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initial acquisition. Like encoding, consolidation

affects how well a memory will be remembered
A Memory and the Brain
after it is stored: if it is encoded and
consolidated well, the memory will be easily
retrieved in full detail, but if encoding or
Neural Correlates of Memory consolidation is neglected, the memory will not
Consolidation be retrieved or may not be accurate.
The hippocampus, amygdala, and cerebellum
play important roles in the consolidation and Consolidation occurs through communication
manipulation of memory. between several parts of the brain, including the
hippocampus, the amygdala, and the
KEY POINTS cerebellum.

● Memory consolidation is a category of The Hippocampus

processes that stabilize a memory trace
after its initial acquisition. While psychologists and neuroscientists debate
● The hippocampus is essential for the the exact role of the hippocampus, they
consolidation of both short-term and generally agree that it plays an essential role in
long-term memories. Damage to this both the formation of new memories about
area of the brain can render a person experienced events and declarative memory
incapable of making new memories and (which handles facts and knowledge rather
may even affect older memories that than motor skills). The hippocampus is critical
have not been fully consolidated. to the formation of memories of events and
● The amygdala has been associated with facts.
enhanced retention of memory. Because
of this, it is thought to modulate memory Information regarding an event is not
consolidation. The effect is most instantaneously stored in long-term memory.
pronounced in emotionally charged Instead, sensory details from the event are slowly
events. assimilated into long-term storage over time
● The cerebellum is associated with through the process of consolidation. Some
creativity and innovation. It is theorized evidence supports the idea that, although these
that all processes of working memory are forms of memory often last a lifetime, the
adaptively modeled by the cerebellum. hippocampus ceases to play a crucial role in the
retention of memory after the period of
KEY TERMS consolidation.

• declarative memory: The type of long- Damage to the hippocampus usually results in
term memory that stores facts and difficulties forming new memories, or
events; also known as conscious or anterograde amnesia, and normally also brings
explicit memory. about problems accessing memories that were
• encoding: The process of converting created prior to the damage, or retrograde
information into a construct that can be amnesia. A famous case study that made this
stored within the brain. theory plausible is the story of a patient known
• consolidation: The act or process of as HM: After his hippocampus was removed in an
turning short-term memories into more effort to cure his epilepsy, he lost the ability to
permanent, long-term memories. form memories. People with damage to the
hippocampus may still be able to learn new skills,
Memory consolidation is a category of however, because those types of memory are
processes that stabilize a memory trace after its non-declarative. Damage may not affect much

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older memories. All this contributes to the idea requiring coordination and fine motor control.
that the hippocampus may not be crucial in Playing a musical instrument, driving a car, and
memory retention in the post-consolidation riding a bike are examples of skills requiring
stages. procedural memory. The cerebellum is more
generally involved in motor learning, and
damage to it can result in problems with
movement; specifically, it is thought to
coordinate the timing and accuracy of
movements, and to make long-term changes
(learning) to improve these skills. A person with
hippocampal damage might still be able to
remember how to play the piano but not
remember facts about their life. But a person
The Amygdala with damage to their cerebellum would have the
opposite problem: they would remember their
The amygdala is involved in memory declarative memories, but would have trouble
consolidation—specifically, in how consolidation with procedural memories like playing the piano.
is modulated. “Modulation” refers to the
strength with which a memory is consolidated.
In particular, it appears that emotional arousal
following an event influences the strength of the
subsequent memory. Greater emotional arousal
following learning enhances a person’s retention
of that stimulus.

The amygdala is involved in mediating the

effects of emotional arousal on the strength of
the memory of an event. Even if the amygdala
is damaged, memories can still be encoded. The
amygdala is most helpful in enhancing the B Memory Processes
memories of emotionally charged events, such
as recalling all of the details on a day when you
experienced a traumatic accident.
Although the physical location of memory
remains relatively unknown, it is thought to
be distributed in neural networks
throughout the brain.

KEY POINTS

• It is theorized that memories are

stored in neural networks in
various parts of the brain associated
The Cerebellum with different types of memory,
including short-term memory,
The cerebellum plays a role in the learning of sensory memory, and long-term
procedural memory (i.e., routine, “practiced” memory.
skills), and motor learning, such as skills

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• Memory traces, or engrams, are memory, including short-term memory,

physical neural changes associated sensory memory, and long-term memory.
with memories. Scientists have Keep in mind, however, that it is not
gained knowledge about these sufficient to describe memory as solely
neuronal codes from studies on dependent on specific brain regions,
neuroplasticity. although there are areas and pathways that
• Encoding of episodic memory have been shown to be related to certain
involves lasting changes in functions.
molecular structures, which alter
communication between neurons. Memory Traces
Recent functional- imaging studies
have detected working-memory Memory traces, or engrams - are the
signals in the medial temporal lobe physical neural changes associated with
and the prefrontal cortex. memory storage. The big question of how
• Both the frontal lobe and prefrontal information and mental experiences are
cortex are associated with long- and coded and represented in the brain remains
short-term memory, suggesting a unanswered. However, scientists have
strong link between these two types gained much knowledge about neuronal
of memory. codes from studies on neuroplasticity, the
• The hippocampus is integral in brain’s capacity to change its neural
consolidating memories but does connections.
not seem to store memories itself.
Most of this research has been focused on
simple learning and does not clearly
KEY TERMS describe changes involved in more complex
• engram: A postulated physical or examples of memory.
biochemical change in neural tissue
that represents a memory; a memory Encoding of working memory involves the
trace. activation of individual neurons induced by
• neuroplasticity: The state or quality sensory input. These electric spikes continue
of the brain that allows it to adapt to even after the sensation stops. Encoding of
experience through physical changes episodic memory (i.e., memories of
in connections. experiences) involves lasting changes in
molecular structures that alter
Many areas of the brain have been communication between neurons. Recent
associated with the processes of memory functional-magnetic-resonance-imaging
storage. Lesion studies and case studies of (fMRI) studies detected working memory
individuals with brain injuries have allowed signals in the medial temporal lobe and the
scientists to determine which areas of the prefrontal cortex. These areas are also
brain are most associated with which kinds associated with long-term memory,
of memory. However, the actual physical suggesting a strong relationship between
location of memories remains relatively working memory and long-term memory.
unknown. It is theorized that memories are
stored in neural networks in various parts of
the brain associated with different types of

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Brain Areas Associated with Memory memories are stored. The hippocampus
receives input from different parts of the
Imaging research and lesion studies have cortex and sends output to various areas
led scientists to conclude that certain areas of the brain. The hippocampus may be
of the brain may be more specialized for involved in changing neural connections for
collecting, processing, and encoding at least three months after information is
specific types of memories. Activity in initially processed. This area is believed to be
different lobes of the cerebral cortex have important for spatial and declarative (i.e.,
been linked to the formation of memories. fact-based) memory as well.

Long-Term Memory

Long-term memory - is maintained by

stable and permanent changes in neural
connections spread throughout the brain.
The processes of consolidating and storing
long-term memories have been particularly
associated with the prefrontal cortex,
cerebrum, frontal lobe, and medial temporal
lobe. However, the permanent storage of
Sensory Memory long-term memories after consolidation and
encoding appears to depend upon the
The temporal and occipital lobes are connections between neurons, with more
associated with sensation and are thus deeply processed memories having stronger
involved in sensory memory. Sensory connections.
memory is the briefest form of memory,
with no storage capability. Instead, it is a Three Stages of the Learning/Memory
temporary “holding cell” for sensory Process
information, capable of holding information
for seconds at most before either passing it Psychologists distinguish between three
to short-term memory or letting it necessary stages in the learning and
disappear. memory process: encoding, storage, and
retrieval (Melton, 1963). Encoding is defined
Short-Term Memory as the initial learning of information;
Storage refers to maintaining information
Short-term memory - is supported by brief over time; Retrieval is the ability to access
patterns of neural communication that are information when you need it. If you meet
dependent on regions of the prefrontal someone for the first time at a party, you
cortex, frontal lobe, and parietal lobe. The need to encode her name (Lyn Goff) while
hippocampus is essential for the you associate her name with her face. Then
consolidation of information from short- you need to maintain the information over
term to long-term memory; however, it time. If you see her a week later, you need to
does not seem to store information itself, recognize her face and have it serves as a
adding mystery to the question of where cue to retrieve her name. Any successful act
of remembering requires that all three

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stages be intact. However, two types of can be recalled from either short- or long-
errors can also occur. Forgetting is one type: term memory. At a very basic level, memory
you see the person you met at the party and encoding is like hitting “Save” on a
you cannot recall her name. The other error computer file. Once a file is saved, it can be
is misremembering (false recall or false retrieved as long as the hard drive is
recognition): you see someone who looks undamaged. “Recall” refers to retrieving
like Lyn Goff and call the person by that previously encoded information.
name (false recognition of the face). Or, you
might see the real Lyn Goff, recognize her The process of encoding begins with
face, but then call her by the name of perception, which is the identification,
another woman you met at the party organization, and interpretation of any
(misrecall of her name). sensory information in order to understand
it within the context of a particular
Whenever forgetting or misremembering environment. Stimuli are perceived by the
occurs, we can ask, at which stage in the senses, and related signals travel to the
learning/memory process was there a thalamus of the human brain, where they
failure?—though it is often difficult to are synthesized into one experience. The
answer this question with precision. One hippocampus then analyzes this experience
reason for this inaccuracy is that the three and decides if it is worth committing to long-
stages are not as discrete as our description term memory.
implies. Rather, all three stages depend on
one another. How we encode information Encoding is achieved using chemicals and
determines how it will be stored and what electric impulses within the brain. Neural
cues will be effective when we try to retrieve pathways, or connections between neurons
it. And too, the act of retrieval itself also (brain cells), are actually formed or
changes the way information is strengthened through a process called
subsequently remembered, usually aiding long-term potentiation, which alters the
later recall of the retrieved information. The flow of information within the brain. In other
central point for now is that the three words, as a person experiences novel events
stages—encoding, storage, and retrieval— or sensations, the brain “rewires” itself in
affect one another, and are inextricably order to store those new experiences in
bound together. memory.

C Encoding Encoding refers to the initial experience of

perceiving and learning information.
Psychologists often study recall by having
participants study a list of pictures or words.
Memory encoding allows an item of interest
Encoding in these situations is fairly
to be converted into a construct that is straightforward. However, “real life”
stored in the brain, which can later be encoding is much more challenging. When
recalled. you walk across campus, for example, you
encounter countless sights and sounds—
Memory encoding allows information to be
friends passing by, people playing Frisbee,
converted into a construct that is stored in
music in the air. The physical and mental
the brain indefinitely. Once it is encoded, it
environments are much too rich for you to

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encode all the happenings around you or Public tragedies, such as terrorist attacks,
the internal thoughts you have in response often create vivid memories in those who
to them. So, an important first principle of witnessed them. But even those of us not
encoding is that it is selective: we attend to directly involved in such events may have
some events in our environment and we vivid memories of them, including
ignore others. A second point about memories of first hearing about them. For
encoding is that it is prolific; we are always example, many people are able to recall their
encoding the events of our lives—attending exact physical location when they first
to the world, trying to understand it. learned about the assassination or
Normally this presents no problem, as our accidental death of a national figure. The
days are filled with routine occurrences, so term flashbulb memory - was originally
we don’t need to pay attention to coined by Brown and Kulik (1977) to
everything. But if something does happen describe this sort of vivid memory of
that seems strange—during your daily walk finding out an important piece of news.
across campus, you see a giraffe—then we The name refers to how some memories
pay close attention and try to understand seem to be captured in the mind like a
why we are seeing what we are seeing. flash photograph; because of the
distinctiveness and emotionality of the
Right after your typical walk across campus news, they seem to become permanently
(one without the appearance of a giraffe), etched in the mind with exceptional clarity
you would be able to remember the events compared to other memories.
reasonably well if you were asked. You could
say whom you bumped into, what song was Take a moment and think back on your own
playing from a radio, and so on. However, life. Is there a particular memory that seems
suppose someone asked you to recall the sharper than others? A memory where you
same walk a month later. You wouldn’t can recall unusual details, like the colors of
stand a chance. You would likely be able to mundane things around you, or the exact
recount the basics of a typical walk across positions of surrounding objects? Although
campus, but not the precise details of that people have great confidence in flashbulb
particular walk. Yet, if you had seen a giraffe memories like these, the truth is, our
during that walk, the event would have been objective accuracy with them is far from
fixed in your mind for a long time, probably perfect (Talarico & Rubin, 2003). That is, even
for the rest of your life. You would tell your though people may have great confidence
friends about it, and, on later occasions in what they recall, their memories are not as
when you saw a giraffe, you might be accurate (e.g., what the actual colors were;
reminded of the day you saw one on where objects were truly placed) as they
campus. Psychologists have long pinpointed tend to imagine. Nonetheless, all other
distinctiveness - having an event stand out things being equal, distinctive and
as quite different from a background of emotional events are well-remembered.
similar events—as a key to remembering
events (Hunt, 2003). Details do not leap perfectly from the world
into a person’s mind. We might say that we
In addition, when vivid memories are tinged went to a party and remember it, but what
with strong emotional content, they often we remember is (at best) what we encoded.
seem to leave a permanent mark on us. As noted above, the process of encoding is

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selective, and in complex situations, We emphasized earlier that encoding is

relatively few of many possible details are selective: people cannot encode all
noticed and encoded. The process of information they are exposed to. However,
encoding always involves recoding - that is, recoding can add informationthat was not
taking the information from the form it is even seen or heard during the initial
delivered to us and then converting it in a encoding phase. Several of the recoding
way that we can make sense of it. For processes, like forming associations
example, you might try to remember the between memories, can happen without our
colors of a rainbow by using the acronym awareness. This is one reason people can
ROY G BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, sometimes remember events that did not
indigo, violet). The process of recoding the actually happen—because during the
colors into a name can help us to remember. process of recoding, details got added. One
However, recoding can also introduce common way of inducing false memories in
errors—when we accidentally add the laboratory employs a word-list
information during encoding, then technique. Participants hear lists of 15 words,
remember that new material as if it had like door, glass, pane, shade, ledge, sill,
been part of the actual experience (as house, open, curtain, frame, view, breeze,
discussed below). sash, screen, and shutter. Later, participants
are given a test in which they are shown a list
Psychologists have studied many recoding of words and asked to pick out the ones
strategies that can be used during study to they’d heard earlier. This second list contains
improve retention. First, research advises some words from the first list (e.g., door,
that, as we study, we should think of the pane, frame) and some words not from the
meaning of the events, and we should try to list (e.g., arm, phone, bottle). In this example,
relate new events to information we already one of the words on the test is window,
know. This helps us form associations that which—importantly—does not appear in the
we can use to retrieve information later. first list, but which is related to other words
Second, imagining events also makes them in that list. When subjects were tested, they
more memorable; creating vivid images out were reasonably accurate with the studied
of information (even verbal information) can words (door, etc.), recognizing them 72% of
greatly improve later recall. Creating the time. However, when window was on the
imagery is part of the technique Simon test, they falsely recognized it as having
Reinhard uses to remember huge numbers been on the list 84% of the time. The same
of digits, but we can all use images to thing happened with many other lists the
encode information more effectively. The authors used. This phenomenon is referred
basic concept behind good encoding to as the DRM (for Deese- Roediger-
strategies is to form distinctive memories McDermott) effect. One explanation for
(ones that stand out), and to form links or such results is that, while students listened
associations among memories to help later to items in the list, the words triggered the
retrieval. Using study strategies such as the students to think about window, even
ones described here is challenging, but the though window was never presented. In this
effort is well worth the benefits of enhanced way, people seem to encode events that are
learning and retention. not actually part of their experience.

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Because humans are creative, we are always encoded well), there’s no guarantee that it
going beyond the information we are given: will be remembered later.
we automatically make associations and
infer from them what is happening. But, as
A Storage
with the word association mix-up above,
sometimes we make false memories from
our inferences— remembering the
inferences themselves as if they were actual Memory storage allows us to hold onto
experiences. To illustrate this, Brewer gave information for a very long duration of
people sentences to remember that were time—even a lifetime.
designed to elicit pragmatic inferences.
Inferences, in general, refer to instances Memory Storage
when something is not explicitly stated, but
we are still able to guess the undisclosed Memories are not stored as exact replicas of
intention. For example, if your friend told you experiences; instead, they are modified and
that she didn’t want to go out to eat, you reconstructed during retrieval and recall.
may infer that she doesn’t have the money Memory storage is achieved through the
to go out, or that she’s too tired. With process of encoding, through either short- or
pragmatic inferences, there is usually one long-term memory. During the process of
particular inference you’re likely to make. memory encoding, information is filtered
Consider the statement Brewer gave her and modified for storage in short-term
participants: “The karate champion hit the memory. Information in short-term memory
cinder block.” After hearing or seeing this deteriorates constantly; however, if the
sentence, participants who were given a information is deemed important or useful,
memory test tended to remember the it is transferred to long-term memory for
statement as having been, “The karate extended storage. Because long-term
champion broke the cinder block.” This memories must be held for indefinite
remembered statement is not necessarily a periods of time, they are stored, or
logical inference (i.e., it is perfectly consolidated, in a way that optimizes space
reasonable that a karate champion could hit for other memories. As a result, long-term
a cinder block without breaking it). memory can hold much more information
Nevertheless, the pragmatic conclusion than short-term memory, but it may not be
from hearing such a sentence is that the immediately accessible.
block was likely broken. The participants
remembered this inference they made while The way long-term memories are stored is
hearing the sentence in place of the actual similar to a digital compression. This means
words that were in the sentence. that information is filed in a way that takes
up the least amount of space, but in the
Encoding - the initial registration of process, details of the memory may be lost
information—is essential in the learning and and not easily recovered. Because of this
memory process. Unless an event is consolidation process, memories are more
encoded in some fashion, it will not be accurate the sooner they are retrieved after
successfully remembered later. However, being stored. As the retention interval
just because an event is encoded (even if it is between encoding and retrieval of the

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memory lengthens, the accuracy of the term memories is not permanent; unless a
memory decreases. memory is occasionally recalled, it may fail to
be recalled on later occasions. This is known
Short-Term Memory Storage as forgetting.

Short-term memory is the ability to hold Long-term memory storage can be affected
information for a short duration of time (on by traumatic brain injury or lesions.
the order of seconds). In the process of Amnesia, a deficit in memory, can be caused
encoding, information enters the brain and by brain damage. Anterograde amnesia is
can be quickly forgotten if it is not stored the inability to store new memories;
further in the short-term memory. George A. Retrograde amnesia is the inability to
Miller suggested that the capacity of short- retrieve old memories. These types of
term memory storage is approximately amnesia indicate that memory does have a
seven items plus or minus two, but modern storage process.
researchers are showing that this can vary
depending on variables like the stored items’ Every experience we have changes our
phonological properties. When several brains. That may seem like a bold, even
elements (such as digits, words, or pictures) strange, claim at first, but it’s true. We
are held in short-term memory encode each of our experiences within the
simultaneously, their representations structures of the nervous system, making
compete with each other for recall, or new impressions in the process—and each
degrade each other. Thereby, new content of those impressions involves changes in the
gradually pushes out older content, unless brain. Psychologists (and neurobiologists)
the older content is actively protected say that experiences leave memory traces,
against interference by rehearsal or by or engrams. Memories have to be stored
directing attention to it. somewhere in the brain, so in order to do so,
the brain biochemically alters itself and its
Information in the short-term memory is neural tissue. Just like you might write
readily accessible, but for only a short time. It yourself a note to remind you of something,
continuously decays, so in the absence of the brain “writes” a memory trace, changing
rehearsal (keeping information in short- its own physical composition to do so. The
term memory by mentally repeating it) it basic idea is that events (occurrences in our
can be forgotten. environment) create engrams through a
process of consolidation: the neural
Long-Term Memory Storage changes that occur after learning to create
the memory trace of an experience.
In contrast to short-term memory, long- Although neurobiologists are concerned
term memory is the ability to hold semantic with exactly what neural processes change
information for a prolonged period of time. when memories are created, for
Items stored in short-term memory move to psychologists, the term memory trace
long-term memory through rehearsal, simply refers to the physical change in the
processing, and use. The capacity of long- nervous system (whatever that may be,
term memory storage is much greater than exactly) that represents our experience.
that of short-term memory, and perhaps
unlimited. However, the duration of long-

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Although the concept of engram or memory

trace is extremely useful, we shouldn’t take
D Retrieval
the term too literally. It is important to
understand that memory traces are not
perfect little packets of information that lie
dormant in the brain, waiting to be called Memory retrieval, including recall and
forward to give an accurate report of past recognition, is the process of remembering
experience. Memory traces are not like video information stored in long-term memory.
or audio recordings, capturing experience
with great accuracy; as discussed earlier, we KEY POINTS
often have errors in our memory, which
would not exist if memory traces were • Retrieval cues can facilitate recall.
perfect packets of information. Thus, it is Cues are thought to be most effective
wrong to think that remembering involves when they have a strong, complex
simply “reading out” a faithful record of past link with the information to be
experience. Rather, when we remember recalled.
past events, we reconstruct them with the • Memories of events or items tend to
aid of our memory traces—but also with our be recalled in the same order in which
current belief of what happened. For they were experienced, so by thinking
example, if you were trying to recall for the through a list or series of events, you
police who started a fight at a bar, you may can boost your recall of successive
not have a memory trace of who pushed items.
whom first. However, let’s say you remember • The primacy and recency effects show
that one of the guys held the door open for that items near the beginning and
you. When thinking back to the start of the end of a list or series tend to be
fight, this knowledge (of how one guy was remembered most frequently.
friendly to you) may unconsciously influence • Retroactive interference is when
your memory of what happened in favor of new information interferes with
the nice guy. Thus, memory is a construction remembering old information;
of what you actually recall and what you Proactive interference is when old
believe happened. In a phrase, information interferes with
remembering is reconstructive (we remembering new information.
reconstruct our past with the aid of memory • The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
traces) not reproductive (a perfect occurs when an individual can almost
reproduction or recreation of the past). recall a word but cannot directly
identify it. This is a type of retrieval
failure; the memory cannot be
accessed, but certain aspects of it,
such as the first letter or similar words,
can.

Key Terms
• working memory: The system that
actively holds multiple pieces of
information in the mind for execution

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of verbal and nonverbal tasks and retrieval of a concept can increase the
makes them available for further chance of remembering it.
information processing.
• retrieval: The cognitive process of Some effects relate specifically to certain
bringing stored information into types of recall. There are three main types
consciousness. of recall studied in psychology: serial
recall, free recall, and cued recall.
Memory retrieval is the process of
remembering information stored in long- Serial Recall
term memory. Some theorists suggests that
there are three stores of memory: sensory People tend to recall items or events in the
memory, long-term memory (LTM), and order in which they occurred. This is called
short-term memory (STM). Only data that is serial recall and can be used to help cue
processed through STM and encoded into memories. By thinking about a string of
LTM can later be retrieved. Overall, the events or even words, it is possible to use a
mechanisms of memory are not completely previous memory to cue the next item in the
understood. However, there are many series. Serial recall helps a person to
theories concerning memory retrieval. remember the order of events in his or her
There are two main types of memory life. These memories appear to exist on a
retrieval: recall and recognition. In recall, continuum on which more recent events are
the information must be retrieved from more easily recalled.
memories. In recognition, the presentation
of a familiar outside stimulus provides a cue When recalling serial items presented as a
that the information has been seen before. A list (a common occurrence in memory
cue might be an object or a scene—any studies), two effects tend to surface: the
stimulus that reminds a person of primacy effect and the recency effect. The
something related. Recall may be assisted primacy effect occurs when a participant
when retrieval cues are presented that remembers words from the beginning of a
enable the subject to quickly access the list better than the words from the middle or
information in memory. end. The theory behind this is that the
participant has had more time to rehearse
Patterns of Memory Retrieval these words in working memory. The
recency effect occurs when a participant
Memory retrieval can occur in several remembers words from the end of a list
different ways, and there are many things more easily, possibly since they are still
that can affect it, such as how long it has available in short-term memory.
been since the last time you retrieved the
memory, what other information you have Free Recall
learned in the meantime, and many other
variables. For example, the spacing effect Free recall occurs when a person must recall
allows a person to remember something many items but can recall them in any order.
they have studied many times spaced over a It is another commonly studied paradigm in
longer period of time rather than all at once. memory research. Like serial recall, free
The testing effect shows that practicing recall is subject to the primacy and recency
effects.

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Cued Recall find you have forgotten how to use it. This is
due to retroactive interference.
Cues can facilitate recovery of memories
that have been “lost.” In research, a process Retrieval Failure
called cued recall is used to study these
effects. Cued recall occurs when a person is Sometimes a person is not able to retrieve a
given a list to remember and is then given memory that they have previously encoded.
cues during the testing phase to aid in the This can be due to decay, a natural process
retrieval of memories. The stronger the link that occurs when neural connections
between the cue and the testing word, the decline, like an unused muscle.
better the participant will recall the words.
Occasionally, a person will experience a
Interference with Memory Retrieval specific type of retrieval failure called tip-of-
the-tongue phenomenon. This is the failure
Interference occurs in memory when there to retrieve a word from memory, combined
is an interaction between the new material with partial recall and the feeling that
being learned and previously learned retrieval is imminent. People who
material. There are two main kinds of experience this can often recall one or more
interference: proactive and retroactive. features of the target word such as the first
letter, words that sound similar, or words
Proactive Interference that have a similar meaning. While this
process is not completely understood, there
Proactive interference is the forgetting of are two theories as to why it occurs. The first
information due to interference from is the direct-access perspective, which
previous knowledge in LTM. Past memories states that the memory is not strong enough
can inhibit the encoding of new memories. to retrieve but strong enough to trigger the
This is particularly true if they are learned in state. The inferential perspective posits
similar contexts and the new information is that the state occurs when the subject infers
similar to previous information. This is what knowledge of the target word, but tries to
is happening when you have trouble piece together different clues about the
remembering your new phone number word that are not accessible in memory.
because your old one is stuck in your head.
E Modal Model of Memory
Retroactive Interference

Retroactive interference occurs when

newly learned information interferes with The three major classifications of memory
the encoding or recall of previously learned that the scientific community deals with
information. If a participant was asked to today are as follows: sensory memory,
recall a list of words, and was then short-term memory, and long-term
immediately presented with new memory. Information from the world
information, it could interfere with around us begins to be stored by sensory
remembering the initial list. If you learn to memory, making it possible for this
use a new kind of computer and then later information to be accessible in the future.
have to use the old model again, you might Short-term memory refers to the

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information processed by the individual in a also depends on various cells in the

short period of time. Working memory visual system and on retinal ganglion
performs this processing. Long-term cells M (transition cells) and P
memory allows us to store information for (sustained cells). “The occipital lobe is
long periods of time. This information may responsible for processing visual
be retrieved consciously (explicit memory) information”.
or unconsciously (implicit memory). b) Persistence of information. Iconic
memory is a storehouse of
Sensory Memory information that lasts 800
milliseconds and that represents a
“Sensory memory - is the capacity for briefly codified and already categorized
retaining the large amounts of information version of the visual image. It plays
that people encounter daily” (Siegler and the role of storehouse for post-
Alibali, 2005). There are three types of categorical memory, which provides
sensory memory: echoic memory, iconic visual short-term memory with
memory, and haptic memory. information to be consolidated.

Iconic memory retains information that is Subsequent research on visual persistence

gathered through sight, Echoic memory from Coltheart (Coltheart, 1983) and
retains information gathered through Sperling’s studies (Sperling, 1960) on the
auditory stimuli and Haptic memory retains persistence of information led to the
data acquired through touch. definition of three characteristics pertaining
to iconic memory: a large capacity, a short
Scientific research has focused mainly on duration, and a pre- categorical nature.
iconic memory; information on echoic and
haptic memory is comparatively scarce. Regarding short-term, Sperling interpreted
Iconic memory retains information from the the results of the partial report as due to the
sense of sight with an approximate duration rapid decline of the visual sign and
of 1 second. This reservoir of information reaffirmed this short duration by obtaining a
then passes to short- term vision memory decrease in the number of letters reported
(which is analogous, as we shall see shortly, by the subject in delaying the audio signal
to the visuospatial sketchpad with which for choosing a row to remember in the
working memory operates). presentation. Averbach and Coriell’s
experiments (Averbach and Coriell, 1961)
Di Lollo’s model (Di Lollo, 1980) is the most corroborated Sperling’s conclusion; they
widely accepted model of iconic memory. presented a variety of letters for a certain
Therein, he considered iconic memory a period of time to the subject. After each
storehouse constituted by two components: letter, and in the same position, they showed
the persistence of vision and information. a particular visual sign. The participant’s task
a) Persistence of vision. Iconic memory was to name the letter that occupied the
corresponds to the pre-categorical position of the visual sign. When the visual
representation image/visual. It is sign appeared immediately after the letters,
sensitive to physical parameters, such participants could correctly name the letter
that it depends on retinal that occupied the position of the sign,
photoreceptors (rods and cones). It however, as the presentation of the sign

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became more delayed, participant A factoid is a snippet of information (usually

performance worsened. These results also taken out of context) that's assumed to be
show the rapid decline of visual information. factual because it's repeated often. A favorite
pop-psychology factoid, repeated in
In the Atkinson-Shiffrin model, stimuli from textbooks and popular media, is that human
the environment are processed first in short-term memory is limited to 7, plus or
sensory memory: storage of brief sensory minus 2, items (called "chunks"). While there
events, such as sights, sounds, and tastes. It is some truth to it, this factoid offers little as
is very brief storage—up to a couple of a pedagogical tool beyond stressing the
seconds. We are constantly bombarded with need to break problems into manageable
sensory information. We cannot absorb all of chunks for novices. The full story behind the
it, or even most of it. And most of it has no "magic" number seven, however, provides a
impact on our lives. For example, what was fascinating look into Psychology's quest to
your professor wearing the last class period? understand the differences between experts
As long as the professor was dressed and novices.
appropriately, it does not really matter what
she was wearing. Sensory information about The number seven, called "Miller's Magic
sights, sounds, smells, and even textures, Number," comes from a 1956 article by the
which we do not view as valuable psychologist George A. Miller title "The
information, we discard. If we view Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two:
something as valuable, the information will Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing
move into our short-term memory system. Information." In this celebrated and highly-
readable article, Miller considers two kinds of
One study of sensory memory researched situations:
the significance of valuable information on - A person must correctly distinguish
short- term memory storage. J. R. Stroop between very similar items
discovered a memory phenomenon in the (e.g.,high/low-pitched tones, shades
1930s: you will name a color more easily if it of green), and
appears printed in that color, which is called - A person must recall items presented
the Stroop effect. In other words, the word in a sequence.
“red” will be named more quickly, regardless In the first kind of situation, called absolute
of the color the word appears in, than any judgement, subjects are exposed to a
word that is colored red. Try an experiment: stimulus that varies along a single
name the colors of the words you are given dimension, such as the pitch of a tone, the
in the picture. Do not read the words, but say green-ness of a color, or the concentration of
the color the word is printed in. For example, salt in a cup of water. Across many different
upon seeing the word “yellow” in green kinds of stimuli, people can consistently
print, you should say “green,” not “yellow.” distinguish about six distinct stimulus levels
This experiment is fun, but it’s not as easy as without making mistakes.
it seems.
The second kind of situation is used to
Methods of studying-whole report and measure the span of immediate memory.
partial report techniques: Miller’s Magic Here, the subject must retain a select
Number number of chunks in their short-term
memory, and recall as many items as

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possible at the end of a trial. Across a handful that time, however, researchers have cast
of simple domains, such as decimal digits, doubt on the magic number itself as well as
letters of the alphabet, and monosyllabic its cross-domain applicability. Research with
words, people are able to hold anywhere chess experts, for example, has suggested a
from five to nine chunks in short-term span limit of 3 to 5 chunks; nearly half the
without making mistakes. While it is magic number! In the domain of language,
tempting to assume that the limits of it has been found that phonological
absolute judgement and immediate similarity and spoken word length are much
memory are related, Miller did not believe better predictors of how many words a
this to be the case. person can hold in short-term memory (less-
similar and longer words are harder to
The Game of Simon retain). Things have even changed for
absolute judgement: subjects in one
A helpful way to understand the difference experiment were only able to distinguish
between absolute judgement and about 7 colors until they were given a
immediate memory span is with the broader vocabulary (i.e., "pale blueish
electronic game Simon by Milton Bradley. green"). With little training, they were then
This simple game device has four colored able to discriminate around 36 colors.
buttons, each associated with a distinct
tone. In each round, Simon plays a sequence What does it mean for short-term memory
of tones, and the player must repeat the to have a limited capacity in the first place?
sequence back by pressing the appropriate A key insight is that traditional means of
buttons. The game gets progressively harder measuring absolute judgement and short-
as the length of the sequence grows. term memory span require blocking
recoding -- the process of grouping or
A player is exercising absolute judgement relating chunks. To block recoding,
when distinguishing between Simon's experimenters must use non-sensical or
tones. The number of distinct tones is fixed unrelated stimuli, such as made-up words or
at four, well within a safe "no mistakes" random decimal digits. Under these artificial
range for most people. Simon's increasing conditions, we see something resembling a
sequence length, however, is meant to strain strict capacity limit, but this limit increases
immediate memory capacity. Based on or even seems to disappear when subjects
Miller's article, one would expect it to be are able to find some higher-order meaning
quite difficult for players to repeat back a in the stimuli. For example, one famous
sequence of nine or more tones, yet expert subject in a random decimal digit
players have managed nearly ten times that. memorization experiment found he could
How are they able to do this? remember more digits at a time by mentally
recoding them as mile times (he was an
avid runner).

Shortcomings of the Magic Number Recoding is Magical

The span of short-term memory as reported In the real world, people are constantly
by Miller in 1956 (7 ± 2 chunks) is where the recoding stimuli. Because of this, it is difficult
pop- psychology factoid usually stops. Since to define precisely what a "chunk" is. Cross-

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domain research with experts suggests that understanding of domain expertise. Experts
they retain the same short-term capacity do not exceed the limitations of the average
limits as novices, but the content of their human mind, they have "simply" built a vast,
chunks is far greater. In addition to denser complex network of domain-specific chunks
chunks, experts have invested in building that allows them to rarely end up in
intricate networks of chunks in their long- unfamiliar territory. We can still see experts'
term memories, ensuring that relevant capacity limits in the lab, but they are much
chunks are always readily available. As Miller more difficult to spot in the wild.
and many psychologists since have shown,
recoding is truly where the action lies. Chunking

If stimuli can be recoded relative to one's Chunking refers to a phenomenon whereby

background knowledge, then using Miller's individuals group items together when
magic number alone to judge the cognitive performing a memory task to improve the
burden of something may or may not be performance of sequential memory.
helpful. When the chunk sizes are known, it The word “Chunking,” a phenomenon
becomes possible to use short-term whereby individuals group items together
capacity limits as a predictor of cognitive when performing a memory task, was
burden and complexity. In an ingenious initiated by (Miller, 1956). (Lindley, 1966)
experiment with chess players, subjects showed that groups produced by chunking
were asked to copy the positions of all pieces have concept meanings to the participant.
from one chessboard to another. By placing Therefore, this strategy makes it easier for an
the boards far apart, subjects were forced to individual to maintain and recall information
turn their heads to focus on either board. in memory. For example, when recalling a
number sequence 01122014, if we group the
The experimenters were thus able to use the numbers as 01, 12, and 2014, mnemonic
number of piece positions copied on every meanings for each group as a day, a month
turn as an estimate of the subjects' chunk and a year are created. Furthermore, studies
size, and were able to show that the found evidence that the firing event of a
performance difference between grand single cell is associated with a particular
masters and novices was slim when random concept, such as personal names of Bill
board positions were used. Clinton or Jennifer Aniston (Kreiman et al.,
2000, 2001).
A similar experiment was done with
programmers copying code by hand, and Psychologists believe that chunking plays as
the same kind of results were found (experts an essential role in joining the elements of a
were no better at remember code with memory trace together through a particular
shuffled lines than novices). hierarchical memory structure (Tan and
Soon, 1996; Edin et al., 2009). At a time when
The Big Picture information theory started to be applied in
psychology, Miller claimed that short-term
Miller's magic number is a fun factoid, but it memory is not rigid but open to strategies
is only the beginning. In the search for a fixed (Miller, 1956) such as chunking that can
short-term memory limit, we have found expand the memory capacity (Gobet et al.,
something much more interesting: an 2001). According to this information, it is

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possible to increase short-term memory term memory, but is also used for cognitive
capacity by effectively recoding a large tasks, understanding and learning.
amount of low-information-content items The thesis of two separate memory systems:
into a smaller number of high-information- the long-term memory and the short-term
content items (Cowan, 2001; Chen and memory is today considered to be true. This
Cowan, 2005). Therefore, when chunking is thesis is supported by differences in:
evident in recall tasks, one can expect a - capacity (small for STM and large or
higher number of correct recalls. Patients unlimited for LTM),
with Alzheimer's disease typically - duration limits (items in STM decay as
experience working memory deficits; a function of time, which is not a
chunking is also an effective method to characteristic of LTM),
improve patients' verbal working memory - retention speed (very high for STM
performance (Huntley et al., 2011). and possibly lower for LTM),
- time to acquire information (short for
STM and longer for LTM),
F William James: Isolating Short-term
and Long-term Memory - information encoding (semantic for
LTM and acoustic or visual for STM),
and
An issue discussed during 1960s was - type of memory affected by physical
weather human memory system has one or injuries in patients.
two components. Some authors like Arthur
Melton 8) argued that both short term Another term should be clarified here: the
memory (STM) and long-term memory working memory, which is often mistaken
(LTM) are just two subcomponents for the short-term memory. The main
dependent on the same system. He justified difference between these two is that
his views by proofs of activation of the LTM in working memory usually includes the
STM experiments. His work was very structure and processes performed by a
influential, yet during the years more and system in control of the short-term memory.
more evidence of at least two separate
memory systems have accumulated.
G Serial Position Curve
The first more influential two component
memory model was introduced in 1968 by
Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrni 9) . Variations in the ability to retrieve
Their model called Multi-store information are also seen in the serial
modelconsisted of long-term and working position curve. When we give people a list of
or short-term memory model and was later words one at a time (e.g., on flashcards) and
improved by an additional component, the then ask them to recall them, the results
sensory memory. Sensory memory contains look something like those in Figure 14 “The
one register for each sense and serves as an Serial Position Curve”. People are able to
short lasting buffer-zone before the retrieve more words that were presented to
information can enter short-term memory. them at the beginning and the end of the list
Short-term memory is a temporal storage than they are words that were presented in
for new information before it enters long- the middle of the list. This pattern, known as
the serial position curve, is caused by two

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retrieval phenomenon: The primacy effect When recalling serial items presented as a
refers to a tendency to better remember list (a common occurrence in memory
stimuli that are presented early in a list. The studies), two effects tend to surface: the
recency effect refers to the tendency to primacy effect and the recency effect. The
better remember stimuli that are presented primacy effect occurs when a participant
later in a list. remembers words from the beginning of a
list better than the words from the middle or
There are a number of explanations for end. The theory behind this is that the
primacy and recency effects, but one of participant has had more time to rehearse
them is in terms of the effects of rehearsal on these words in working memory. The
short-term and long-term memory recency effect occurs when a participant
(Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009). remembers words from the end of a list
Because we can keep the last words that we more easily, possibly since they are still
learned in the presented list in short-term available in short-term memory.
memory by rehearsing them before the
memory test begins, they are relatively easily Short Term memory
remembered. So the recency effect can be
explained in terms of maintenance rehearsal Short-term memory (STM) is a temporary
in short-term memory. And the primacy storage system that processes incoming
effect may also be due to rehearsal—when sensory memory; sometimes it is called
we hear the first word in the list we start to working memory. Short-term memory takes
rehearse it, making it more likely that it will information from sensory memory and
be moved from short-term to long-term sometimes connects that memory to
memory. And the same is true for the other something already in long-term memory.
words that come early in the list. But for the Short-term memory storage lasts about 20
words in the middle of the list, this rehearsal seconds. George Miller (1956), in his research
becomes much harder, making them less on the capacity of memory, found that most
likely to be moved to LTM. people can retain about 7 items in STM.
Some remember 5, some 9, so he called the
capacity of STM 7 plus or minus 2.
H Recency Effects and Primary Effects
Short-term memory
Think of short-term memory as the
information you have displayed on your
People tend to recall items or events in the computer screen— a document, a
order in which they occurred. This is called spreadsheet, or a web page. Then,
serial recall and can be used to help cue information in short-term memory goes to
memories. By thinking about a string of long-term memory (you save it to your hard
events or even words, it is possible to use a drive), or it is discarded (you delete a
previous memory to cue the next item in the document or close a web browser). This step
series. Serial recall helps a person to of rehearsal, the conscious repetition of
remember the order of events in his or her information to be remembered, to move
life. These memories appear to exist on a STM into long-term memory is called
continuum on which more recent events are memory consolidation.
more easily recalled.

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You may find yourself asking, “How much

information can our memory handle at
once?” To explore the capacity and duration
of your short-term memory, have a partner
read the strings of random numbers out
loud to you, beginning each string by saying,
“Ready?” and ending each by saying,
“Recall,” at which point you should try to
write down the string of numbers from
memory.

Work through this series of numbers using

the recall exercise explained above to
determine the longest string of digits that
you can store.

Note the longest string at which you got the

series correct. For most people, this will be
close to 7, Miller’s famous 7 plus or minus 2.
Recall is somewhat better for random
numbers than for random letters (Jacobs,
1887), and also often slightly better for
information we hear (acoustic encoding)
rather than see (visual encoding) (Anderson,
1969).

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