Memory

 In psychology, memory is the ability of an organism to store, retain and

subsequently recall information. (WIKIPEDIA)
 The process by which people encode, store and retrieve information.
(FELDMAN)
 Learned capacity for responding is also known as memory.(ADAMS)

Background

• The nature of memory is not fully known yet. The human brain consists
of about 10 billion nerve cells. These nerve cells interact in various ways
and influence behavior as well as mental activity.
• Philosophers in the Greece and India were the first to initiate study on the
memory. Memory functions of abnormal as well as normal subjects have
been studied in detail during the last 10 years.
• The retention of the memory depends upon “how importance and
concentration a person gives to the input.
• Attention is the process that controls the flow of information from the
sensory store into working memory.
• The normal people use only 3-4% of their memory. The extra-ordinary
people use 5-6% of their memory.
• A research is being conducted even now a days on the brain of Newton as
it is thought that he used around 10% of his memory

Encoding, Storage and Retrieval

The basic process of the memory is encoding, storage and retrieval. The
brief explanation about these is as follows:

Encoding

It is the process that controls the movement from working memory into the
long term store. When you deliberately memorize a poem or a list of names.
You are consciously encoding it to long term memory. Whatever strategies a
person uses ranging from simple repetition to the most elaborate means are
the part of encoding process. Most encoding is not deliberate rather it occurs
incidentally as a side effect of the special interest that you devote to certain
items of information.

Storage

It is the process of holding and protecting inputs for later use. In fact, the
human memory consists of billion of cells that are used for storage. The
process of storage might be conscious or unconscious. Sometimes we are
deliberately storing a paragraph or an essay by reading again and again. And
sometimes we store the things in our mind which we see only. It is all
without any deliberate effort.

Retrieval

It is the process that controls the flow of information from the long term
store into the normal working memory. Retrieval is what we commonly call
remembering like encoding, retrieval can be either deliberate or sometimes
we actually search our long term store for particular piece of information.
More often, However, Information seems to flow automatically into the
working store form the long-term store. One image or thought in working
memory seems to call forth the next in a stream that is sometimes logical
and sometimes fanciful.

The two main types of memory that exist in humans are

1. Long term Memory

2. Short-term Memory
3. Procedural Memory
4. Semantic memory
5. Episodic memory
6. Intermediate memory

Long-term memory is divided into three parts: Episodic, Semantic and

Procedural memory. It resides in the deep unconscious and can be viewed as
the "repository" of all our knowledge. Once an item has passsed from
sensory memory into working memory it may or may not then be encoded
into long-term memory.Longh term memory corresponds most closely to m
ost people everyday notion of memory .It is the stored representation of all
that a person knows.As such its capacity must be enormous , essentiallly
limited.

Short-term memory refers to the amount or bits of information we can hold

in our head at any given time and lasts between 1 second and 24 hours
depending upon how much importance you put on the information. You
would use this type of memory for phone numbers and zip codes.If a visual
stimulus is presented twice in 60 mili-seconds, the material has retained a bit
of information in the form of short term memory.

e.g.,If we are given a random seven-digit number, we may remember it only

for a few seconds and then forget (short-term memory). On the other hand,
we can remember telephone numbers for many years (assuming we use them
often enough). Those long-lasting memories are said to be stored in long-
term memory.

Intermediate memory occurs once the information has been processed. It

can be viewed as the part of memory which holds and mixes information
from the different parts of memory. This will determine how we feel and
what we will do about a given situation. It defines our ability to express
actions. When we do reverse digit spans we are working intermediate
memory.

Episodic memory is experience based. This would include memories of

events and experiences. It is enhanced by sensory input such as sights,
sounds, music, smells and touch. Many times episodic memories are
triggered by emotion.

Semantic memory would include remembering specific information such as

text books information, math, names, and facts and figures.

Procedural Memory is hands on learning. When we learn a skill such as

riding a bike or playing a sport motor memory is necessary. These skills can
only be learned by physically doing them. It is automatic memory.
Forgetting
Forgetting means “Leaving behind something unintentionally”

Every experience or learning is not fully retained. In fact certain memory

tracers are completely wiped out. This is a perfectly natural phenomenon.
The capacity of the brain to store memory traces is limited. Old memory
traces must be wiped out in order to provide formation of new traces. Thus
we can say forgetting is selective activity of mind. Forgetting is a normal
process which constantly occurs in every individual’s life.

Causes of forgetting
Though forgetting is considered to be an essential characteristic there are
various factors that cause this process. From the psychological point of view,
these can be identified and studied separately.

Types of Forgetting.
Type of Definition Causes Examples
Forgettin
g
Proactive Current (new) Earlier 1. I have trouble recalling my new phone
Interference information is information number, because I get it mixed up with my old
lost because it projects itself number.
is mixed up forward and
with previously interferes with 2. A student finds a new concept to be hard to
learned, similar what we try to understand because she confuses it with
information. learn next. similar ideas she has already learned.
Retroactive Previously New 1. I have trouble recalling my old phone
Interference learned information number, because I get it mixed up with my
information is interferes with new number.
lost because it older
is mixed up information, 2. A student understood a concept last week
with new and much like a but can no longer discuss the concept
somewhat retroactive pay correctly, because he confuses it with other
similar raise influences concepts studied since that time.
information. previous
paychecks.
Fading We can no There was once 1. I cannot recall my family's phone number
longer recall a clear memory, when I was in the first grade, because my
information but it has faded family hasn't lived at that house in over 40
from our away because years.
memory the information
because of was never used. 2. A student correctly identifies concepts on
disuse. the unit test, but gets these concepts wrong on
the final exam ten weeks later, because she
has not used or reviewed those concepts
during the intervening time.

Distortion An imperfect The 1. I think I can recall my phone number from

image is information is the first grade, but actually I have it partially
recalled from still in memory, confused with another number.
long-term but it is
memory. distorted, so 2. A student gives an answer that is partially
that it is no correct, but is largely inaccurate because it
longer the same contains a blend of both accurate and
as what was inaccurate pieces of information.
originally
stored.
Other causes

 Natural Decay

One explanation is that memory traces gradually fade away in due course of
time. This usually in course of events that have never been revived and
consequently become more and more vague and indefinite until they are
totally wiped out. Gradually an individual develops new interests and new
memory traces replace the old ones.

 Emotional Blocking

Since emotions are a stirred up state of excitement, when an individual is in

a state of excitement or fear or shock, he loses the normal capacities of
observing and remembering events. e.g. sometimes a student in the
examination hall has sudden blocking and forgets subject’s matter that he
has learnt and understood. This might be due to the reason that student is
anxiety stricken or nervous.

Memory disorders:

1. Amnesia
2. Anterograde Amnesia / Clive Wearing
3. Retrograde amnesia
4. Lacunar Amnesia

Amnesia
Forgetting can also be caused due to abnormal states like amnesia and
fugues. Amnesia is a loss of memory for particular events or period, but the
individual do not loses his identity. In case of fugues an individual acquires a
new name and identity and experiences a total loss of memory for all
previous events. These are abnormal mental states and don’t occur in the
case of mentally healthy individuals.

Anterograde Amnesia / Clive Wearing

Clive Wearing developed a profound case of total amnesia as a result of his

illness. Completely unable to encode new memories because the part of the
brain required to transfer memories from the 'working' to the 'long term' area
is damaged, he spends every day "waking up" every few minutes, meaning
he cannot help but 'restart' his consciousness once the time span of his short
term memory elapses. He remembers little of his life before 1985; he knows,
for example, that he has children from an earlier marriage, but cannot
remember their names.

Retrograde Amnesia

Retrograde amnesia is a form of amnesia where someone will be unable to

recall events that occurred before the onset of amnesia. The term is used to
categorise patterns of symptoms, rather than to indicate a particular cause.
Both retrograde amnesia and anterograde amnesia can occur together in the
same patient, and commonly result from damage to the brain regions.

Lacunar Amnesia

Lacunar amnesia is the loss of memory about one specific event. It is a type
of amnesia that leaves a lacuna (a gap) in the record of memory.

Skills to Improve Memory:

1. Don't swallow it whole! When someone gives you a phone number to

remember, use 'chunking' as a way of remembering it. Short-term memory is
limited so chunking helps us process long bits of information in more easily
digestible chunks.
So when given a string of numbers to remember such as 123957001066,
break it down! 12 39 57 00 10 66 or even 1239 5700 1066 (chunks of
numbers).

2. Write it down! Most people use one or more external aids to help
remember.e.g.entering appointments in a diary or on a calendar, writing on
the back of your hand/knotted handkerchief, writing lists, using alarm clocks
on your watch or mobile phone, putting objects in a conspicuous place (e.g.
by the front door), asking someone else to remind you

3. Make it meaningful The human mind is massively devoted to meaning.

E.g. we have to go some where on 3:16 pm. We are not sure whether we will
be able to remember it or not. How we can remember it is by making it
meaningful. Most of the WWE lovers know that 3:16 is associated with
“Steve Austin”, so in this way we can remember it as we have made the
information meaningful.
4. Remember - it's all about me Called the self-reference technique, this is
really one of the best and simplest methods of all, so much so that we tend
not to even think about it. Simply refer any information to yourself and it
makes it easier to remember.
Meeting someone called Sheraz and associating him with other Sheraz you
know. On a deeper level, making personal associations with important facts
or ideas - political, moral, social, etc. will help you remember them.

5. Practice makes perfect Psychologists have shown it's better to 'distribute'

practice rather than to have it 'massed' into one session. So, for example,
when practicing a name you've just learned, don't repeat it over and over in
sequence. Repeat it to yourself once or twice, and then try something else.
Then come back to it.
Ideally, use expanding intervals and repeat it to yourself over longer and
longer time periods. And don't cram for exams!

6. Give your memory a holiday Routine is memory's best friend. Make the
mundane events in your life routine and forget about them. Always put your
keys in the same place when you come through the front door.

7. Put yourself to the test to learn better It is often better to test yourself
on something you've learned than to keep re-learning it. This is because in
testing yourself, you can reflect on your progress, check how well you have
learnt things, and fill in the gaps rather than re-learn everything again.
After learning something, come back to it after a few minutes and test
yourself on it. Try learning capital cities or lines from a play.

8. Give us a cue Give yourself a cue to help your intention to do something.

Doctors use it to help people's health behavior. For example, say to you
'whenever I have my first cup of tea in the morning, I will also take my
pills'.

9. See it, feel it, remember it One type of memory aid - relies on imagery
rather than words. A classic way of remembering a person's name is to try
and imagine it (or something associated to it) on the person's face. This is
easy if you meet John Bridge: just imagine a bridge on his face.
Psychologists have found that the more vivid the image the better it works.