Memory
Pair-Share:
Have you ever wished you could improve your memory? What are some strategies you could
try in order to improve your memory?
Encoding:The initial recording of information.
Storage:How information is saved for future use.
Retrieval:The recovery of stored information.
Short-Term Memories
Long-Term Memories
Information
Sensory Memories Forgotten after 1 second.
Forgotten after 25 seconds.
Permanent storage, although hard to retrieve.
Sensory MemoryThe initial, momentary storage of information, lasting only an instant. The fleeting impressions of all sensory
input we experience: every sight, sound, smell, etc.
Short-Term MemoryMemory that holds information for about 15-25
seconds. Sensory memories might convert into short-term memories if we assign meaning to them.
We can store about 7 “chunks” of information in short-term memory at any given time. (A
“chunk” is a meaningful piece of information, like a
letter, number, word, simple image, etc.)
Read this list of words once in your head, close your eyes, and try to recall them.
(See front screen)
RehearsalInformation is able to remain longer in short-term memory if rehearsal is practiced. Rehearsal is the repetition or organization of information that has
entered the short-term memory.
Rehearsal also allows us to transfer
information from short-term memories
into long-term memories!
Read this list of letters multiple times, repeating the pattern, and try to recall them.
(See front screen)
RehearsalThe type of rehearsal that is carried out greatly impacts the mind’s ability to transfer information
from short-term to long-term memory…
Repetition Repeating things over and over again keeps them stored in short-term memory.
Elaborative Rehearsal
This is when information is organized in some way: for example, when you link it to another memory.
MnemonicsThese are formal techniques for organizing
information in a way that makes it more likely to be remembered.
Elaborative RehearsalOrganizing information allows it to pass from short-
term memory into long-term memory.
Technique #1: Connect new information to information that is already stored in your memory.
Your goal: Envision a location that you know very well. Imagine that
the items I show you are located in specific areas within
that location.
“While standing in a field of purple flowers, the cow ate a chocolate
cupcake.”
Elaborative RehearsalOrganizing information allows it to pass from short-
term memory into long-term memory.
Technique #2: Organize information in a more meaningful or logical
way.
Your goal: Use the words I give you to create a story. Connect the
words together into a coherent whole instead of
separate pieces.
Living Things: Cow, Flower
+
Things I Eat: Cow, Cupcake
Elaborative RehearsalOrganizing information allows it to pass from short-
term memory into long-term memory.
Technique #3: Organize information in a more meaningful or logical
way.
Your goal: This time, group the words
according to similar characteristics, and give each
group a label.
MnemonicsFormal techniques for organizing information…
Put the information is a song
Use the first letter of each item to form a word
Put the information in a rhyme
Associate the information with an image
“Working” Memory
Modern-day memory theorists like to call short-term memory the “working memory” because it is like an information processing system that manages both new material gathered from sensory memory and older material that has been pulled from long-term memory storage. It is the memory that activelyworks to build connections and create meaning.
Long-Term MemoryMemory that stores information on a relatively
permanent basis, although it may be difficult to retrieve.
The reason we are able to store long-term information is
because our brains create semantic networks: clusters of interconnected information.
The more connections our brain makes between a piece
of information and other pieces of information, the
more likely we are to remember it.
Long-Term MemoryLong-term memory capacity is practically unlimited. Memories are not located in a particular part of the
brain; rather, they are stored in many areas.
The amygdala is the emotional center of the brain. (Recall that scientists believe psychopaths often have a malfunctioning
amygdala). Thus, this area of the brain is involved in memory
storage when your memories are connected to an emotion.
Long-Term MemoryThere are separate systems in the brain related to
long-term memory…
Declarative Memory Memory for factual information: names, faces, dates, etc.
Procedural Memory Memory for skills and habits, such as riding a bike, writing, or kicking a ball.
Semantic MemoryMemory for general knowledge and facts about the world, as well as memory for the rules and
logic that are used to deduce other facts.
Episodic Memory Memory for events that occur in a particular time, place, and context.
Memory Consolidation The process of gradually converting short-term
memories into long-term memories.
1. The more connections we make within the brain, the stronger our stored memories become.
2. The more often we recall information (think about it) the stronger our memories become.
Pathways of neurons in the brain fire when you think about something. The more often you think about it, the smoother and faster those patterns of
neurons will fire in your brain.
Memory Reconsolidation Each time you recall a memory, the memory changes.
Recall that memories are made through semantic networks in the brain: clusters of interconnected
information. Each time you think of a memory, you are adding new information to the network of information
already in place.
Your memories are not stored like files in a cabinet. They are a web of connections that is always
being modified.