Memory
During the lifetime, a person gets and stores some experience, knowledge and emotions, which leaves a certain trace in his or her memory. If people had no memory, they would always remain in the newborn state. Thus, the study of the memory process is extremely important for understanding of how information can be reliably stored in human mind.
Memory is a complex cognitive process due to which one can encode, store and reproduce his/her experience. These three operations are quite different procedures. Only the execution of all of them by human can lead to the successful remembering of some information.
There is the three-stage model of memory, which assumes the existence of the sensory, short-term and long-term memory. The first type is a primitive process, which is carried out at the receptor level. It holds the information perceived by the sense organs without processing it. The traces in the sensory memory keep being stored for a second. During this time, the brain is deciding whether this information is useful and worth remembering. If not, then the traces of old information are erased, and the memory is filled with the new one. If the information attracts the attention of the brain, it moves to the short-term memory. Managing sensory memory is almost impossible.
Short-term memory keeps the images after a single, short perception and immediate (during the first seconds) retrieval. It responds to the perceived number of characters, their physical nature, but not their content. The rapid remembering and brief retaining of the information characterize the short-term memory. While storing, the information is divided into chunks. A person can store an average of 7 such items in the short-term memory. The duration of this memory is about 15-20 seconds. It selects and transmits the necessary information to the long-term memory.
Long-term memory provides the prolonged preservation of the traces of the images in mind for the subsequent multiple use in the future life. It forms the basis for the strong knowledge. The long-term memory is similar to the archive. It divides the information into sections for storing it for a longer or shorter period. This duration depends on the relevance of the information and the number of rehearsals. Theoretically, the amount and the duration of the information storage in this type of memory are infinite.
It is noteworthy that in the relation to the long-term memory the short-term one is a kind of "checkpoint", through which the perceived images penetrate to the long-term memory due to the rehearsals, without which the brain loses the images. Thus, to save some information for a prolonged period, one should repeat it for several times.
All these memory types are in close co-operation. For instance, being a child and learning to write, I used all types of memory. I noticed the specific details such as the rustle of paper or the force of pencil pressing on my fingers with the sensory memory, stored the characters, which I wanted to write, in the short-term memory, and repeating the hand movements when writing, put this skill into the long-term memory.
The long-term memory has declarative and procedural modules. The first one concerns facts and information and is a kind of encyclopedia in the brain. Another module of the long-term memory – the procedural memory - is a section of the brain’s practical recommendations. It refers to the knowledge of certain actions and procedures which eventually become automatic due to rehearsals and practice. Procedural memory interacts with the declarative one. For instance, when writing the American history test, I used the procedural memory to remember how to move my hand to write something, and the declarative one to remember what the settlement is and the fact that the first English settlement in America was founded in 1607.
Declarative memory can be divided into semantic and episodic ones. Episodic memory allows someone to remember the events of personal importance. Semantic memory stores general facts about the world. The main contrast between them is that the episodic memory includes the memorials, which can be explicitly described and explained while the semantic one concerns the concepts and ideas. For example, the concept of a table is located in the semantic memory, but when I described my kitchen table to my friend, its color, size and dislocation, it was the episodic memory.
Thus, one can conclude, that the memory includes three processes: encoding, storage and retrieval of the information. There are several types of memory, such as sensory, short-term and long-term, which is divided into semantic and episodic memories. All these memory types are constantly co-operating but some of them are controlled unconsciously.
Robert Ferguson is an IT technician and one of premier essay writers. This company has years of experience writing original papers. They have the people to produce what you need no matter what kind of assignment you need.
Memory is a complex cognitive process due to which one can encode, store and reproduce his/her experience. These three operations are quite different procedures. Only the execution of all of them by human can lead to the successful remembering of some information.
There is the three-stage model of memory, which assumes the existence of the sensory, short-term and long-term memory. The first type is a primitive process, which is carried out at the receptor level. It holds the information perceived by the sense organs without processing it. The traces in the sensory memory keep being stored for a second. During this time, the brain is deciding whether this information is useful and worth remembering. If not, then the traces of old information are erased, and the memory is filled with the new one. If the information attracts the attention of the brain, it moves to the short-term memory. Managing sensory memory is almost impossible.
Short-term memory keeps the images after a single, short perception and immediate (during the first seconds) retrieval. It responds to the perceived number of characters, their physical nature, but not their content. The rapid remembering and brief retaining of the information characterize the short-term memory. While storing, the information is divided into chunks. A person can store an average of 7 such items in the short-term memory. The duration of this memory is about 15-20 seconds. It selects and transmits the necessary information to the long-term memory.
Long-term memory provides the prolonged preservation of the traces of the images in mind for the subsequent multiple use in the future life. It forms the basis for the strong knowledge. The long-term memory is similar to the archive. It divides the information into sections for storing it for a longer or shorter period. This duration depends on the relevance of the information and the number of rehearsals. Theoretically, the amount and the duration of the information storage in this type of memory are infinite.
It is noteworthy that in the relation to the long-term memory the short-term one is a kind of "checkpoint", through which the perceived images penetrate to the long-term memory due to the rehearsals, without which the brain loses the images. Thus, to save some information for a prolonged period, one should repeat it for several times.
All these memory types are in close co-operation. For instance, being a child and learning to write, I used all types of memory. I noticed the specific details such as the rustle of paper or the force of pencil pressing on my fingers with the sensory memory, stored the characters, which I wanted to write, in the short-term memory, and repeating the hand movements when writing, put this skill into the long-term memory.
The long-term memory has declarative and procedural modules. The first one concerns facts and information and is a kind of encyclopedia in the brain. Another module of the long-term memory – the procedural memory - is a section of the brain’s practical recommendations. It refers to the knowledge of certain actions and procedures which eventually become automatic due to rehearsals and practice. Procedural memory interacts with the declarative one. For instance, when writing the American history test, I used the procedural memory to remember how to move my hand to write something, and the declarative one to remember what the settlement is and the fact that the first English settlement in America was founded in 1607.
Declarative memory can be divided into semantic and episodic ones. Episodic memory allows someone to remember the events of personal importance. Semantic memory stores general facts about the world. The main contrast between them is that the episodic memory includes the memorials, which can be explicitly described and explained while the semantic one concerns the concepts and ideas. For example, the concept of a table is located in the semantic memory, but when I described my kitchen table to my friend, its color, size and dislocation, it was the episodic memory.
Thus, one can conclude, that the memory includes three processes: encoding, storage and retrieval of the information. There are several types of memory, such as sensory, short-term and long-term, which is divided into semantic and episodic memories. All these memory types are constantly co-operating but some of them are controlled unconsciously.
Robert Ferguson is an IT technician and one of premier essay writers. This company has years of experience writing original papers. They have the people to produce what you need no matter what kind of assignment you need.
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