and later retrieving it more difficult. Transfer scholars have noted this phenomenon as they have experienced the difficulty in recognizing transfer during their studies. Wardle reminds us how difficult it can be to recognize a moment of transfer because knowledge, if memory processes are engaged, is continually being transformed over time. She writes, “we should not look for apples when they have already been made into an apple pie" (69). The very nature of transfer requires that prior knowledge be continually transformed to work in new contexts. This continual transformation leaves knowledge virtually unrecognizable at any given point. Likewise, Doug Brent agrees that it is difficult to recognize transformed knowledge in a new context (410). What these scholars are finding is that knowledge is changed over time through continual processing and interactions with the environment.
Neurological research supports these inclinations and confirms that vulnerable learning periods do exist prior to and after learning (Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel 49). Prior to learning, working memory must be prepared to receive new information by clearing the storehouse and becoming receptive to new learning. When students are connected to their technology immediately prior to new learning experiences, new information will have to compete for attention in short-term memory. Likewise, when students are immediately distracted after learning, new sensory stimuli "crowds out" the limited capacity in short-term memory before working memory processes are able to think about and build new knowledge (Klemm as cited in Schwartz). According to Hebbs Dual Trace Theory (1949), during the transient period of cell assembly reverberation, mental distraction can cause disruption before structural formation is completed (Eichenbaum 369). Eichenbaum explains, “the strength and persistence of memories can be affected by the events that follow a new experience” (Eichenbaum 363). In contrast, lasting memory needs time "for mental rehearsal and the other processes of consolidation.”.....(Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel 49). Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel describe this process of neurogenesis as:
"The activity of associative learning (that is, learning and remembering the relationship between unrelated items, such as names and faces) stimulates an increase in the creation of new neurons in the hippocampus. This rise in neurogenesis [or the creation of new neurons over a lifetime] starts before the new learning activity is undertaken, suggesting the brain's intention to learn, and continues for a period after the learning activity, suggesting that neurogenesis plays a role in the consolidation of memory and the beneficial effects that spaced and effortful retrieval practice have on long-term retention" (172).
Eichenbaum explains consolidation in two critical stages: (1) memory fixation; (2) memory reorganization (371). Memory fixation stabilizes the "molecular structure changes within cells and synapses that occurs for minutes or hours," while memory reorganization alters "knowledge networks through complex interactions between brain structures" which can last through weeks and years following a period of learning (Eichenbaum 371). This understanding forces us to question our assumptions of learning as the simple intake of information since learning does not occur until neural processes have consolidated the information into existing memory stores. Given these nueral processes, memory can be negatively impacted by interference during vulnerable periods before and after learning. Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel assert, “the time periods between sessions of practice let memories consolidate” (63) and without those periods it is arguable if learning occurs at all. However, taking the proper steps to protect these periods could result in big yields for memory. Eichenbaum argues, "memory can be enhanced, as well as impaired, by post-learning treatments" (369). Protecting these periods of learning requires students to take time to reflect upon what they encountered and consider its meaning in the greater scheme of their stored knowledge and experiences. Sleep, something many college students get very little of, has also been found to have significant effects on memory consolidation (Brown, Roediger, McDaniel 64). Awareness of these new concerns can help us take a more proactive approach in the classroom and bring understanding to students affected by these technological challenges about what they can do to improve learning and its usefulness in future contexts.
Neurological research supports these inclinations and confirms that vulnerable learning periods do exist prior to and after learning (Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel 49). Prior to learning, working memory must be prepared to receive new information by clearing the storehouse and becoming receptive to new learning. When students are connected to their technology immediately prior to new learning experiences, new information will have to compete for attention in short-term memory. Likewise, when students are immediately distracted after learning, new sensory stimuli "crowds out" the limited capacity in short-term memory before working memory processes are able to think about and build new knowledge (Klemm as cited in Schwartz). According to Hebbs Dual Trace Theory (1949), during the transient period of cell assembly reverberation, mental distraction can cause disruption before structural formation is completed (Eichenbaum 369). Eichenbaum explains, “the strength and persistence of memories can be affected by the events that follow a new experience” (Eichenbaum 363). In contrast, lasting memory needs time "for mental rehearsal and the other processes of consolidation.”.....(Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel 49). Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel describe this process of neurogenesis as:
"The activity of associative learning (that is, learning and remembering the relationship between unrelated items, such as names and faces) stimulates an increase in the creation of new neurons in the hippocampus. This rise in neurogenesis [or the creation of new neurons over a lifetime] starts before the new learning activity is undertaken, suggesting the brain's intention to learn, and continues for a period after the learning activity, suggesting that neurogenesis plays a role in the consolidation of memory and the beneficial effects that spaced and effortful retrieval practice have on long-term retention" (172).
Eichenbaum explains consolidation in two critical stages: (1) memory fixation; (2) memory reorganization (371). Memory fixation stabilizes the "molecular structure changes within cells and synapses that occurs for minutes or hours," while memory reorganization alters "knowledge networks through complex interactions between brain structures" which can last through weeks and years following a period of learning (Eichenbaum 371). This understanding forces us to question our assumptions of learning as the simple intake of information since learning does not occur until neural processes have consolidated the information into existing memory stores. Given these nueral processes, memory can be negatively impacted by interference during vulnerable periods before and after learning. Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel assert, “the time periods between sessions of practice let memories consolidate” (63) and without those periods it is arguable if learning occurs at all. However, taking the proper steps to protect these periods could result in big yields for memory. Eichenbaum argues, "memory can be enhanced, as well as impaired, by post-learning treatments" (369). Protecting these periods of learning requires students to take time to reflect upon what they encountered and consider its meaning in the greater scheme of their stored knowledge and experiences. Sleep, something many college students get very little of, has also been found to have significant effects on memory consolidation (Brown, Roediger, McDaniel 64). Awareness of these new concerns can help us take a more proactive approach in the classroom and bring understanding to students affected by these technological challenges about what they can do to improve learning and its usefulness in future contexts.