• Memory

In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall

information. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy,
including techniques of artificially enhancing the memory..

Sensory memory
Sensory memory corresponds approximately to the initial 200 - 500 milliseconds
after an item is perceived. The ability to look at an item, and remember what it
looked like with just a second of observation, or memorization, is an example of
sensory memory

Short-term
Short-term memory allows recall for a period of several seconds to a minute without rehearsal.
Its capacity is also very limited. In modern period, we know that memory capacity can be
increased through a process called chunking. For example, in recalling a phone number, a person
could chunk the digits into three groups: first, the area code (such as 215), than a three-digit
chunk (123) and lastly a four-digit chunk (4567). This method of remembering phone numbers is
far more effective than attempting to remember a string of 10 digits; this is because we are able
to chunk the information into meaningful groups of letters
Long-term
The storage in sensory memory and short-term memory generally have a strictly limited
capacity and duration, which means that information is available only for a certain period of
time, but is not retained indefinitely. By contrast, long-term memory can store much larger
quantities of information for potentially unlimited duration (sometimes a whole life span). The
capacity can also approach infinity (unlimited). For example, given a random seven-digit
number, we may remember it for only a few seconds before forgetting, suggesting it was stored
in our short-term memory. On the other hand, we can remember telephone numbers for many
years through repetition; this information is said to be stored in long-term memory. While short-
term memory encodes information acoustically, long-term memory encodes it semantically

• Perception
perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. The
word "perception" comes from the Latin words presidio, and means "receiving, collecting, action
of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses.

Types of perception
There are two types of perception: phenomenal (any occurrence that is observable and physical)
and psychological.
• Motivation
The set of forces that cause people to behave in certain
ways.
Motivation

Ever wonder why some people seem to be very successful, highly motivated individuals?
Where does the energy, the drive, or the direction come from? Motivation is an area of
psychology that has gotten a great deal of attention, especially in the recent years. The reason
is because we all want to be successful, we all want direction and drive, and we all want to be
seen as motivated.

There are several distinct theories of motivation we will discuss in this section.

Instinct Theory

Instinct theory is derived from our biological make-up , Humans have the same types of innate
tendencies. Babies are born with a unique ability that allows them to survive; they are born with
the ability to cry. Without this, how would others know when to feed the baby, know when he
needed changing, or when she wanted attention and affection? Crying allows a human infant to
survive. We are also born with particular reflexes which promote survival. The most important
of these include sucking, swallowing, coughing, blinking. Newborns can perform physical
movements to avoid pain; they will turn their head if touched on their cheek and search for a
nipple (rooting reflex); and they will grasp an object that touches the palm of their hands.

Psychoanalytic Theory

Psychoanalytic theory therefore argues that we go to school because it will help assure our
survival in terms of improved finances, more money for healthcare, or even an improved ability
to find a spouse. We move to better school districts to improve our children's ability to survive
and continue our family tree. We demand safety in our cars, toys, and in our homes. We want
criminal locked away, and we want to be protected against poisons, terrorists, and anything else
that could lead to our destruction. According to this theory, everything we do, everything we are
can be traced back to the two basic drives

• Sensation
Sensation is the process by which our senses gather information and send it to the
brain. A large amount of information is being sensed at any one time such as room
temperature, brightness of the lights, someone talking, a distant train, or the smell of
perfume. With all this information coming into our senses, the majority of our world
never gets recognized. We don't notice radio waves, x-rays, or the microscopic
parasites crawling on our skin. We don't sense all the odors around us or taste every
individual spice in our gourmet dinner. We only sense those things we are able too
since we don't have the sense of smell like a bloodhound or the sense of sight like a
hawk; our thresholds are different from these animals and often even from each other.
Absolute Threshold

The absolute threshold is the point where something becomes noticeable to our senses. It is
the softest sound we can hear or the slightest touch we can feel. Anything less than this goes
unnoticed. The absolute threshold is therefore the point at which a stimuli goes from
undetectable to detectable to our senses.

Difference Threshold

Once a stimulus becomes detectable to us, how do we recognize if this stimulus changes.
When we notice the sound of the radio in the other room, how do we notice when it becomes
louder. It's conceivable that someone could be turning it up so slightly that the difference is
undetectable. The difference threshold is the amount of change needed for us to recognize that
a change has occurred. This change is referred to as the Just Noticeable Difference.

• SCHOOLS OF PHYCOLOGY
Psychology is the science of the mind and behavior. The word
"psychology" comes from the Greek word psyche meaning
"breathe, spirit, soul", and the Greek word logia meaning the
study of something.
Cognitive psychology
This branch investigates internal mental processes,
such as problem solving, memory, learning, and
language (how people think, perceive, communicate,
remember and learn).
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology is often referred to as
human development. It used to just focus on infants
and young children, but also includes teenagers and
adults today - the whole human life span.
Comparative Psychology
Comparative psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with
the study of animal behavior. The study of animal behavior can lead
to a deeper and broader understanding of human psychology.
nervous system

The nervous system is a network of specialized cells that communicate

information about an organism's surroundings and itself. It processes this
information and causes reactions in other parts of the body. It is composed
of neurons and other specialized cells called glial cells (plural form glia) that
aid in the function of the neurons. The nervous system is divided broadly
into two categories: the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous
system. Neurons generate and conduct impulses between and within the two
systems. The peripheral nervous system is composed of sensory neurons
and the neurons that connect them to the nerve cord, spinal cord and brain,
which make up the central nervous system. In response to stimuli, sensory
neurons generate and propagate signals to the central nervous system which
then processes and conducts signals back to the muscles and glands. The
neurons of the nervous systems of animals are interconnected in complex
arrangements and use electrochemical signals and neurotransmitters to
transmit impulses from one neuron to the next. The interaction of the
different neurons form neural circuits regulate an organism's perception of
the world and what is going on with its body, thus regulating its behavior.
Nervous systems are found in many multicellular animals but differ greatly in
complexity between species.

Sensory adaption
Human beings have five primary senses: sight, sound, smell, taste and
touch. When we step into a hot tub filled with water at 102 to 104
degrees Fahrenheit, we initially feel that the water is terribly hot. This
is what we sense. When a little time has passed, and our body has
adjusted to the hot water, it feels comfortable---even soothing. The
temperature has remained constant---this is the experience of sensory
adaptation.