Module 2 Part 3: Memory


Memory is the cognitive process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information. It allows us to retain and use past experiences to influence future behavior. Example: Remembering your friend’s birthday is an example of using memory to recall stored information.

Explicit memory, also known as declarative memory, involves conscious recollection of facts and events. Example: Remembering the capital of France is Paris.

Implicit memory involves unconscious memory processes, such as skills and conditioned responses. Example: Knowing how to ride a bicycle without consciously thinking about the steps. 

Sensory memory holds sensory information for a very short period, typically less than a second. Example: The brief image you see after looking at a bright light and then closing your eyes.

Declarative memory
involves facts and events that can be consciously recalled. Example: Remembering your graduation day.

Nondeclarative memory involves skills and habits that are performed without conscious awareness. Example: Typing on a keyboard without looking at the keys.

Short-term memory holds a small amount of information for a short period, typically around 20-30 seconds. Example: Remembering a phone number long enough to dial it. 

Long-term memory stores information indefinitely, potentially for a lifetime. Example: Remembering your childhood home address.

Working memory is a system for temporarily holding and manipulating information needed for complex tasks like learning and reasoning. Example: Doing mental arithmetic, like adding two numbers in your head. 

Encoding
is the process of converting information into a form that can be stored in memory. Example: Learning a new phone number and repeating it to yourself to memorize it involves encoding.

Meaningful encoding involves associating new information with existing knowledge, making it easier to remember. Example: Remembering a list of words by creating a story that includes all the words.

Encoding failure occurs when information is not successfully processed into memory. Example: Not remembering someone’s name because you weren’t paying attention when you were introduced. 

Storage is the process of maintaining information in memory over time. Example: Storing a memory of your last vacation in your long-term memory.

Retrieval is the process of accessing and bringing stored information into consciousness. Example: Recalling the name of your first-grade teacher when asked.

Reconsolidation is the process by which retrieved memories are re-stored, potentially with modifications. Example: Recalling and then discussing an old memory, which then slightly alters your recollection of it.

The misinformation effect occurs when a person’s memory of an event is altered by misleading information presented after the event. Example: Misremembering details of a car accident after hearing other witnesses describe it differently.

Retroactive interference occurs when new information interferes with the retrieval of previously learned information. Example: Struggling to remember your old phone number after getting a new one.

Source amnesia is the inability to remember where, when, or how previously learned information was acquired. Example: Knowing a fact but forgetting where you learned it.

Repression
is an unconscious process where distressing memories are kept out of conscious awareness. Example: Not remembering a traumatic childhood event until many years later.

Interference refers to the phenomenon where one piece of information disrupts the recall of another. Example: Studying French and Spanish at the same time and mixing up vocabulary words.

Proactive interference occurs when older information interferes with the learning of new information. Example: Having trouble learning a new phone number because you keep recalling your old one.

Recall is retrieving information from memory without cues. Example: Answering an essay question on an exam.

Recognition is identifying previously learned information with the help of cues. Example: Picking the correct answer on a multiple-choice test.

Relearning involves learning information that was previously learned but forgotten, usually more quickly than when it was first learned. Example: Taking a refresher course on a language you studied years ago.

Storage decay refers to the fading of memories over time when they are not accessed or used. Example: Forgetting a language you learned as a child because you never use it.

Retrieval failure occurs when stored information cannot be accessed, often due to insufficient cues. Example: Not being able to recall a familiar word during a conversation but remembering it later. Anterograde Amnesia.

Anterograde amnesia is the inability to form new memories after a brain injury. Example: After a head injury, a person can remember their past but cannot remember events that happen after the injury.

Retrograde amnesia is the loss of pre-existing memories before a brain injury. Example: A person cannot remember events that occurred before a car accident but can form new memories afterward.