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Module: IV- Memory

Basic distinct about memory; Stages of memory; Theory of general memory functions;
Information processing theories (Theories by Atkinson & Shiffrin); Short term memory and
Long term memory; Forgetting- factors affecting forgetting; Mnemonics- Memorization methods

Memory:

Cognitive psychologists define memory as a perceptually active mental system that receives,
encodes, modifies, and retrieves information. Thus the term memory refers to learners’ ability to
“save” things (mentally) that they have learned. In some cases we will use the term to refer to the
actual process of saving knowledge or skills for a period of time. In other instances we will use it
to talk about a particular “location” where knowledge is held. For instance, two components of
the human memory system are known as working memory and long-term memory. The process
of “putting” something into memory is called storage. Just as you might store groceries in a
kitchen cabinet, so, too, do you store newly acquired knowledge in your memory. At some later
time, you may find that you need to use what you’ve learned. The process of remembering
previously stored information—that is, “finding” it in memory—is called retrieval.

We cannot directly observe the process of memory. It can be studied indirectly by way of
measuring retention. Three basic methods of measuring retention are: Recall, Recognition, and
Relearning.

Processes of Memory:

People process information through:

1: Encoding: the translation of information into a form in which it can accept and use. In the
memory system, sensory information is put into various memory codes such as:
a)visual codes - represents stimuli as pictures

b) Acoustic codes - represents information as sequences of sounds

c) Semantic codes - represents an experience by its meaning “Only Tiny Tots Feel Friendly”

2: Storing: the maintenance of encoded information over time, often over a very long time.
People use a variety of strategies to store new information:

a) Maintenance rehearsal- involves repeating an item over and over

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b) Elaborative rehearsal- involves thinking about how material relates to information already
stored in memory.

Your memory resembles a vast storehouse of files and file cabinets. The more you learn the
filing system needs to be expanded. As your memory develops, it organizes the information you
learn into files and then files within files. Sometimes we file information incorrectly and thus
have memory errors; we can’t find the correct file.

3: Retrieval: the process of locating stored information and returning it to conscious thought.
Some information is readily available and almost impossible to forget while retrieving
other information may be difficult.

Stages of Memory:

Psychologists do not agree about the exact nature of human memory. But many believe that it
may have three components that hold information for different lengths of time.

The three stages of memory are sensory memory, short-term memory (STM), and long term
memory (LTM). Because we can only take in and remember so much of what our senses
experience, the flow of information through the three stages of memory is critical.

Sensory Memory: Sensory memory is the first stage of memory consisting of immediate, initial
recording of information that has entered through a person’s senses. The person must pay
attention to the information in some way or it rapidly disappears. Sensory memory includes
iconic memory (brief photographic memories), eidetic memory (long term photographic
memory, and echoic memory * (somewhat long-term sound memories).

Short term memory: Short-term memory, or working memory, is the bridge between sensory
memory and long-term memory. Holding information in short-term memory allows a person
enough time to find a way to store it more permanently. Some ways through permanent storage
of learnt material is done are:
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1. Rehearsing, or repeating, information enables a person to keep it from fading from short-term
memory. Our memories of the first (primacy effect) and the last (recency effect) items tend to be
sharper.

2. Chunking organizes information into familiar or manageable units and makes it easier to
remember.

3. Short-term memory can retain only a limited amount of information at one time. Interference
occurs when new information takes the place of what is already there.

Long Term memory: Long-term memory contains the information a person wants to remember
more than just briefly. The capacity of long-term memory is endless, and there seems to be no
limit to the amount of information that can be stored, all in colour and stereo.

Long-term memory is where we store such pieces of information as our names, frequently used
telephone numbers, recollections of prior experiences, general knowledge about the world, and
things we’ve learned in school (perhaps the capital of France or the correct spelling of hors
d’oeuvre). Such knowledge about what and how things are is known as declarative knowledge.
Long-term memory is also where we store knowledge about how to perform various behaviors,
such as how to ride a bicycle, swing a baseball bat, or write a cursive letter J. Such knowledge
about how to do things is known as procedural knowledge. When procedural knowledge
includes knowing how to respond differently under different conditions, it is sometimes known
as conditional knowledge.

We are more than likely to remember things that capture our attention or have had the greatest
impact on us. Memories are reconstructed from the bits and pieces of a person’s experience.
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Ways to store information in Long-term memory:

-Maintenance Rehearsal (repetition)

-Elaborative Rehearsal (relating to information already known)

-Storage depends on the amount of attention we pay to thing.

Characteristics Sensory Memory Short term Memory Long term Memory

Duration Iconic about ½ sec 20 seconds Life time
Echoic about 2 sec
Capacity Large 7 +/- 2 Unlimited
Forgetting Trace decay Decay, interference and Interference, Decay
displacement. Lack of Cues
Encoding Sensory Phonological or visual- semantic and sensory
(visual) (auditory) Semantic
Retrieval Parallel search Serial exhaustive search Parallel distributed
search
Table: Nature of three systems of memory

Theories of Memory:

In order to explain the functioning of memory, representatives of several disciplines have

proposed their own theory of memory; most of which are supported by several neuroimaging
techniques such as fMRI or PET. From the traditional models of memory to the conventional
memory models, there is more than a dozen of hypotheses, theories explaining the phenomenon
of memory; however a consistent theory that could explain the memory process is yet to be built.

One of the most conventional and widely accepted models of memory that paved the way for the
development of many other models and theories of memory is the Atkinson and Shiffrin Model
of Memory. The Atkinson–Shiffrin model (also known as the multi-store model or modal model)
is a model of memory proposed in 1968 by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin. The model
asserts that human memory has three separate components:

 a sensory register: where sensory information enters memory,

 a short-term store, also called working memory or short-term memory, which receives
and holds input from both the sensory register and the long-term store, and
 a long-term store, where information which has been rehearsed (explained below) in the
short-term store is held indefinitely.

In cognitive psychology, these stores are now described as memory, the detailed descriptions of
which are mentioned below:
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a. Sensory Memory: Sensory memory is responsible for holding sensory information for a
fraction of seconds after an item has been perceived by our eyes. Our ability to perceive an item,
and then remember what was it actually like with just observation, or memorization, explains the
capacity of sensory memory. It is out of cognitive control and is an automatic response. With a
brief presentation of items, individuals have often reported that they have seen more than they
can actually report.

b. Short Term Memory (STM): Short-term memory enables us to recall for a timeline that
ranges from several seconds to a minute. This must not be accompanied by a rehearsal. The
capacity of STM is also very limited. Miller (1956) conducted experiments which revealed that
short-term memory’s store was 7±2 items only. Modern estimates of the performance of short-
term memory are comparatively low, typically of the order of 4–5 items. However, there is a
process through which the memory capacity can be enhanced, which is known as Chunking.

c. Long Term Memory (LTM): The storage capacity of both the sensory memory and short-
term memory is generally of limited space, which signifies that the information cannot be
retained for an indefinite period of time. By contrast, long-term memory can store much larger
quantities of information for potentially unlimited duration (sometimes a whole life
span).Encoding in STM is primarily acoustic, while LTM encodes the information semantically.

Even this traditional model of memory mentioned that in order for the information to be
transferred from the STM to LTM, the encoding of information should be done semantically,
stressing that the information must be rehearsed for a longer period of time. The elaboration
rehearsal requires an individual to have the semantic knowledge of the information. This is
where the importance of processing of information comes into the play. Along these lines, one of
the most prominent theories of memory is the LEVEL-OF-PROCESSING MODEL.

The levels-of-processing model of memory (Craik & Lockhart, 1972) was put forward partly as a
result of the criticism leveled at the multi-store model. Instead of concentrating on the
stores/structures involved (i.e. short term memory& long term memory), this theory concentrates
on the processes involved in memory.
A radical departure from the traditional model of memory, the level-of-processing framework
postulates that memory does not comprise of a specific number of separate stores, but it rather
varies along a continuous dimension in the terms of depth of encoding. The level at which
information is stored will depend, in large part, on how it is encoded. Craik (1973) defined depth
as "the meaningfulness extracted from the stimulus rather than in terms of the number of
analyses performed upon it.” In progressive order of depth, there are three kinds of processing:

Shallow Processing: This sort of processing takes two forms:

1. Structural processing (appearance) which is when we encode only the physical qualities of
something. For e.g., what the typeface of a word is, or how the letters look.
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2. Phonemic processing, which is when we encode its sound.

Shallow processing only involves maintenance rehearsal (repetition to help us hold something
in the STM) and leads to fairly short-term retention of information. This is the only type of
rehearsal to take place within the multi-store model.

Physical/structural Phonological/acoustic Semantic

Processing processing Processing

Visual apparent features of the sound combinations associated Meaning of the word.
letters. (e.g.: whether in bold with the letters (e.g., rhyming) E.g. Daffodils: is this the
or capital letters) name of a flower?

Table 1.2: Tabular representation of LOP Model

Deep Processing: This kind of processing involves

3. Semantic processing, which happens when we encode the meaning of a word and relate it to
similar words with similar meaning. Deep processing involves elaboration rehearsal which
involves a more meaningful analysis (e.g. images, thinking, associations etc.) of information and
leads to better recall. For example, giving words a meaning or linking them with previous
knowledge.

Forgetting

Sometimes we are unable to remember information that we need at a particular time, perhaps, we
have lost the information. We find that on some occasions this lets us down, we are unable to
remember the information that we require desperately. During examinations we are unable to
remember or retrieve what we had learned. Why does this occur? This is what we call forgetting.
Many explanations have been offered to explain this phenomenon decay. Let us briefly consider
some explanations to explain the causes of forgetting.

(i) Decay: Some psychologists think that it is due to fading of memory traces or decay that
happens with lapse of time. This does not explain why certain memories fade forever while other
seems to be well preserved. Passing of time cannot, therefore, be considered as the cause of
forgetting. You can see that in the above table.

(ii) Interference: A more useful explanation is found in the view called interference theory. It
argues that memories are not lost so much because of decay as they are because of what happens
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to them during the period when we retain them. Thus, there happens to be an inhibition or
interference by subsequent learned material.

There are two types of such interferences - Retroactive interference and Proactive interference.
Retroactive interference (acting backwards) occurs, when the current information interferes with
what has been retained earlier. For example, you learn Punjabi language on Monday and Bengali
on Tuesday. During a Punjabi test taken on Wednesday interference is expected from the
learners of Bengali words. Forgetting may occur due to (acting forwards) proactive interference.
This is a situation in which earlier information in the memory interferes with the current
information. Suppose you have been driving a scooter with gears. Now, you have a new scooter
which has no gears (automatic drive). You will tend to change the gears in the new scooter and
this habit can persist for long. Proactive interference thus explains one’s inability to acquire new
knowledge or habit because of the powerful interference from old habits.

(iii) Motivated Forgetting: Freud considered that why we forget is often motivated. Unpleasant,
painful, or threatening situations are forgotten or what Freud called repressed (a defence
mechanism). We tend to forget what is unpleasant to us.

(iv) Stimulus Encoding: Recent studies indicate that the way we encode an information and its
context play important role in remembering. Our experiences are located in a situation and are
encoded in certain form. If the conditions during retrieval are similar to encoding the memory
remains intact.

(v) Level of Processing: While learning some material we may attend to it in detail and process
at a deeper level or neglect it and attend at a surface level. This may be a cause of forgetting.

Strategies for Enhancing Memory

Despite how good our memory is, we all would like to improve our memories so that we can
retain more facts and information. This is possible with little effort and almost anyone can
improve his or her memory. The techniques employed for the enhancement of the memory is
also called by some psychologists as mnemonic techniques. Mnemonics come from Greek word,
and refer to specific memory improvement techniques. Here are some tips to enhance one’s
memory.

1. Deep Processing: If you want to learn something and wish to enter information into long-term
memory, you have to think about it. You need to consider its meaning and examine its
relationship to information you already have. Careful planning and considering the meaning of
information, and relating to your knowledge is helpful in learning it and remembering it later.
The retention of material is dependent directly upon the depth at which it has been processed.
Deeper level in terms of meaning is very important. Second, the depth of processing also refers
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to the rehearsal of material to be remembered, Greater the rehearsal more the chances of
recalling the material later.

2. Attending Carefully: Whatever you want to learn and ensure its retention in long term
memory you have to put in conscious effort to attend to the material carefully. So, ensure that
you direct your full attention to information you want to remember.

3. Minimize interference: You have learned that interference is a major cause of forgetting and
you should try to reduce it as much as possible. In general, the more similar the materials to be
learned, the more likely they will produce interference! Thus, you should arrange your studies so
that you don’t study similar subjects one right after the other. For example, if you have to study
two languages, study them on different days.

4. Distributed practice: While learning some material it is beneficial to learn it using distributed
practice in which there is gap between trials. That is, if the chapter is lengthy, divide the chapter
into two or three parts and learn a part in one go. After mastering one part then go to the second
and so on. Do not try to cram all information you want to memorize at once.

5. Using memory aids: People use various cues, indicators and signs to connect events. This
often facilitates remembering. It is called memories. You can use visual imagery to remember
objects and places. For example, if you visit a new place, you can remember the location by
remembering several associated objects and places. You may remember the place to be close to a
cinema hall, in front of a signal post and so on. This method is knows as Method of Loci. The
word loci means places.

6. Shorthand codes: You can develop your own shorthand codes to memorize long list of items.
You can use the first letter of each word or item and construct a unique "word". For example, to
remember the seven constituents colours of light(VIBGYOR; where V stands for Violet, I for
Indigo, B for Blue, G for Green, Y for Yellow, O for Orange and R for Red.) During the school
days, I used to forget the order of Mughal emperors in history subject. I developed my own
shorthand code: :BHAJSA" where B stands for Babar, H for Humayun, A for Akbar, J for
Jahangir, S for Shahjahan and A for Aurangzeb. It helped me in remembering the names in their
order.