Memory

Definition of memory

“Memory is the means by which we draw on our past experiences in order to

use this information in the present' (Sternberg, 1999). Memory is the term given to the structures
and processes involved in the storage and subsequent retrieval of information.

There are three types of memory,

Sensory memory

Short memory

Long term memory

Sensory memory
Sensory memory holds sensory information less than one second after an item is perceived. The

ability to look at an item and remember what it looked like with just a split second of

observation, or memorization, is the example of sensory memory. It is out of cognitive control

and is an automatic response. With very short presentations, participants often report that they
seem to "see" more than they can actually report. The first experiments exploring this form of
sensory memory were precisely conducted by George Sperling 1963using the "partial report
paradigm". Subjects were presented with a grid of 12 letters, arranged into three rows of four.
After a brief presentation, subjects were then played either a high, medium or low tone, cuing
them which of the rows to report. Based on these partial report experiments, Spelling was able to
show that the capacity of sensory memory was approximately 12 items, but that it degraded very
quickly (within a few hundred milliseconds). Because this form of memory degrades so quickly,
participants would see the display but be unable to report all of the items (12 in the "whole
report" procedure) before they decayed. This type of memory cannot be prolonged via rehearsal.

Three types of sensory memories exist. Iconic memory is a fast decaying store of visual
information; a type of sensory memory that briefly stores an image which has been perceived for
a small duration. Echoic memory is a fast decaying store of auditory information, aShort-term
memory is also known as working memory. Short-term memory allows recall for a period of
several seconds to a minute without rehearsal. Its capacity is also very limited: George A.
Miller (1956), when working at Bell Laboratories, conducted experiments showing that the store
of short-term memory was 7±2 items (the title of his famous paper, "The magical number 7±2").
Modern estimates of the capacity of short-term memory are lower, typically of the order of 4–5
items however, memory capacity can be increased through a process called chunking. For
example, in recalling a ten-digit telephone number a person could chunk the digits into three
groups: first, the area code (such as 123), then a three-digit chunk (456) and lastly a four-digit
chunk (7890). This method of remembering telephone 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 numbers. This may be reflected in some countries in the tendency to
display telephone numbers as several chunks of two to four numbers.

Short-term

Short-term memory is believed to rely mostly on an acoustic code for storing information, and to
a lesser extent a visual code. Conrad (1964) found that test subjects had more difficulty recalling
collections of letters that were acoustically similar (e.g. E, P, D). Confusion with recalling
acoustically similar letters rather than visually similar letters implies that the letters were
encoded acoustically. Conrad's (1964) study, however, deals with the encoding of written text;
thus, while memory of written language may rely on acoustic components, generalizations to all
forms of memory cannot be made.

nether type of sensory memory that briefly stores sounds that have been perceived for short
durations. Haptic memory is a type of sensory memory that represents a database for touch
stimuli.

Long term memory

The storage in sensory memory and short-term memory generally has a strictly limited capacity
and duration, which means that information, 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). Its capacity is immeasurable. 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: Baddeley (1966)] discovered that, after 20 minutes, test subjects had the most
difficulty recalling a collection of words that had similar meanings (e.g. big, large, great, huge)
long-term. Another part of long-term memory is episodic memory, "which attempts to capture
information such as 'what', 'when' and 'where'". With episodic memory, individuals are able to
recall specific events such as birthday parties and weddings.

Short-term memory is supported by transient patterns of neuronal communication, dependent on

regions of the frontal lobe (especially dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) and the parietal lobe. Long-
term memory, on the other hand, is maintained by more stable and permanent changes in neural
connections widely spread throughout the brain. The hippocampus is essential (for learning new
information) to the consolidation of information from short-term to long-term memory, although
it does not seem to store information itself. It was thought that without the hippocampus new
memories were unable to be stored into long-term memory and that there would be a very
short attention span, as first gleaned from patient Henry Malison[after what was thought to be the
full removal of both his hippocampus. More recent examination of his brain, post-mortem,
shows that the hippocampus was more intact than first thought, throwing theories drawn from the
initial data into question. The hippocampus may be involved in changing neural connections for
a period of three months or more after the initial learning.

Process and techniques of improving memory

There are many ways to combat the inevitable failures of our memory system. Some common
strategies that can be used in everyday situations include mnemonic devices, rehearsal, self-
referencing, and adequate sleep. These same strategies also can help you to study more
effectively

 Use elaborative rehearsal: In a famous article, Craik and Lockhart (1972) discussed
their belief that information we process more deeply goes into long-term memory. Their
theory is called levels of processing. If we want to remember a piece of information, we
should think about it more deeply and link it to other information and memories to make it
more meaningful. For example, if we are trying to remember that the hippocampus is
 involved with memory processing, we might envision a hippopotamus with excellent
memory and then we could better remember the hippocampus.
 Apply the self-reference effect: As you go through the process of elaborative
rehearsal, it would be even more beneficial to make the material you are trying to
memorize personally meaningful to you. In other words, make use of the self-reference
effect. Write notes in your own words. Write definitions from the text, and then rewrite
them in your own words. Relate the material to something you have already learned for
another class, or think how you can apply the concepts to your own life. When you do this,
you are building a web of retrieval cues that will help you access the material when you
want to remember it.
 Don’t forget the forgetting curve: As you know, the information you learn drops
off rapidly with time. Even if you think you know the material, study it again right before
test time to increase the likelihood the information will remain in your memory.
Overlearning can help prevent storage decay.
 Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse: Review the material over time, in spaced and
organized study sessions. Organize and study your notes, and take practice quizzes/exams.
Link the new information to other information you already know well.
 Be aware of interference: To reduce the likelihood of interference, study during a
quiet time without interruptions or distractions (like television or music).
 Keep moving: Of course you already know that exercise is good for your body, but did
you also know it’s also good for your mind? Research suggests that regular aerobic
exercise (anything that gets your heart rate elevated) is beneficial for memory (van Praag,
2008). Aerobic exercise promotes neurogenesis: the growth of new brain cells in the
hippocampus, an area of the brain known to play a role in memory and learning.
 Get enough sleep: While you are sleeping, your brain is still at work. During sleep the
brain organizes and consolidates information to be stored in long-term memory (Abel &
Bäuml , 2013).
 Make use of mnemonic devices: As you learned earlier in this chapter, mnemonic
devices often help us to remember and recall information. There are different types of
mnemonic devices, such as the acronym. An acronym is a word formed by the first letter
of each of the words you want to remember. For example, even if you live near one, you
might have difficulty recalling the names of all five Great Lakes. What if I told you to
think of the word Homes? HOMES is an acronym that represents Huron, Ontario,
Michigan, Erie, and Superior: the five Great Lakes. Another type of mnemonic device is
an acrostic: you make a phrase of all the first letters of the words. For example, if you are
taking a math test and you are having difficulty remembering the order of operations,
recalling the following sentence will help you: “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally,”
because the order of mathematical operations is Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication,
Division, Addition, Subtraction.

Forgetting

Forgetting or disremembering is the apparent loss or modification of information already

encoded and stored in an individual's long-term memory. It is a spontaneous or gradual
process in which old memories are unable to be recalled from memory storage. Forgetting
also helps to reconcile the storage of new information with old knowledge There are
several theories that address why we forget memories and information over time, including
trace decay theory, interference theory, and cue-dependent forgetting.

Nature of forgetting

Trace Decay Theory

The trace decay theory of forgetting states that all memories fade automatically as a
function of time. Under this theory, you need to follow a certain pathway, or trace, to
recall a memory. If this pathway goes unused for some amount of time, the memory
decays, which leads to difficulty recalling, or the inability to recall, the memory.
Rehearsal, or mentally going over a memory, can slow this process. But disuse of a trace
will lead to memory decay, which will ultimately cause retrieval failure. This process
begins almost immediately if the information is not used: for example, sometimes we
forget a person’s name even though we have just met them.
Interference Theory

It is easier to remember recent events than those further in the past. ” Transience ” refers to the
general deterioration of a specific memory over time. Under interference theory, transience
occurs because all memories interfere with the ability to recall other memories. Proactive and
retroactive interference can impact how well we are able to recall a memory, and sometimes
cause us to forget things permanently.

Proactive Interference

Proactive interference occurs when old memories hinder the ability to make new memories. In
this type of interference, old information inhibits the ability to remember new information, such
as when outdated scientific facts interfere with the ability to remember updated facts. This often
occurs when memories are learned in similar contexts, or regarding similar things. It’s when we
have preconceived notions about situations and events, and apply them to current situations and
events. An example would be growing up being taught that Pluto is a planet in our solar system,
then being told as an adult that Pluto is no longer considered a planet. Having such a strong
memory would negatively impact the recall of the new information, and when asked how many
planets there are, someone who grew up thinking of Pluto as a planet might say nine instead of
eight.

Retroactive Interference

Retroactive interference occurs when old memories are changed by new ones, sometimes so
much that the original memory is forgotten. This is when newly learned information interferes
with and impedes the recall of previously learned information. The ability to recall previously
learned information is greatly reduced if that information is not utilized, and there is substantial
new information being presented. This often occurs when hearing recent news figures, then
trying to remember earlier facts and figures. An example of this would be learning a new way to
make a paper airplane, and then being unable to remember the way you used to make them.
Cue-Dependent Forgetting

When we store a memory, we not only record all sensory data, we also store our mood and
emotional state. Our current mood thus will affect the memories that are most effortlessly
available to us, such that when we are in a good mood, we recollect good memories, and when
we are in a bad mood, we recollect bad ones. This suggests that we are sometimes cued to
remember certain things by, for example, our emotional state or our environment.

Cue-dependent forgetting, also known as retrieval failure, is the failure to recall information in
the absence of memory cues. There are three types of cues that can stop this type of forgetting:

 Semantic cues are used when a memory is retrieved because of its association with another
memory. For example, someone forgets everything about his trip to Ohio until he is
reminded that he visited a certain friend there, and that cue causes him to recollect many
more events of the trip.

 State-dependent cues are governed by the state of mind at the time of encoding. The
emotional or mental state of the person (such as being inebriated, drugged, upset, anxious,
or happy) is key to establishing cues. Under cue-dependent forgetting theory, a memory
might be forgotten until a person is in the same state.

 Context-dependent cues depend on the environment and situation. Memory retrieval can
be facilitated or triggered by replication of the context in which the memory was encoded.
Such conditions can include weather, company, location, the smell of a particular odor,
hearing a certain song, or even tasting a specific flavor.
Causes of forgetting
Inadequate Impression at the Time of Learning:
The reason for inadequate impression is lack of attention and inadequate learning will is
necessary for good memory. Forced learning results in no learning because forced learning
distracts our attention.
Laps of Time:
With the passage of time what is learned or experienced is forgotten. This is a passive decay. The
memory traces formed in the brain gets faded and becomes weather with the passage of time.
Interference:
One type of learning interface with the learning of another type is called theory of interference.
There are two types of interface, proactive interface and retroactive interface:
(a) Proactive interference:
When something learnt earlier distrusts recall of something you are learning how. In other words,
it can be explained as the interference of past-learnt material in recalling the newly learnt
material.

(b) Retroactive interference:

When learning now makes it harder to recall something you learned earlier. Here recently learnt
material interferences in recalling of past-learnt material.

Lack of Rest and Sleep:

Continuous learning without rest and sleep may lead to greater forgetting due to inefficient
consolidation. Experimental studies have shown that sleep following learning favours retention,
it has also been found that saving is definitely greater after sleep especially with 8 hours interval.
Forgetting is slow during sleep.

Poor Health and Defective Mental State:

Memory traces are essential for remembering only when we pay attention to the information that
has to be stored can be saved but poor health and mental tension effect own attention, which in
turn affects the effective learning and receiving.
Nature of the Material Learned:
Amount of forgetting also varies with the nature of the material learned. Ebbing Hans and others
have verified the fact that humans remember things that are meaningful better than things that
are not.

Methods Used to Learn:

Apart from the nature of the material we learn, systematic and efficient methods used in learning
also influence our rate of forgetting.
Rise in Emotion:
Emotion plays an important role in learning and forgetting. Sudden rise of emotions blocks the
recall. During the high emotional state, blood sugar level is impaired. To maintain the balance
internal gland produces cortisone that disturbs memory cells.