Short Term Memory Analysis

In the section “Tips from the Science of Memory-for Studying and for Life”, found in our textbook, “Experience Psychology”, the Arthur Laura A. King discusses the importance of study habits. She addresses the skills needed to turn short-term memory into long-term memory through organizing, encoding, rehearsing and retrieving the information we study and memorize. “No matter what the model of memory you use, you can sharpen your memory by thinking deeply about the “material” of life and connecting the information to other things you know.” (King. 2013).

Memory is divided into three categories. These categories consist of: sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory, out of these short term memory is the main focus in this essay. It has been widely researched due to interest of how much memory can be stored, how long this memory can be stored for and what information is memorised.

We have short- and long-term memory because of the way memories need to be stored. There is actually a plethora of different types of memory, but I will just be discussing the basics: sensory, working, commonly called short-term, and long-term memory. Sensory and working memory is similar in that they have two fundamental differences from long-term memory, they have chunk limits, and temporal decay. Chunk limits mean that you're working memory can only contain a rather small amount of memory. Temporal decay is when information fades just due to time. When you’re senses experience something it is stored in sensory memory for around 5 seconds. If this information catches your attention it is moved to working memory for processing. Once in working memory the information last for approximately 30 seconds while you process it. Information can stay in working memory as long as you think about it, but once you leave it, it either fades or is stored in long-term memory, where it can last from minutes to your entire life. You’re sitting at your desk writing a paper and the clock in the bottom left corner counts up a minute. You’re probably not going to notice it, because it’s not important enough to be put in working memory. Now a spider climbs over your screen, if you have a phobia of

Memory in the human brain is a complex process which is easier understood by the use of theoretical constructs. Memories begin as sensory stimuli which become sensory memory which only last about one second, from there it moves into working memory which lasts for about twenty to thirty seconds and is used to process information. Within working memory there are a few separate processes, the central executive which directs attention, the episodic buffer which is a secondary storage lasting ten to twenty seconds, this area communicates with long term memory as well as the central executive. The visuospatial sketchpad which is used to visualise visual and spacial

Why do you think the author talks about doubling the capacity of short-term memory when in the rest of the article he talks about issues related to long-term memory?

“The brain interprets scenes in the instants after they happen, inserting judgments, meaning, and context on the fly” (Carey, 2014, p. 5). Depending on the type of learner the student is, coupled with the environment [classroom] that they are in, each student will learn, or not, the same material differently. Each student has a different ability to recall information [or facts] at varying levels and also, under a variety of circumstances. Often, it is the distractions that the students are exposed to, that will affect their ability to retain and recall information.

The brain uses three steps to store information in you memory system. These steps are referred to as retrieving, storing, and encoding. (“Dig Deeper” 2)The two types of memory are short-term and long-term. Short-term memory is different from long-term memory because information only lasts for a short time when you have short-term memory. (“Dig Deeper” 4) With this information, you may train your brain by taking the information you need to memorize and make it meaningful to you, just as Michael Mirski did. For example, you make take a phone number and relate it to a certain date or time. (“Dig Deeper” 6) Retrieving, storing, and encoding may depend on the strength of your memory. However, you can make your memory stronger by using certain tricks. This is how Dellis and Mirski have incredibly good

This entire topic of neuroplasticity, makes more sense if I look back to my 20 month stay at Walter Reed Hospital. TBI or my brain damage had caused some memory problems for me. It was all rather strange, some memories are still crystal clear, but other things I have absolutely no recall. An easy example is a trip I took to the Netherlands back in the 90's, I remember all of it except for the two days I spent in Rotterdam. I took photos of the Erasmus Bridge, so I know I was there, but not a single memory of those two days. I try to describe the memory issues as reading a book that is missing pages.

In the video, there are three key things to maintain long term memory and that is exposure, review, and practice. Exposure require that you attend class and listen to the lecture, and keep up to date with the material and lesson on hand by reviewing the lesson before the class start. Review requires the student to slim down the note though a summary sheet. Using three by five cards to write vocabulary or history can help with reviewing much like a quiz. Making a concept map can also help with summarizing the notes by making a visual representation of the note. Practice requires that a person to recite the material, join group study, and simple problem solving. Reciting your note is much like talking to yourself to ensure that you are organizing

In this system there are three separate components that combine to enable us to process memories. These three components of memory are sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory (Reisberg, 2013). Of the three, sensory memory has the shortest time-span in our memory lasting roughly 300 milliseconds. The purpose of the sensory memory is to interpret the sensations coming to the body, and then transfer them to short term if there is enough attention placed on them (Reisberg, 2013). Short-term memory has a longer time-span in which it can be remembered. In short term memory we are able to remember 7 items +/- 2. These items can be remembered for up to a minute and that length of time can be increased if they are rehearsed. Rehearsal allows memories to be consolidated and be placed in long-term memory where they can be later retrieved and placed in working memory. Long term-memory are memories that can be retrieved with a hint or cue (Reisberg, 2013)

After collecting many articles we have narrowed down our articles to four good articles. The first article, “Visual short term memory”, is a peer reviewed article from Scholarpedia.com. Therefore, it can be consider as an accurate source of data. It engages the audience by using figures that enhance the readability. It covers the aspect of visual memory only, but thoroughly, and is organized in sub topics, which makes it easy to understand visual memory.

The aim of this investigation was to look to see if there is a difference in the recollection if the format in which information is presented is different. Lists of words and images were compared to find the most effective source of recollection. This topic of research has many real life applications for instance how students study in preparation for exams. If there is a format that is more successful at recollecting memory then that would help with studying and can be expanded to how general education is taught. This field of psychology could help to revolutionise memory and its capabilities if enough study is concentrated on it.

Each item on the quiz corresponded to an individual slide that was presented, but all the questions on the quiz were in random order. This was done to measure how much information was retained by the subjects’ short term memory. One week later, the exact same quiz was administered again to the same sample of students. This time, however, the test looked to see how much information students recalled in terms of long term memory.

Information in working memory is delicate and easily disappears, in order to be retained it needs to be kept activated. However, if new information does not receive an appropriate amount of attention, activation will quickly diminish. One strategy to help keep information activated in working memory for longer than 20 seconds, a person can review the information mentally (Dingfelder, 2005). Teachers can and do help students perform this review of information during classroom lessons. Once the teacher stops the lesson to ask students if they have any questions, they are giving students a few seconds to contemplate and mentally review the information they have just learned. Another method that teachers can use to assist students with retaining

Long-term memory (LTM) is defined as information retained over time and is retrievable via various stimuli, such as through the five senses. LTM works in conjunction with working memory to receive and process information for storage (Sousa, 2011). With this knowledge, educators are able to tailor their instructional strategies for optimal results for students. Learners must be provided with various tools to help them organize and process the information being delivered in the classroom (Özel, 2009)