CHAPTER FOUR

MEMORY AND
FORGETTING
 Brain storming Question

• What comes to your mind about memory?

• What is the meaning of memory?
• What is the function of memory in your
studying?
•
 Memory
• It is the retention of information/what is
learned earlier over time.
It allows us to retrieve events from the distant
past or from moments ago.
It enables us to learn new skills and to form
habits.
Memory refers to the processes by which
people and other organisms encode, store, and
retrieve information.
 Processes of Memory
• Encoding: is the process by which
information is initially recorded in a form
usable to memory.
• Storage: is the process of holding information in
your memory.
• Retrieval: is the point at which one tries to
remember to dredge up a particular memory
trace from among all the others we have
stored.
 Three stages of memory
• Sensory Register/Memory

• Short-Term Memory/Working Memory

• Long-Term Memory
 Sensory Register/Memory

 It refers to the initial, temporary recording of

sensory information in our sensory systems.
 The first stage is sensory memory, which contains
receptors that briefly hold on to only that
information that enters through our senses.
 It is associated with the transudation of energy
(change from one form of energy to another).
 This memory is very short (less than 1/2 second
for vision; about 3 seconds for hearing).
 Short-Term Memory
 It has limited capacity and duration , no more than
30 seconds.
 It is a temporary storage facility.
 Short-term memory is also called working
memory
According to Freudian: Short term
memory is conscious memory.
Retaining Information in STM
•Chunking is a process by which we group individual bits of
information into some types of large, more meaningful unit.
• Maintenance Rehearsal involves repeating the
information in your mind.

•Elaborative Rehearsal involves associating the

information a person is trying to remember with
something a person already knows, with information
from the long-term memory.
 Long-Term Memory
• LTM is a system in the brain that can store
vast amounts of information on a relatively
enduring basis.
•LTM provides the lasting retention of
information, from minutes to a lifetime.

•LTM appears to have an almost limitless capacity

to retain information, but it could never be
measured, as it would take too long.
Types of LTM
 Types of Long-term Memory
1. Explicit (Declarative) Memory: called “knowing that”. E.g.
Demonstrations of behavior such as describing a basic principle
of math.

2. Implicit (Non-Declarative) Memory: called “knowing how,” or

“Procedural memory.” E.g. When students apply their abilities
to perform a dance, their procedural memory is at work.
 Explicit (Declarative) Memories
1. Episodic memory: Are the memories we have for times and
places (like first day “Aidilfitri” celebration or first day
“Christmas” celebration). Information encoded in our episodic
memory is in the form of images.

2. Semantic memories: Are our memories for general facts and

concepts. Most of what we learned in school (instructional
content) is stored in our semantic memories.
Storing information in LTM
• Elaboration is the addition of meaning to new
information through its connection with
already existing knowledge.
• Organization is a second element of
processing that improves learning.
• Context: Aspects of physical and emotional
context are learned along with other
information.
 Retrieving of Long-Term Memories
• Recall Method- a measure of memory based on the ability to
retrieve information from the long-term memory with few
cues. Similarly, some people use “tip of the tongue”
phenomena.
• Recognition Method- a measure of memory based on the
ability to select information from among the options provided.
• Relearning Method- a measure of memory based on the
length of time it takes to relearn forgotten materials.
• Serial Position Effect- the finding that immediately recall of
items listed in a fixed order is often better for items beginning
and end of the list than for those in the middle.
 Brainstorming Questions
• Why we forgot?
 Forgetting
 It is the inability to retrieve or recall information from the
long- term memory.
 It is called memory decay
 Forgetting may occur due to a number of factors such as:
1. Information discarded / decayed due to the non- use of
the learned material.
2. Repression: putting the undesirable thoughts, events and
fears into the unconsciousness and trying
not to remember it again.
3. Interference results when the recall of the learned
phenomena is blocked/ displaced by other
 Types of Interference
• Retroactive interference; occurs when new
information interferes with your ability to
remember previously learned information.
• Proactive interference; is when an old
memory makes it more difficult to remember
new information.
Strategies to Improve Memory
A)Pay attention: very critical in improving
remembering.
B)Encode Information in more than one way:
using alternative to make remembrance easier.
C)Taking Time: minimizing interference by taking
rest.
D)Spacing Vs. Mass Practice: spacing practice is
better than mass practice (holding large information
at once).
E)Over learning: studying something that we know
or relearning what we have already learned.
F)Monitoring Learning: checking (self-evaluation)
how we are doing with the materials.