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Memory
Anoosha Rehan, Lecturer, FAST NUCES CFD
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Memory
• The ability to retain knowledge.
• The process by which we encode,
store, and retrieve information.
▪Information Processing
▪Acontinuum including attention, sensation,
perception, learning, memory and cognition.
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Memory Processes
3 R ’s of Memory
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Recording (Encoding)
• The process of transforming information
into a form that can be entered and
retained in the memory system.
• The process of transforming the
information from one form to another is
called recording.
▪ Encoding
◤ refers to the initial experience of perceiving and
learning information.

▪ The first step in creating a memory during the learning

and memory process. It involves your brain perceiving
sensory input from the outside world, and then
transforming (or “encoding”) it into stored information.

▪ After receiving sensory input, the brain has to determine if

the information is worth remembering.

▪ An important first principle of encoding is that it is

selective: we attend to some events in our environment
and we ignore others.
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▪ Right after your typical walk across campus, you would be able to
remember the events reasonably well if you were asked. You
could say whom you bumped into, what song was playing from a
radio, and so on. However, suppose someone asked you to recall
the same walk a month later. You wouldn’t stand a chance. You
would likely be able to recount the basics of a typical walk across
campus, but not the precise details of that particular walk.

▪ Yet, if you had seen a giraffe during that walk, the event would
have been fixed in your mind for a long time, probably for the rest
of your life. Distinctiveness—having an event stand out as quite
different from a background of similar events—as a key to
remembering events.
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Retention (Storage)
• The process of retaining information in
memory so that it can be used later.
• The process of storing the information is
called retention.
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▪ Retention refers to the ability to keep and

maintain information in memory over time. It
involves preserving the encoded information
so it can be accessed when needed.

▪ If you remember your childhood phone

number or your favorite childhood song, your
brain has retained this information for years,
even though you may not have used it
regularly.
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Retrieval (Recall)
• The process of recovering information
stored in memory so that we are
consciously aware of it.
• The recovery of stored information is
called retrieval.
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▪ When you take an exam and remember the

answers to questions you studied, your brain
retrieves the information from memory, allowing
you to write down what you've learned.
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Three stages of memory

▪Three memory stores that differ in function,

capacity and duration are:
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Stages of memory
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1. Sensory Memory
• The first stage of A-S (Atkinson-Shiffrin)
model that holds large amounts of incoming
data for very brief amounts of time.

• The initial, momentary storage of

information, lasting only an instant.
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1. Sensory Memory

• Function: process for basic physical characteristics

• Capacity: large
• can hold many items at once
• Duration: very brief retention of images
• 3 sec for visual info Sensory Sensory
• 2 sec for auditory info Input Memory
• Divided into two types:
• iconic memory–visual information (turning off a
flashlight)
• echoic memory– auditory information (car honk)
• Attention
memory is needed to transfer information to working
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1. Sensory Memory

• Visual sensory memory brief memory of an

image or icon. Also called iconic memory.
• Auditory sensory memory brief memory of a
sound or echo. Also called echoic memory.
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2. Short-Term Memory (STM) /(Working
Memory)
• The second stage of A-S model that holds
a small amount of information for a limited
time.
• Memory that holds information for 15-25
seconds called STM.
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2. Short-Term Memory (STM)
/(Working Memory)
• Function: conscious processing of
information where information is actively
worked on
• Capacity: limited (holds 7+/-2 items)
• Duration: brief storage (about 25 Sec)

Working
Sensory
or
Memory
Short-term
Memory
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▪ When you rehearse a phone number in

your mind just long enough to dial it, you
are using your short-term memory to
temporarily hold and process the number.
▪ Remembering a short shopping list before
writing it down.
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Chunking
• A meaningful grouping of stimuli that can
be stored as a unit in Short Term Memory.
• The process of grouping similar or
meaningful information together.
• Chunks expand working memory load.
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Activity
▪Which is easier to remember?
PBSFOXCNNABCCBSMTV
NBC
PBS FOX CNN ABC CBS MTV NBC

theoceanisblueandbeauti
ful

The ocean is blue and beautiful

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▪ When you leave the house, you might think of the

group of items you need to bring--phone, wallet,
keys, jacket--and thinking of them together helps
you remember each.

▪ Credit card numbers. They're always shown in

groups of four (e.g., 5555 5555 5555 5555).

▪ Paired items. Knife and fork, earrings and

necklace, phone and charger--if you remember
one, you're likely to remember the other.
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3. Long-Term Memory (LTM)
• The final stage of the A-S Model that is the
location of permanent memory.
• Memory that stores information on a relatively
permanent basis, although it may be difficult
to retrieve.
• Your ability to remember your childhood
home, your first day of school, or the lyrics to
your favorite childhood song demonstrates
the power of long-term memory, as these
memories can last for many years.
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3. Long-Term Memory (LTM)
• Once information passes from sensory to
working memory, it can be encoded into
long-term memory.
• Function—LTM
▪ organizes and stores information

▪ more passive form of storage than

working memory
• Capacity: Unlimited
• Duration: Relatively permanent
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▪ Encoding—process that controls
movement from working to long-term
memory store
▪ Retrieval—process that controls flow of
information from long-term to working
memory store
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How is LTM formed?
▪ The information-processing model of memory characterizes human
memory as being like a computer. Information enters short-term
memory (a temporary store), then some of this information is
transferred into long-term memory (a relatively permanent store),
much like information being saved to the hard disk of a computer.
▪ Memories that are frequently accessed become stronger and
easier to recall. Accessing these memories over and over again
strengthens the neural networks in which the information is
encoded, leading to easier recollection of the information.
▪ When information is needed, it is called forth out of this long-term
storage using environmental cues, much like accessing a saved
folder on your computer.
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Are your memories always real?
▪ Retrieval of distant memories is reconstructive. We
weave the concrete bits and pieces of events in
with assumptions and preferences to form a
coherent story.

▪ For example, if during your 10th birthday, your dog

got to your cake before you did, you would likely tell
that story for years afterward. Say, then, in later
years you misremember where the dog actually
found the cake, but repeat that error over and over
during subsequent retellings of the story. Over time,
that inaccuracy would become a basic fact of the
event in your mind.
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Thank you!