Memory

Memory refers to the psychological processes of acquiring, storing, retaining, and later
retrieving information. There are three major processes involved in memory: encoding,
storage, and retrieval.

Human memory involves the ability to both preserve and recover information. However, this
is not a flawless process. Sometimes people forget or misremember things. Other times,
information is not properly encoded in memory in the first place.

Memory problems are often relatively minor annoyances, like forgetting birthdays. However,
they can also be a sign of serious conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and other kinds
of dementia. These conditions affect quality of life and ability to function.

Memory is the term given to the structures and processes involved in the storage and
subsequent retrieval of information.

Memory is essential to all our lives. Without a memory of the past, we cannot operate in the
present or think about the future. We would not be able to remember what we did yesterday,
what we have done today, or what we plan to do tomorrow. Without memory, we could not
learn anything.
Memory is involved in processing vast amounts of information. This information takes many
different forms, e.g., images, sounds, or meaning.

For psychologists, the term memory covers three important aspects of information
processing:

Memory Encoding

When information comes into our memory system (from sensory input), it needs to be
changed into a form that the system can cope with so that it can be stored.

Think of this as similar to changing your money into a different currency when you travel
from one country to another. For example, a word that is seen (in a book) may be stored if it
is changed (encoded) into a sound or a meaning (i.e., semantic processing).

There are three main ways in which information can be encoded (changed):

1. Visual (picture)
2. Acoustic (sound)

3. Semantic (meaning)

For example, how do you remember a telephone number you have looked up in the phone
book? If you can see it, then you are using visual coding, but if you are repeating it to
yourself, you are using acoustic coding (by sound).

Evidence suggests that this is the principle coding system in short-term memory (STM) is
acoustic coding. When a person is presented with a list of numbers and letters, they will try
to hold them in STM by rehearsing them (verbally).

Rehearsal is a verbal process regardless of whether the list of items is presented acoustically
(someone reads them out), or visually (on a sheet of paper).

The principle encoding system in long-term memory (LTM) appears to be semantic coding
(by meaning). However, information in LTM can also be coded both visually and
acoustically.

Memory Storage

This concerns the nature of memory stores, i.e., where the information is stored, how long the
memory lasts (duration), how much can be stored at any time (capacity) and what kind of
information is held.

The way we store information affects the way we retrieve it. There has been a significant
amount of research regarding the differences between Short Term Memory (STM ) and Long
Term Memory (LTM).

Most adults can store between 5 and 9 items in their short-term memory. Miller (1956) put
this idea forward, and he called it the magic number 7. He thought that short-term memory
capacity was 7 (plus or minus 2) items because it only had a certain number of “slots” in
which items could be stored.
However, Miller didn’t specify the amount of information that can be held in each
slot. Indeed, if we can “chunk” information together, we can store a lot more information in
our short-term memory. In contrast, the capacity of LTM is thought to be unlimited.

Information can only be stored for a brief duration in STM (0-30 seconds), but LTM can last
a lifetime.

Memory Retrieval

This refers to getting information out of storage. If we can’t remember something, it may be
because we are unable to retrieve it. When we are asked to retrieve something from memory,
the differences between STM and LTM become very clear.

STM is stored and retrieved sequentially. For example, if a group of participants is given a
list of words to remember and then asked to recall the fourth word on the list, participants go
through the list in the order they heard it in order to retrieve the information.

LTM is stored and retrieved by association. This is why you can remember what you went
upstairs for if you go back to the room where you first thought about it.

Organizing information can help aid retrieval. You can organize information in sequences
(such as alphabetically, by size, or by time). Imagine a patient being discharged from a
hospital whose treatment involved taking various pills at various times, changing their
dressing, and doing exercises.

Types Of Memory
For years, researchers and experts have debated the classification of memories. Many experts
agree that there are four main categories of memory. All other types of memory tend to fall
under these four major categories.

Memory is sometimes also classified into stages and processes. People who classify memory
into only two distinctive types, implicit and explicit memory, view that other types of
memories like sensory, short-term, and long-term memories aren’t types of memory
but stages of memory.

Sensory Memory

Sensory memory allows you to remember sensory information after the stimulation has
ended. Researchers who classify memory more as stages than types believe that all other
memories begin with the formation of sensory memories. Typically your sensory memory
only holds onto information for brief periods. Remembering the sensation of a person’s touch
or a sound you heard in passing is sensory memory.

When a sensory experience keeps recurring, and you start to attach other memories to it, the
sensory experience stops living in your sensory memory. It might move to your short-term
memory or more permanently to your long-term memory.
There are three types of sensory memory: iconic, which is obtained through sight; echoic,
which is auditory; and haptic, which is through touch.

Short-term Memory

As the name implies, short-term memory allows you to recall specific information about
anything for a brief period. Short-term memory is not as fleeting as sensory memory, but it’s
also not as permanent as long-term memory. Short-term memory is also known as primary or
active memory.

Research estimates that short-term memories only last for about 30 seconds. When you read a
line in a book or a string of numbers that you have to recall, that’s your short-term memory at
work.

You can keep information in your short-term memory by rehearsing the information. For
example, if you need to recall a string of numbers, you might keep repeating them to yourself
until you input them. However, if you are asked to recall those numbers about 10 minutes
after inputting them, you’d most likely be unable to.

Working Memory

Working memory is a type of memory that involves the immediate and small amount of
information that a person actively uses as they perform cognitive tasks.

While some experts view working memory as a fourth distinct type of memory, working
memory can fall under the classification of short-term memory and, in many cases, is even
used interchangeably.

Long-term Memory

We store a vast majority of our memories in our long-term memory. Any memory we can
still recall after 30 seconds could classify as long-term memory. These memories range in
significance—from recalling the name of a friendly face at your favourite coffee shop to
important bits of information like a close friend’s birthday or your home address.
There is no limit to how much our long-term memory can hold and for how long. We can
further split long-term memory into two main categories: explicit and implicit long-term
memory.

Explicit Long-term Memory

Explicit long-term memories are memories we consciously and deliberately took time to form
and recall. Explicit memory holds information such as your best friend’s birthday or your
phone number. It often includes major milestones in your life, such as childhood events,
graduation dates, or academic work you learned in school.

In general, explicit memories can be episodic or semantic.

• Episodic memories are formed from particular episodes in your life. Examples of
episodic memory include the first time you rode a bike or your first day at school.
• Semantic memories are general facts and bits of information you absorbed over the
years. For instance, when you recall a random fact while filling in a crossword puzzle,
you pull it from your semantic memory.

Conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease heavily affect explicit memories.

Implicit Long-term Memory

We are not as deliberate with forming implicit memories as we are with explicit ones.
Implicit memories form unconsciously and might affect the way a person thinks and behaves.

Implicit memory often comes into play when we are learning motor skills like walking or
riding a bike. If you learned how to ride a bike when you were 10 and only ever pick it up
again when you are 20, implicit memory helps you remember how to ride it.

We can retrieve long-term memories a few different ways. The three types of memory
retrieval are recall, recognition, and relearning

Different Types of Memory

Each different type of memory we have is important, and they all have various functions.
Your short-term memory allows you to process and understand the information in an instant.
When you read a paragraph in a book and understand it, that’s your short-term memory at
work.

You’re most treasured and important memories are held in your long-term memory. Your
long-term memory facilitates how to walk, talk, ride a bike, and engage in daily activities. It
also allows you to recall important dates and facts.

In your day-to-day activities, you are bound to find yourself relying on your long-term
memory the most. From waking up and brushing your teeth to getting on the right bus to
commute to work, recalling all of these steps is facilitated by your long-term memory.

Improve Your Memory

It’s commonplace to hear people complain about having poor memory. When we try to recall
information we have encoded and stored, and we can’t, then our memory has failed us.

The good news is that it is possible to improve your memory and make the process of
encoding, storing, and recalling information more seamless. Here are a couple of tips that
could help you improve your memory:

• Take care of your body. If you take care of your body by eating a balanced diet,
exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep, you improve your brain health which
helps you process and recall memories better.
• Exercise your mind. There are several activities and puzzles you could do to give your
mind a great workout.
• Take advantage of calendars and planners. Clear up memory space in your brain by
using calendars and planners to remember the little things like shopping lists and
meeting times.
• Stay mentally active. Reading, writing, and constantly learning help you remain
mentally active, which can improve your memory