Memory

What is memory?

What are memories?

"Memory is not a single organ like the heart or liver, but an alliance of systems that work together, allowing us to learn from the past and predict the future." Which means that memory is very complicated, moreover there are many types of memory that works and stores information differently. "The systems range is storage duration from fractions of a second up to a lifetime"(A. Baddeley, 1999)

Types of memory

·      Immediate memory (is the ability to remember a small amount of information over a few seconds)

·      Iconic, Echoic & Haptic (allows an individual to remember an input in great detail but for only a few milliseconds. Echoic - Imitative of a sound; onomatopoeic. sensory memory - the brief storage (in memory) of information experienced by the senses; typically, only lasts up to a few seconds. Iconic - visually representative.)

·      Short-term memory ((or "primary" or "active memory") is the capacity for holding, but not manipulating, a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state for a short period of time)

·      Long-term memory (the capacity of long term memory could be unlimited, the main constraint on recall being accessibility rather than availability. Duration might be a few minutes or a lifetime)

o   Episodic memory (autobiographical memory) – allows us to recall events also information related to the events. (visual)

o   Semantic memory – stores facts and general information. (analytical)

o   Declarative memory – consciously available for us at all times

o   Procedural memory – skills and tasks.

·      Collective memory & False memory

Memory is the process in which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved.

"The briefest memory stores last for only a fraction of a second. Such sensory memories are perhaps best considered as an integral part of the process of perceiving. Both vision and hearing then appear to have a later but temporary storage stage which might perhaps to be termed short-term auditory and visual memory, leaving a memory trace that lasts for a few seconds. In addition to these, we clearly also have long-term memory for sights and sounds. We can remember what sunset looks like, could probably recognise a photograph of Albert Einstein or Joseph Stalin, or identify the voice of a close friend, or the sound of a creaking door. All these indicate some of long-term storage."(A. Baddeley, 1990)

What triggers memories. How do we represent and recall them?

·      Smell

·      Sound

·      Taste

·      Pictures

·      Touch

Memory loss v Loss of memory

Memory loss – over time and loss of memory – if there was an accident (type of amnesia)

Amnesia: retrograde amnesia (is a loss of memory-access to events that occurred, or information that was learned, before an injury or the onset of a disease) & anterograde amnesia (is a loss of the ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact)

Dementia

·      Recent memory (the ability to learn and recall information)

·      Language (the ability to write or speak)

·      Visuospatial function (skills allow us to visually perceive objects and the spatial relationships among objects. These are the skills that enable us to recognize a square, triangle, cube or pyramid)

·      Executive function (are a set of cognitive processes – including attentional control, inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, as well as reasoning, problem solving, and planning)

References:

Boundless. “Sensory Memory.” Boundless Psychology. Boundless, 08 Aug. 2016. Retrieved 20 Oct. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/memory-8/types-of-memory-52/sensory-memory-208-12743/

  

Baddeley, A.D. (1999) Essentials of human memory. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.

Baddeley, A.D. (1990) Human memory: Theory and practice. London: Psychology Press.