Encoding & Storage

What are the three major processes of memory and describe each of them.

Why does short-term memory often fail? How can you improve long-term memory

storage? What is the difference between

procedural memory and declarative memory?

Memory can be defined as an active system that receives information from the senses, organizes and alters it as it stores it away, and then retrieves the information from storage.

There are three major processes in memory: Encoding, Storage, & Retrieval.

Encoding is essentially putting information into the memory system.

Storage is keeping the information in the memory system.

Retrieval is pulling information from memory.

It is proven that information that is more deeply processed is remembered easier.

For example, if the word BALL is flashed on a screen and people are asked to report whether the word was in capital letters or lowercase, the word does not have to be processed very much at all.

But if those people were asked to use the word in a sentence, these people would have to think about the word at a deeper level, ensuring longer retention of the word.

The stages of memory are sensory memory, short term memory (STM), & long term memory (LTM).

Sensory memory consists of iconic memory and echoic memory.

Iconic memory is the visual sensory memory in which an afterimage or icon will be held in neural form for about one-fourth or one-half a second.

Echoic memory is the auditory form of sensory and takes the form of an echo that lasts for up to 4 seconds.

STM is where information is held while it is conscious and being used.

Selective attention occurs when the most important stimulus is extracted from a range of sensory input.

For example, even at an extremely, noisy party, you are usually able to hear someone call your name.

STM holds about 7 (plus or minus 2) chunks of information and lasts about 30 seconds without rehearsal.

STM can be lost through failure to rehearse, decay, interference by similar information, and the intrusion of new information into the STM system which pushes out older information.

LTM is the system in which memories that are to be kept more or less permanently are stored, and it is unlimited in capacity and relatively permanent in duration.

Information that is more deeply processed, or processed according to meaning, will be retained and retrieved more efficiently.

Chunking can increase the amount of information that can be held in STM.

Another method that improves LTM is elaborative rehearsal.

During elaborative rehearsal, a person typically connects new information with information that is already known.

It is also proven that if you sketch what you are thinking or are trying to learn, it helps improve encoding of what is being learned.

Procedural memories are memories for skills, habits, and conditioned responses.

Declarative memories are memories for general facts and personal experiences and include both semantic (facts, information) memories and episodic (autobiographical) memories.

A good analogy of the LTM is the Internet, with many links and the ability to open several windows at once.

Evidence suggests that procedural memories are stored in the cerebellum, while STMs are stored in the prefrontal and temporal lobes of the cortex.

Semantic and episodic memories may be stored in the frontal and temporal lobes as well but in different locations than LTM while memory for fear of objects is most likely stored in the amygdala.

The hippocampus appears to be responsible for the storage of new LTMs. If its is removed, the ability to store anything new is completely lost.