Importance of Working Memory for MCAT Success

There are three generally accepted levels of human memory: 1) immediate memory (IM), 2) working memory (also called short-term memory) (WM) and 3) long-term memory (LTM). Let’s focus on the role of WM.

MCAT importance of WM:1) retrieving critical info at the time of the test, 2) storing critical info during your study.

At test-time, the effective use of your WM is crucial. WM has a small capacity, possibly 5-9 bits of info possible, and a short retention, possible 20 seconds or so. Why is it important with these significant limitations? When you are faced with a question on the MCAT, the processing begins in your WM. To solve that question, you must bring additional bits of data/info into your WM. So, a first step is to determine what additional info is needed to solve the question. Sometimes this info is found in the passage, call it Passage Knowledge (PK). Other times that info will be based on your prior study, call it Study Knowledge (SK). So, to solve the question, all of this critical info has to be in your WM. The PK is found by skimming the passage or using any highlighting or notations you may have made. The SK is only found from your LTM. Then the effective organization of the passage and of your LTM will become a central factor in how well you do on the MCAT questions.

The organization of the passage is done in various ways. The main available method, other than a photographic memory which is very rare, is to highlight or notate in some fashion. This will help you visually get to the key info for a given question as rapidly as possible.

For your LTM, the organization depends on how you stored the info initially. Here again, the WM is crucial. Knowledge storage begins with its recognition, or bringing it to your attention, in your IM. It is then passed to your WM where it can be processed into your LTM. The most ineffective means of storage in LTM is simply by rote memorization. Info stored in this manner is the least accessible at critical times…ie, taking a test. More effective LTM storage occurs when the new info in WM is somehow meshed with existing memory in LTM (Importance of Effective Long Term Memory For MCAT,Creating Effective Long Term Memory-Part I, Creating Effective Long Term Memory-Part II.) To do this, you must bring that info from LTM into WM so this process can occur. Then the storage of this new info in your LTM becomes connected with existing and info and will be more available for rapid retrieval.
What’s the point? If you don’t want to be complaining that you studied hard but did poorly on the test, then you need to pay attention to the role of WM during your study process and during test time and understand its central role.

Related Entry: Long Term Memory and Working Memory

Domains of Learning and the MCAT-The Psychomotor Domain

The pertinent literature makes it clear the MCAT is pretty good at predicting early medical school success, only fair to poor at predicting late medical school success and virtually worthless in predicting success as a physician (Evolution of the MCAT, Validity of MCAT).

Beginning in the late 1940’s an extensive effort was undertaken to try   to classify education goals and objectives and how learning occurs. This effort resulted in three domains (or see domain details) of how students learn. How do these relate to the MCAT and the prediction of who will become a successful physician?

  Now, lets focus on the Psychomotor Domain.

The Psychomotor Domain involves the physical or kinesthetic component of learning. This domain includes physical movements, coordination of movements, and use of the motor-skill areas. This domain is only achieved through practice and is measured by parameters such as speed, precision, distance, procedures, or techniques in execution. Simpson proposed seven dimensions from the simple to the complex as:

1.  Perception (The use of sensations to determine actions. Begins with sensory stimulation, to selection of specific cues, to the translation of these stimuli);

2.  Set (Readiness to act mentally, physically, and emotionally. These predetermine a person’s response to situations (or mindsets));

3.  Guided Response(Earliest stage of trial and error learning. Only practice results in proficiency);

4.  Mechanism(Intermediate stage of motor actions becoming habitual with increasing confidence of performance);

5.  Complex Overt Response(The final stage of most proficient performance indicated by quickness, accuracy, high coordination of performance, with minimum of effort/energy and with automaticity.);

6.  Adaptation (Skills are well developed and the individual can modify movement patterns to adapt to special situations/circumstances);

7.  Origination (New movement patterns are created to fit special situations/circumstances.)

(Reference: Simpson E.J.(1972). The Classification of
Educational Objectives in the Psychomotor Domain. Washington, DC: Gryphon House.)

How do the learning domains relate to success as a physician and the role of the MCAT? See: MCAT Validity in Perspective

Refer To: Why MCAT Fails to Predict Physician Success, MCAT and Cognitive Domain, MCAT and Affective Domain