The Memory Process Paper

Psych/550
6/10/12
Do you remember the time? This question is asked to anyone and everyone on a daily basis. People have individual and shared memories, whether it is happy, sad, traumatic, or even exciting. When we speak of memory we are talking about a process of acquiring, storing, retaining and then later retrieving information for use. The ability to create new memories, store them for periods of time and recall them when they are needed allows us to learn and interact with the world around us (Cherry, 2012). First we want to look at the concept of what a working memory is. According to Braddeley (1992) “The term working memory refers to a brain system that provides temporary storage and manipulation of the information necessary for such complex cognitive tasks as language comprehension, learning, and reasoning”. Working memory has been found to require the simultaneous storage and processing of information. Working memory is your everyday memory processing of information and storage that can later be retrieved for future use. Next, we will look at short –term memory, or also known as active memory, which is essentially information that we are currently aware of or thinking about at the time. Most of the information that we currently have is stored in the active memory, but for only about 20 to 30 seconds at a time. Though much of this information is lost and forgotten about, because of the short memory period, if we attend to this memory more often is can eventually evolve to the next stage which is known as long-term memory. For example someone that I just met give me their name and phone number, after a short period I forget their name and number, but I have written it down, so the more that I refer to this person and call their number, I will eventually store this in my long-term memory. Now, after we have evolved the short-term memory, we can now move to the next stage, which is long-term memory. The long –term memory refers to the continued storage of memories. Long-term memory would be call both preconscious and unconscious. The preconscious is based upon remembering something and utilizing this information based upon previous actions. The unconsciousness is based upon reacting to something, not because we remembered this but because we did remember it but do not consciously remember how or where it may have come from. This information is largely outside of our awareness, but can be called into working memory to be used when needed (Cherry, 2012). Some of this information is fairly easy to recall, while other memories are much more difficult to access (Cherry, 2012). The selected test that I am going to use is a short-term memory test that I have found online. Trial # | Total numberof Lettersin the Set | Correct Letters | Total numberof Lettersyou remembered | % YouRemembered | 1 | 2 | U M | UM | 100 | 2 | 4 | TZLD | TZLD | 100 | 3 | 6 | K X C E J O | KXCEJO | 100 | 4 | 8 | A V C Y I S E H | AVCYISEH | 100 | 5 | 10 | L B F Q R P M A U X | LBFQMAUX | 80 | 6 | 12 | Z Q E C T B U M O N R V | ZQECMO | 50 |
("Neuroscience For Kids ", 1996-2010).

As you can see from the chart, the trial begins with two letters and as each next trial begins it adds two letters each trial until the trials are complete. The task is to remember the letters after they show you the list for about 15 seconds and then record what you remember. So, referring to the chart, as I progress down the trials and they add more letters each time, I do pretty well holding 100% remembered but once I reached the 5th and 6th trial, it got a lot harder because with only fifteen seconds and 10 and 12 letters to remember , the percentages drop to 80 and then 50. Encoding allows the perceived item of use or interest to be converted into a construct that can be stored within the brain and recalled later from short term or long term memory (Terry 2009). In relation to the test that I took, these letters were able to be stored into the short-term memory, just for a short period, so that I could recall the information before it was wiped. Now, when it comes to the retrieval process, we have to first know what retrieval is. Retrieval is a process of accessing stored memories, and there are four different types of retrieval: recall, recollection, recognition, and relearning. Recall is based upon being able to access information remembered without being cued, which is based on unconscious memory. A great example of this would be a fill in the blank test at school. Recollection is a reconstruction of memory, which consists of partial memories, narratives or clues. A good example of recollection would be like writing an essay in school, where you have to remember bits and pieces of information. Recognition is based on identifying information only after experiencing it again. So, taking a multiple choice test requires you to recognize the correct answer out of a group of available answers. Lastly, relearning 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 (Terry 2009). So, in regards to the test hat I took I had to use recall from the retrieval because I only had a short period of time to look at the information and then had to record what I remembered. In order for us to create new memories, information must be changed into a usable form, which happens in the process of encoding (Cherry, 2012). Once this information has been encoded into the memory properly, it can now be recalled for later use, much like using recalled information on an essay exam or even a fill in the blank test. Much of this stored memory lies outside of our awareness most of the time, except when we actually need to use it (Cherry, 2012), so we are not truly aware of what we are remembering or how we are doing it but our brain is functioning so that we can use this information to later improve upon something else.

References:

Braddeley, A. (1992, Jan.). Working memory.. Medical Research Council, 255(5044), 566-569.
Cherry, K. (2012). An Overview of Memory. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/a/memory.htm
Neuroscience For Kids . (1996-2010). Retrieved from http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chmemory.html
Terry, W.S. (2009). Learning and memory: Basic principles, processes, and procedures (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.