Reading, Working Memory, and Harvard: An Unexpected Connection
After 7 years of running a speech and debate organization, I never expected to be taken aback by a student– well, not until 2022 when I met a 4th grader named Youyou Su.
Youyou’s parents shared concerns that they have to limit her reading to protect her eyesight. A problem that falls under the category of things I jokingly refer to as “rich people problems.”
For parents reading this, can you imagine having to pry your child away from a book, constantly checking to make sure they aren’t sneaking in more reading time, and monitoring excessive reading? It’s quite the issue to have.
I found myself at a loss and perplexed, not understanding the gravity of the situation. But more importantly than not understanding, I also overlooked the potential advantage it could give her in debate.
Fast forward to November 2022, Youyou’s parents requested to have their daughter participate in Harvard’s annual speech & debate tournament set for February 2023, to which I firmly said NO.
That tournament is intended for middle school students who are experienced debaters, and there was no way I was going to enroll a 4th grade student who was new to debate. For many reasons, such as it may cause too much stress, and it may potentially discourage them from continuing with the sport.
Here’s the BackStory
A few weeks later, in December, I organized our end-of-year internal competition, where we brought in a panel of highly skilled and competitive high school debaters to serve as judges. I was present during the event and happened to be in the same room as Youyou during her first round, which consisted of a panel of 3 high school judges and one of our debate coaches.
Debate Topic: Great Power Competition
The debate topic was about the benefits and harms of the US’s strategy of Great Power Competition. Youyou was on the CON side, and she would be expected to refute the arguments made by the Pro side. A summary of the technical jargon and terms related to international relations and power that Youyou could have heard from her PRO opponents includes:
“geopolitical,” “hegemony,” “deterrence,” “alliance,” “realism,” “national security,” “geostrategic,” “containment,” “polarization,” and “great power competition
So not only would Youyou have to understand the vocabulary and content, she would have to write down every point made and how an argument was advanced by the opponent and/or responded to by her partner. It can become a messy and confusing game and definitely not one that you can just hold in your head.
We Stress the Importance of Taking Notes
During the round, one of the main things we expect from students is that they take notes, which is known as “flowing the round.” This involves using two colored pens, one for the pro points and one for con points, to keep track of what is being said in the round.
It is a fundamental rule in debate that if you don’t write down your opponent’s points, you won’t be able to respond to them-OBVIOUSLY!
So, it’s crucial for students to take notes, and I would naturally be disappointed if a student failed to follow this basic rule.
I’ve often compared flowing (notetaking) in debate to a game of chess. Just as a chess player must keep track of all the pieces on the board in order to make effective moves, a debater must keep track of all the arguments and points made by their opponent in order to effectively respond and counter them.
Both require a level of focus and attention to detail, as well as the ability to anticipate and adapt to changes in the situation.
Youyou- Seemingly in a Daze
During the round, Youyou seemed to be in a daze, not writing down any points. I wanted to interrupt the competition and say –WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, for god sake– but I held back.
It’s now 12 minutes into the round, and Youyou stands up to speak. She had no notes on her paper, NOTHING, LITERALLY NOTHING.
To all of our surprise, she spoke fluently and with precision, recalling every important point made by her opponents. She began with
“My opponent’s 1st contention was XYZ, their 2nd contention was XYZ, and their 3rd contention was XYZ.”
Everyone in the room was in awe as she spoke, remembering every single important point made by the opposing team, and refuting those points in order.
It was a jaw-dropping moment, as she had no notes on her paper and yet remembered everything perfectly and responded effortlessly.
All I could think to myself is “this is WORKING MEMORY!” Working memory is the cognitive process that allows us to temporarily store and manipulate information, and complete basic tasks such as:
- Remembering a phone number long enough to dial it.
- Keeping track of multiple characters and their actions in a story while reading.
- Remembering multiple steps involved in a recipe while cooking.
Youyou’s working memory capabilities are extraordinary. After the competition, I quickly delved into research to revisit earlier learnings about the connection between reading and working memory. Here are some points that highlight the connection between reading and working memory
- Reading comprehension is closely related to working memory,
- Reading helps to train working memory by exercising cognitive abilities that increase the capacity to retain and manipulate information.
- Reading requires the use of working memory to keep track of text meaning, character relationships, and story events.
In any event, Youyou is going to Harvard–win or lose, it doesn’t matter. The main point I want to make is that I am no longer concerned about her ability to compete. While there’s still much for her to learn in order to become a top-tier debater, I couldn’t deny her this opportunity, given the cognitive benefits she has gained from reading.
This article serves as yet another testament to the power of reading. For another real-life example of an individual who impressed me with their reading abilities, check out my article “Unlocking the Secret to Intelligence: A Black Male’s Formula.”
Reference:
Van den Berg, M. H., Ponds, R. W. H. M., & Verhoeven, L. (2019). The relationship between working memory and reading comprehension: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(4), 685–703. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000304
At last, I end with this Disclaimer:
The articles I publish on Medium are my own personal perspectives and are not meant to imply causality. My goal is to assist parents in discovering different ways they can assist and support their children. Although I endeavor to share information associated with success, in no way am I suggesting that there are causal links. Rather these are my own observations to which I’m providing a lens into the assumptions and ideas I drove from my own experiences and from those of people I’ve connected with.
