First, copy a series of pictures onto a transparency.
- Tell students you are going to show them the series for five seconds and they are to remember the pictures in that order. Then you will show them the same pictures but in a different order with numbers under them. Your students must put the pictures back into the order of the first transparency.
- Project the first set of pictures on the screen, hold for five seconds (or more if you sense they need it).
- Give a few seconds for processing, then put up the second set of the pictures, which are now in a different order. Have your students write the pictures’ numbers on their papers in the order in which they first appeared.
- Discuss strategies to use for remembering. This is the most important part of the activity. Some may say they made a sentence to remember. Some will say they just kept saying them over and over. Some will have tried to remember just by their using their visual memory. But all should understand the importance of giving the pictures a label (that is, naming the picture mentally: moose, ball, clock, and so on).
Language is key to making connections; it is the DNA of fluid intelligence.If we can improve language, both inner and spoken, then we can affect intellectual functioning. This activity not only builds processing skills through strengthening visual memory but also contributes to strategic thinking and fluid intelligence, the how to learn. Let’s continue to explore the intelligence dilemma.
FIGURE 1.1. Visual Memory Stimulation
