A cognitive store house of representative information where frequency of recalling strengthens its retention.

1. Memory, Definition and
Meaning
Dr Rajesh Verma
Assistant Professor in Psychology
Govt. College Adampur, Hisar (Haryana)

2. Meaning
Retaining and recalling of information over
a period of time.
A cognitive store house of representative
information where frequency of recalling
strengthens its retention.
Information
remembered from
the past.

3. Definition
“Memory is the means by which we draw on
our past experiences in order to use this
information in the present” (Sternberg, 1999).
Memory, the encoding, storage, and retrieval
in the human mind
of past experiences
(britannica.com).

4. Introduction
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885) was the first
to study and write a scientific account about the
memory (Solso, 2006). He was
his own subject who invented
nonsense syllables (three
lettered consonant-vowel-
consonant words) to study
the phenomenon of
memory.

5. William James (1890) used introspection
method to categorized memory into primary
(immediate) and secondary (Indirect or
permanent) types. Primary which lasts for a few
seconds and holds information
in our consciousness, and
secondary memory, which
has unlimited duration and
can be brought to
consciousness if desired
(learning-theories.org).

6. In 1932 Frederick Bartlett suggested that
memory is an active process rather than passive.
He used verbal material (stories and texts) to
support his claim. According to this approach
the stored information
undergoes changes and
modifications over time. So
there is a qualitative
difference in what was initially
memorized by us and what we
retrieve or recall later
(NCERT).

7. In 1965 Waugh and Norman suggested a
model which explained a relationship between
primary and secondary memory. According to
the model a piece of information first enters
primary memory which may be remain their or
if rehearsed then enters secondary memory else
forgotten.

8. In 1968 Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed three
stage model of memory which is generally known as
Information Processing Model. According to this model
memory has three systems. Information enters through
the sensory system, briefly registering in sensory
memory. Selective attention moves the information into
STM, where it is held while attention (rehearsal)
continues. If the information receives enough rehearsal,
it will enter into LTM (Ciccarreli and Mayor, 2012).

9. In 1974 Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
suggested a model which claimed that STM has
three systems i.e. central executive, phonological
loop and visuo-spatial sketch pad.

10. Characteristics of Memory
(i) Practice rehearsal is the key in retaining
and recalling an information,
(ii) Memory forms with the aid of Perception,
Attention and Learning and influence them too
(britinica.com).
(iii) Memory can be
momentary or
lifelong.

11. (iv) Memory manipulates information too.
(v) Memory is adaptive and flexible.
(vi) Forgetting is flip side of memory.
(vii) Memories solidifies in long term storage
system for which
it may take days
or years.

12. (viii) Cerebral cortex, the cerebellum, and the
hippocampus are found have role in memory
storage and processing.
(ix) Forgetting is more influenced by
interference than decay (Solso, 2006).
(x) Contextual
cues aids in
memory
making
(Baddeley, 1975)
[Beach experiment].

13. Brain Regions that play important
role in Memory
1. Hippocampus – the transfer of information from
STM to LTM.
2. Cerebral cortex and more
specifically prefrontal cortex.
3. The medial temporal
lobe (the inner part of the
temporal lobe) is expected
to play role in declarative
and episodic memory.

14. 4. Amygdala plays important role in processing and
memory of emotional reactions.
5. Basal ganglia system which is important in the
formation and retrieval of procedural memory.
6. Temporal lobe (processing of semantics in both
speech and vision, and plays a key
role in the formation
of long-term
memory).

15. References:
1. NCERT, XI Psychology Text book.
2. https://www.learning-theories.org/doku.
php?id=memory_models:a_brief_history_of_huma
n_memory_systems.
3. https://human-
memory.net/parts-
of-the-brain/

16. vermasujit@yahoo.com
Next Discussion
Stages of Memory