Memory is the faculty of the brain by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. • What is the best definition of memory? • memory, remembrance, recollection, reminiscence mean the capacity for or the act of remembering, or the thing remembered. memory applies both to the power of remembering and to what is remembered

1. Memory

2. Definition
• Memory is the faculty of the brain by which data or information is
encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of
information over time for the purpose of influencing future action.
• What is the best definition of memory?
• memory, remembrance, recollection, reminiscence mean the
capacity for or the act of remembering, or the thing remembered.
memory applies both to the power of remembering and to what is
remembered

3. Cont.--
• Memory refers to the processes that are used to acquire, store,
retain, and later retrieve information. There are three major
processes involved in memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval.
• Memory problems can range from minor annoyances like forgetting
where you left your car keys to major diseases, like
Alzheimer's and other kinds of dementia, that affect the quality of
life and the ability to function.
• “Memory is the means by which we draw on our past experiences in
order to use this information in the present’ (Sternberg, 1999).

4. • In order to form new memories, information must be changed into a
usable form, which occurs through the process known as encoding.
Once the information has been successfully encoded, it must
be stored in memory for later use.
• Much of this stored memory lies outside of our awareness most of
the time, except when we actually need to use it.
The retrieval process allows us to bring stored memories into
conscious awareness.

5. Process of Memory
• Recall: This type of memory retrieval involves being able to access the
information without being cued. Answering a question on a fill-in-the-blank test is
a good example of recall.
• Recollection: This type of memory retrieval involves reconstructing memory,
often utilizing logical structures, partial memories, narratives or clues. For
example, writing an answer on an essay exam often involves remembering bits of
information and then restructuring the remaining information based on these
partial memories.
• Recognition: This type of memory retrieval involves identifying information after
experiencing it again. For example, taking a multiple-choice quiz requires that you
recognize the correct answer out of a group of available answers.
• Relearning: This type of memory retrieval involves relearning information that
has been previously learned. This often makes it easier to remember and retrieve
information in the future and can improve the strength of memories.

6. Methods of measuring memory
• The direct methods of assessing memory are:
• Recall,
• Recognition,
• Relearning,
• Reconstruction.

7. Using memory
• To use the information that has been encoded into memory, it first
has to be retrieved. There are many factors that can influence how
memories are retrieved such as the type of information being used
and the retrieval cues that are present.
• Of course, this process is not always perfect. Have you ever felt like
you had the answer to a question right at the tip of your tongue, but
you couldn’t quite remember it? This is an example of a perplexing
memory retrieval problem known as lethologica or the tip-of-the-
tongue phenomenon.

8. Organizing Memory
• The ability to access and retrieve information from long-term
memory allows us to actually use these memories to make decisions,
interact with others, and solve problems.
• One way of thinking about memory organization is known as the
semantic network model. This model suggests that certain triggers
activate associated memories. A memory of a specific place might
activate memories about related things that have occurred in that
location.
• For example, thinking about a particular campus building might
trigger memories of attending classes, studying, and socializing with
peers.

9. Types of Memory:- Sensory Memory
• Sensory memory is the earliest stage of memory.
• During this stage, sensory information from the environment is
stored for a very brief period of time, generally for no longer than a
half-second for visual information and 3 or 4 seconds for auditory
information.
• We attend to only certain aspects of this sensory memory, allowing
some of this information to pass into the next stage: short-term
memory.

10. Types of Sensory Memory
• Iconic memory: Also known as visual sensory memory, iconic
memory involves a very brief image. This type of sensory memory
typically lasts for about one-quarter to one-half of a second.
• Echoic memory: Also known as auditory sensory memory, echoic
memory involves a very brief memory of sound a bit like an echo.
This type of sensory memory can last for up to three to four seconds.
• Haptic memory: Also known as tactile memory, haptic involves the
very brief memory of a touch. This type of sensory memory lasts for
approximately two seconds.

11. Short-Term Memory
• Short-term memory, also known as active memory, is the information
we are currently aware of or thinking about. In Freudian psychology,
this memory would be referred to as the conscious mind. Paying
attention to sensory memories generates information in short-term
memory.
• While many of our short-term memories are quickly forgotten,
attending to this information allows it to continue to the next stage:
long-term memory. Most of the information stored in active memory
will be kept for approximately 20 to 30 seconds.

12. Cont.--
• Short-term memory is very brief. When short-term memories are
not rehearsed or actively maintained, they last mere seconds.
• Short-term memory is limited. It is commonly suggested that short-
term memory can hold only seven items at once, plus or minus two
• Most of the information kept in short-term memory will be stored for
approximately 20 to 30 seconds, but it can be just seconds if
rehearsal or active maintenance of the information is prevented
• The amount of information that can be stored in short-term memory
can vary. In an influential paper titled "The Magical Number Seven,
Plus or Minus Two," psychologist George Miller suggested that
people can store between five and nine items in short-term memory.

13. Improving Working memory
• Maintenance Rehearsal
• Maintenance rehearsal (or rehearsal) can help move memories from short-term to
long-term memory. For example, you might use this approach when studying
materials for an exam. Instead of just reviewing the information once or twice, you
might go over your notes repeatedly until the critical information is committed to
memory.
• Chunking
• Chunking is the recoding of smaller units of information into larger, familiar units.
Chunking is often assumed to help bypassing the limited capacity of working
memory
• (in psychology or linguistic analysis) group together (connected items or words) so
that they can be stored or processed as single concepts.
• Chunking is one memorization technique that can facilitate the transfer of
information into long-term memory. This approach involves organizing information
into more easily learned groups, phrases, words, or numbers.

14. Cont.--
• Mnemonics
• Easily remembered mnemonic phrases, abbreviations, or rhymes can
help move short-term memories into long-term storage. A few
common examples include:
• ROY G BIV: an acronym that represents the first letter of each color
of the rainbow—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet
• "I before E, except after C": to remember the spelling of common
words
• "Thirty Days Hath September": a rhyme used to remember how
many days are in each month

15. How to use chunking
• Practice
• Look for Connections
• Make Associations
• Incorporate Other Memory Strategies

16. Cont.--
• Memory Consolidation
• Memory consolidation is the process where our brains convert short-
term memories into long-term ones. Rehearsing or recalling
information over and over again creates structural changes in the
brain that strengthen neural networks. The repeated firing of
two neurons makes it more likely that they will repeat that firing
again in the future.

17. Long-Term Memory
• Long-term memory refers to the continuing storage of information.
In Freudian psychology, long-term memory would be called the
preconscious and unconscious. This information is largely outside of
our awareness but can be called into working memory to be used
when needed. Some of this information is fairly easy to recall, while
other memories are much more difficult to access.

18. Explicit Long-term Memory
• Explicit long-term memories are memories we consciously and deliberately
took time to form and recall. Explicit memory holds information such as
your best friend’s birthday or your phone number. It often includes major
milestones in your life, such as childhood events, graduation dates, or
academic work you learned in school.
• In general, explicit memories can be episodic or semantic. Episodic
memories are formed from particular episodes in your life (for instance,
the first time you rode a bike or your first day at school).
• Semantic memories are general facts and bits of information you absorbed
over the years. For instance, when you recall a random fact while filling in a
crossword puzzle, you pull that memory from your semantic memory.

19. • Explicit memories, also known as declarative memories, include all
of the memories that are available in consciousness. Explicit memory
can be further divided into episodic memory (specific events) and
semantic memory (knowledge about the world).
• Implicit memories are those that are mostly unconscious. This type
of memory includes procedural memory, which involves memories of
body movement and how to use objects in the environment. How to
drive a car or use a computer are examples of procedural memories.

20. Decay in Long term memory
• Failure to store
• Interference
• Motivated forgetting
• Retrieval failure

21. How to improve
• Jot it down. The act of writing with a pen and paper helps implant the memory
into your brain—and can also serve as a reminder or reference later on.1
• Attach meaning to it. You can remember something more easily if you attach
meaning to it. For instance, if you associate a person you just meet with someone
you already know, you may be able to remember their name easier.
• Repeat it. Repetition helps the memory become encoded beyond your short-
term memory.
• Group it. Information that is categorized becomes easier to remember and recall.
For example, consider the following group of words: Desk, apple, bookshelf, red,
plum, table, green, pineapple, purple, chair, peach, yellow. Spend a few seconds
reading them, then look away and try to recall and list these words. How did you
group the words when you listed them? Most people will list using three different
categories: color, furniture, and fruit.

22. Memory Encoding
• When information comes into our memory system (from sensory input), it
needs to be changed into a form that the system can cope with, so that it
can be stored.
• Think of this as similar to changing your money into a different currency
when you travel from one country to another. For example, a word which
is seen (in a book) may be stored if it is changed (encoded) into a sound or
a meaning (i.e. semantic processing).
• There are three main ways in which information can be encoded (changed):
• 1. Visual (picture)
• 2. Acoustic (sound)
• 3. Semantic (meaning)

23. Memory Storage
• This concerns the nature of memory stores, i.e., where the information is stored, how
long the memory lasts for (duration), how much can be stored at any time (capacity) and
what kind of information is held.
• The way we store information affects the way we retrieve it. There has been a significant
amount of research regarding the differences between Short Term Memory (STM )
and Long Term Memory (LTM).
• Most adults can store between 5 and 9 items in their short-term memory. Miller (1956)
put this idea forward and he called it the magic number 7. He though that short-term
memory capacity was 7 (plus or minus 2) items because it only had a certain number of
“slots” in which items could be stored.
• However, Miller didn’t specify the amount of information that can be held in each slot.
Indeed, if we can “chunk” information together we can store a lot more information in
our short-term memory. In contrast, the capacity of LTM is thought to be unlimited.
• Information can only be stored for a brief duration in STM (0-30 seconds), but LTM can
last a lifetime.

24. Memory Retrieval
• This refers to getting information out storage. If we can’t remember something,
it may be because we are unable to retrieve it. When we are asked to retrieve
something from memory, the differences between STM and LTM become very
clear.
• STM is stored and retrieved sequentially. For example, if a group of participants
are given a list of words to remember, and then asked to recall the fourth word
on the list, participants go through the list in the order they heard it in order to
retrieve the information.
• LTM is stored and retrieved by association. This is why you can remember what
you went upstairs for if you go back to the room where you first thought about it.
• Organizing information can help aid retrieval. You can organize information in
sequences (such as alphabetically, by size or by time). Imagine a patient being
discharged from hospital whose treatment involved taking various pills at various
times, changing their dressing and doing exercises.