Visual Memory

Visual memory is a critical factor in reading and writing. When a child is writing a word, she must recall the formation of parts of the letter from memory. It can be terribly frustrating for one with a visual memory deficit to perform a handwriting, spelling, or word copying exercise. Children with difficulty in visual memory will have trouble copying letters, words, and sentences from a chalkboard or book. They may present with very slow handwriting, trouble forming letters, and mixing up letters or words within sentences. Producing written work on worksheets and tests may be difficult. Recalling sight words in reading exercises can be hard as well as following along in a reading activity during stop and start tasks, due to comprehension and difficulty recalling what was read. Children with visual memory deficits can demonstrate difficulty with formation of letters and numbers. Sometimes visual memory deficits are not apparent until a child begins school. Academic problems that are sometimes seen as low motivation or lack of certain abilities can be actually due to visual memory problems.

Visual Memory is the ability to remember or recall information such as activities, pictures or words that have been viewed in the past.

• Short-term visual memory is the ability to recall images that have just been viewed. A person with poor short-term visual memory might have difficulty copying notes from a marker board because he cannot store what he has seen long enough in his memory to transfer it to his paper.

• Long-term visual memory is the ability to recall images or places that have been viewed in the past, long enough ago that it was stored into the long-term memory. A mom with poor long-term visual memory might have trouble giving the nanny directions to her child's school because she has difficulty recalling visually how to get there.

Memoria Visual

La memoria visual se refiere a la capacidad de poder recordar información ya sea en relación a actividades, imágenes o palabras que se han visto en el pasado.

• La memoria visual a corto plazo es la capacidad para recordar imágenes que uno acaba de ver. Una persona con poca memoria visual a corto plazo podría tener dificultades para copiar de la pizarra debido a que no puede almacenar lo que ha visto el suficiente tiempo como para poder transferirlo al papel.

• La memoria visual a largo plazo es la capacidad para recordar imágenes o lugares que se han visto en el pasado.

A veces, las dificultades de memoria visual no son aparentes hasta que un niño comienza la educación formal. Los problemas académicos que a veces se consideran como falta de motivación o falta de desarrollo de ciertas habilidades pueden deberse en realidad a problemas de memoria visual.