Working Memory: Implications for Criminal Justice, Forensic Mental Health, and Legal Professionals

1 Hour | 1 CE

This on-demand professional training program on Working Memory: Implications for Criminal Justice, Forensic Mental Health, and Legal Professionals is presented by Jerrod Brown, Ph.D.

Working memory can be defined as the ability to temporarily store information while this information is being actively processed. Working memory requires individuals to exhibit attentional control while managing and manipulating relevant information across the span of a few seconds. The capacity to perform this executive function is critical in everyday tasks such as linguistic comprehension, cognitive reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making, and learning in general. Common among individuals with learning (e.g., dyslexia) and behavioral (e.g., ADHD) disorders, deficits in working memory vary on an individual basis. When present, these working memory deficits often mean the individual can temporarily store and manipulate fewer pieces of information, resulting in a limited capacity to successfully complete complicated tasks. A primary consequence of working memory deficits is the temporary or permanent loss of information. Practically, this can make it difficult for individuals suffering from working memory deficits to comprehend and remember directions, respond to questions, execute tasks, and recall the sequence of events. Struggles with these capabilities can often result in proneness to frustration and bouts of inattention.

The presence of such working memory deficits can be particularly dangerous in criminal justice settings where the memories of suspects, defendants, victims, and witnesses are often the basis of life-altering legal decisions. Despite the grave consequences of such decisions, there are few advanced education and training opportunities for professionals in criminal justice settings on working memory deficits. To address existing needs in this critical area, this training familiarizes attendees with working memory deficits and its impact on criminal justice and legal settings.

First, attendees acquire a basic understanding of working memory deficits, including definitions and warning signs. Second, the training guides attendees on an exploration of the biological and environmental causes and risk factors of working memory deficits. In particular, the training highlights the role that disorders such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and schizophrenia can play in the manifestation of working memory deficits. Third, the training reviews the diverse consequences that working memory deficits can have in the criminal justice and legal systems. This includes an active discussion of how suspects, defendants, and witnesses with working memory deficits can have deleterious impacts on the legal process. Fourth, attendees learn techniques to help improve the screening and assessment of individuals with working memory deficits in criminal justice settings. This is imperative as these individuals often go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed as a result of inaccurate self-report information obtained during the assessment process. Fifth, the training identifies treatment techniques, strategies, and programs that have been empirically shown to improve working memory deficits. Sixth, this training draws to a close with a review of the current research literature on working memory deficits and highlights future research directions in this area. Together, these six key training objectives present an opportunity for criminal justice, forensic mental health, and legal professionals to gain a greater understanding of the impact of working memory deficits in the criminal justice system while offering a path forward to mitigating these issues.