Essay Py4 Explanations of Forgetting

"Memory is composed of several different abilities that depend on different brain systems (1). A fundamental distinction is between the capacity for conscious recollection of facts and events (declarative or explicit memory) and various

In the last half century several theories have emerged with regard to the best model for human memory. In each of these models there was a specific way to help people recall words and

The purpose of this study was to test context-dependent memory, which refers to a pattern where recall is improved when the environment of recall is the same as the environment of learning. To study context-dependent memory, psychologists conducted two experiments. One experiment required divers to learn a list of words either underwater or on land. These divers then had to recall the list of words either in the same environment or the alternative environment. The second experiment tested whether the disruption caused by changing environments influences recall. Two groups of divers learned a list of words on land, changed environments, and returned to land to recall the list of words. These results were compared to the results of two groups of divers who learned the list on land and recalled the list on land without interference.

Research has shown that there is “greater activation in the left inferior frontal and medial temporal lobes” (Stanford, 2006, p. 208) during the encoding of words which were later remembered as compared to those which were forgotten. The sensations perceived by sensory nerves are decoded in the hippocampus of the brain into a single experience (Mastin, 2010). The hippocampus analyses new information and compares and asssociates it with previously stored memory (Mastin, 2010). Human memory is associative in that new information can be remembered better if it can be associated to previously acquired, firmly consolidated information (Mastin, 2010). The various pieces of information are then stored in different parts of the brain (Mastin, 2010). Though the exact method by which this information is later identified and recalled has yet to be discovered, it is understood that ultra-short term sensory memory is converted into short term memory which can then later be consolidated into long term memory (Mastin, 2010).

Context-dependent memory is the concept that things are often best recalled in the same environment that they were learned. Smith and Vela (2001) provide four hypotheses as to how context-dependent memory works. They appear as follows; “reinstatement” is the idea that memory is better when testing occurs in a reinstated environment as opposed to a different environment (Smith & Vela, 2001) and this is true across all studies (Smith & Vela, 2001), “outshining” implies that non contextual cues when used for guiding memory often diminish or eliminate the effects of contextual cues (Smith & Vela, 2001), “Overshadowing” is the concept that “if one’s incidental environmental context is suppressed during learning, then environmental information will not be encoded and stored in memory, thereby reducing or eliminating effects of experimenter-manipulated environments on memory” (Smith & Vela, 2001), and finally “mental reinstatement”

According to Shiffrin & Atkinson (1969), long-term memory is defined as the processes by which information is stored in and retrieved from. The two processes involved in long-term memory are encoding and retrieval. Encoding refers to the process in which information is learned and converted into a memory representation, whereas retrieval refers to accessing previously stored information (Shiffrin & Atkinson, 1969). The two forms of long-term memory are declarative or explicit memory and non-declarative or implicit memory. Declarative memory (DM) refers to subsystems of long-term memory that can be deliberately, intentionally or consciously recollected. These subsystems are known as episodic memory and semantic memory (Squire, 1992). Episodic memory is defined as the long-term memory subsystem that stores information about past events, occurrences or episodes related to an individual 's life and is used to recall such events or episodes. Semantic memory is a long term memory system that stores and recollects facts and general knowledge (Squire & Zola, 1998). Recognition or recall tasks are usually used to measure DM (Wagner et al, 1998). Non-declarative memory (NDM) refers to the memory subsystem that impacts recent perceptions and behaviour without knowledge, consciousness and intent. The subsystem within NDM involved in long-term memory is known as procedural memory (Squire, 1992).The NDM of skills is termed as procedural memory. The process involves learning a skill or

Scientists still to this day are studying whether long-term memories are fully lost. The purpose of human memory is to use past events to help guide their future actions, however; the human brain does not maintain perfect information of the past and is not reliable information. “The human brain can easily create false memories due to a misinterpretation of an event” (Carter 2009). “The chief explanations for forgetting include interference, retrieval failure, and constructive processes” (Loftus 2016). Memory interference happens when the remembering of specific material learned in the past blocks the memory formation of other new learned material. Human often experience having information “on the tip of their tongue” but are unable to recall

Retrieval failure, this theory indicates that when information is stored in the memory [long term] and

The Forgot-it-all-along (FIA) effect is a memory phenomenon in which prior instances of remembering are forgotten (Arnold & Lindsay, 2002) (Schooler, Ambadar, & Bendiksen,

The key to intentional forgetting is what happens when memories are retrieved. The importance of retrieval has been demonstrated in studies that compare recall and recognition memory tasks. Success on either kind of task requires that items be encoded and stored. Whereas recall tasks require active search and retrieval of a memory, recognition tests present the studied item as a direct cue to memory. That item needs only to be checked against whatever representation is stored. Because the directed forgetting eVect is strong on recall tasks but weak or absent on recognition tasks, theorists have concluded that retrieval inhibition, rather than unlearning, is key to intentional forgetting (Bjork, 1989; Geiselman, Bjork, & Fishman, 1983; but see

There are three types of memory: sensory, short-term and long-term. First, a split-second memory of sight, sound and other senses is sensory memory. Driving down the highway, I heard a car speeding towards me. The car nearly side swiped me. I smelled the burnt rubber as it swerved to miss me. I tried to quickly look at the license plate, but the car was driving fast. I caught a first glimpse of the plate, but could not remember it. This is an example of sensory memory. Information that is not retained is forgotten. The information that is retained is then stored in our short-term memory.

From short term memory, there will be an encoding and retrieval process where long term memory will be developed. There, some of the information is retained and some of it is lost over a passage of time. The long term memory stage has the longest potential duration and can be recalled for years after initial understanding. Evidence to support this model comes from an experiment published in the Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior in 1966 by Murray Glanzer and Anita Cunitz. There experiment showed the serial position effects known as primacy, words at the beginning of a list are more easily recalled, and recency, words at the end of a list are more easily recalled. These result supported Atkinson and Shiffrin 's model by showing that long term memory and short term memory were separate stages. The recency effect showed that words in short term memory were more easily remembered. While the primacy effect showed that words in long term memory were more easily remembered because they had been rehearsed (Glanzer and Cunitz, 1966).

Memory is described as a group of related and interacting processes that enable us to acquire, retain and retrieve information. Information is first encoded so that it can be retained in memory. It is then stored where it can be retrieved so that we are consciously attentive to it. Information first enters sensory memory and if it is attended to, it can be transferred to short term memory (STM) where it is retained for about six seconds and then to long term memory (LTM). Information can then be transferred from LTM to STM when needed and stored again. At any stage, memory can be lost if it isn’t encoded or stored. In order to encode information into LTM, one of two processes must take place. This investigation focuses on effortful

A short background on the initial search for types of memory is provided to elucidate the distinction between the kinds of memory. Clinical studies on memory are used to describe, compare and differentiate the three kinds of memory from a psychological point of view. Short-term memory is described as having a short duration of occurrence and with a restricted capacity that can readily be accessed. Working memory is argued to be more than the short-term memory because it involves other processes including long-term memory, however, there are those who opine it is the same as short-term memory. With regards to long-term memory, the author describes it as a large storage of knowledge with an unlimited capacity. The author concludes that short-term and long-term memory differ primarily in terms of capacity and retention time, but, the factor of retention time is still controversial. With regards to short-term and working memory, their difference or similarity depends on how one defines them.

Memory is a very important aspect in a person’s life. It enables that individual to store information about various things that they can recall upon at a later time when that information is needed. The applications of your memory are boundless and are used every day whether we realize it or not for example taking test, fixing something around the house, playing a sport, etc. We are able to do this by associating that memory with a certain sounds, images, or colors that are familiar to us so it is easily recalled upon. In the following paragraphs I will explain how to trace the memory system from stimuli into long-term memory, explain proactive and retroactive interference, and other kinds of forgetting.