What is memory and how does it work? The topic of memory is very relevant for teachers as the primary goal of education is to help students acquire new knowledge and skills for the long term.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WORKING, SHORT-TERM MEMORY AND LONG-TERM MEMORY
Memory is our ability to remember information. It requires us to first store information and then retrieve it when needed.
According to psychologists, the human memory system is comprised of three parts that retain information for different periods of time, including the sensory register, working short-term memory, and long-term memory.
The sensory register is the part of memory that receives information or "input" (i.e., anything perceived through the senses). It can hold large amounts of information for up to five seconds. In order for information to transfer from the sensory register to working, short-term memory, a person must deeply focus his/her attention on the information and change it into a meaning or sound (i.e., what is called "encoding") or it will be lost. In fact, only small amounts of information are transferred from the sensory register to working, short-term memory because human beings have a limited attention capability.
Working memory (also called short-term memory) is the part of memory that holds information that received attention from five to twenty seconds so that it can be analyzed and made sense of. According to cognitive psychologist George Miller, working memory can only hold about seven pieces of information at a time. If the information is not processed and used, it will not transfer to long-term memory and will be lost.
Long-term memory is the part of memory that stores a person's thoughts and experiences from the past, belief system, declarative knowledge (i.e., knowledge about facts) and procedural knowledge (i.e., knowledge of how to perform tasks). It can store large amounts of information for relatively long periods of time (i.e., years). However, in order for long-term memory information to be easily retrieved, a number of storage conditions are necessary.
TRANSFER FROM SHORT-TERM TO LONG-TERM MEMORY
How do people remember anything? As we learned in the previous unit, the human memory system includes three components (i.e., sensory register, short-term memory (or working memory), and long-term memory. How exactly is information moved from short-term memory for permanent storage into long-term memory?
In order for information to transfer from short-term memory to long-term memory, it needs to be connected to relevant information that is already existing in long-term memory. This process requires a person to use specific strategies such as elaboration (i.e., adding meaning or detail to the information), organization (i.e., putting the information into a mental category or schema), or visual imagery (i.e., creating a mental picture of the information).
The following are examples of these strategies in action:
- Elaboration: To remember a new word, a person thinks about the meaning of the word.
- Organization: To remember a list of words, a person organizes the words into categories (e.g., vegetables).
- Visual Imagery: To remember new information, a person converts the information into an image.
Once transferred to long-term memory, information needs to be repeatedly reviewed and practiced in different environments in order to be easily retrieved.
Long-term memory includes two types of memories, namely explicit memory and implicit memory. Explicit memory stores facts (i.e. semantic memory) and personal experiences (i.e., episodic memory) whereas implicit memory stores skills (i.e., procedural memory).
LONG-TERM MEMORY PROCESSES
Our long-term memory stores beliefs, factual information, competencies, and recollections for indefinite periods of time. What are the processes that make information storage and retrieval possible in long-term memory?
According to researchers, as people age, rather than experiencing memory loss (i.e., forgetting information), most people experience a change in their ability to easily retrieve information from long-term memory. Why does this happen?
When information is stored in long-term memory, the structure of our neural networks (i.e., networks made up of neurons that transmit information to each other) typically changes. Neural networks acquire new proteins, become stronger via regular usage, or add brand new networks. By and large, the more we retrieve information from long-term memory, the easier it is to maintain a healthy memory. To the contrary, the less we retrieve information from long-term memory, the more likely it is to forget information. Sometimes, new neural networks can also interfere with old ones and prevent us from remembering information.
How do people easily remember and retrieve information? In order to be remembered and easily retrieved, new information has to be:
- Associated with other related information that is already stored in long-term memory
- Used in different situations and contexts that can provide cues for retrieving information
- Practiced on a regular basis
- Sometimes reconstructed (i.e., bits and pieces of information have to be put together with other knowledge to be remembered)
What are the implications for teachers? In order to support students' memory, teachers should:
- Relate what they teach to students' interests, life experiences, and prior knowledge
- Present information from different cultural perspectives
- Address different learning styles
- Chunk information and use many visuals and manipulatives
- Require students to make associations and to elaborate on and visualize information
- Involve students in stimulating and challenging activities
- Create opportunities for students to practice what they learn
- Use cues to help students remember information
- Use mnemonic devices and graphic organizers to remember difficult concepts
- Give students time to answer questions
- Ask students to reflect about the activities that they participate in
- Remind students to exercise regularly, get seven to eight hours of sleep every night, and eat healthy, nutritious foods
REFERENCES
APS - Association for Psychological Science. (2012). George A. Miller: Remembering a pioneer. Retrieved July 30, 2015 from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/obsonline/george-a-miller-remembering-a-pioneer.html
Berk, L. (2017). Development through the lifespan (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson
Miller, G. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63 (2): 81–97.
Ormrod, J. & Jones, B. (2018). Essentials of educational psychology: A guide to effective teaching (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Santrock, J. (2018). Educational psychology (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
