The Mechanism of The Human Memory

Introduction to Memory

Memories are the mental archives that maintain the record of what we do. The mind gives us instant access to our past, complete with all the facts that we know and the skills that we have cultivated. Encoding, storage, and retrieval are the three primary stages of the human memory process. The memory has an incredible process. For example, we all can remember a time, people, our age, and important moments like the birth of our first child. During the encoding phase, data is sent to the brain, where it is dissected into its most significant composing elements.

The Mechanism of The Human Memory

The memory depends on these three key processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Encoding is the information that we are entering into our minds, much like entering data through a keyboard. Storage involves maintaining the information in the memory over time. Retrieval involves recalling information from the memory store, bringing old knowledge out of permanent memory back into working memory, which can be mentally manipulated for usage. Memory storage is a much more dynamic process. Memories change over time and are rough reconstructions rather than exact copies of past events. This transformative nature of memory allows for adaptability and learning from past experiences (Baddeley, 2012).

Learning and Memory

Learning is the process of acquiring new knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences. Meanwhile, memory is contingent upon prior knowledge. The first step in the mind is learning, which occurs when our sensory systems send information to the brain. Our sensory system can embrace numerous items concurrently, but only momentarily. Learning is an active process that involves the contribution of sensory input to the mind, which occurs automatically, and an ability to extract meaning from sensory input by paying attention to it long enough to reach working memory. Here, consideration for transfer into permanent memory takes place. This interplay between learning and memory is crucial for cognitive development and adaptation (Tulving, 2002).

Sensory Memory

Sensory memory is one of two temporary storage buffers that information must pass through before reaching long-term storage. As the name implies, sensory memory preserves information through the senses in its original form. Sensory memory allows us to experience a visual pattern, sound, or touch even after the event has come and gone. In doing this, sensory memory gives us additional time to recognize things and memorize them. Sensory information enters consciousness naturally in two subtypes, both of which are somewhat fleeting. Iconic memories of visual information have a duration of 0.25 seconds, while echoic memories of auditory information will last about four to five seconds. The brain shows more partiality to iconic information. Vision has a much longer history in the human experience than the printed word (Sperling, 1960).

Visual Learning Techniques

Writing words in the air on an imaginary board forces students not only to visualize the order of letters in a word but to maintain visually what they have already written in working memory as they continue to write. From first grade to medical school, this technique is equally useful. When young learners are taught to construct diagrams that show relationships (graphic organizers), their memory of content improves substantially. Robert Marzano found that these “nonlinguistic representations” can increase achievement scores by 27 percentile points. This highlights the importance of visual aids in enhancing memory and learning efficiency (Marzano, 2001).

Neural Circuits and Memory Storage

Once the elements that make up an experience are classified according to their particular traits, each part is shunted to a different brain region for further detailed analysis, where a related search for recognizable similarities to previously encountered information begins. The various pieces of new information get stored in neural circuits distributed throughout the cerebral cortex. Because the elements making up a memory reside in multiple cortical areas, the stronger the network linking the associated pieces together, the more resistant it will be to forgetting. This distributed nature of memory storage ensures that memories can be robust and resilient over time (McGaugh, 2000).

Brain Plasticity and Memory

As the brain manages learning events, physical changes occur both within brain circuitry and in its structure-function correlations. Memory is quite fluid, and, over time, the brain continues to revisit and reorganize stored information with each subsequent experience in a cyclical fashion, reprogramming its contents through a repetitive updating procedure known as brain plasticity. This is advantageous since improvements are repeatedly made to existing data. Prior knowledge is revised based on the new input, resulting in a more accurate representation of the current world, increasing one’s probability of thriving. The flip side of these constant memory revisions is that eyewitness accounts often become less reliable with the passage of time (Loftus, 2005).

References

• Baddeley, A. (2012). Working memory: Theories, models, and controversies. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 1-29.
• Loftus, E. F. (2005). Planting misinformation in the human mind: A 30-year investigation of the malleability of memory. Learning & Memory, 12(4), 361-366.
• Marzano, R. J. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. ASCD.
• McGaugh, J. L. (2000). Memory—a century of consolidation. Science, 287(5451), 248-251.
• Sperling, G. (1960). The information available in brief visual presentations. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 74(11), 1-29.
• Tulving, E. (2002). Episodic memory: From mind to brain. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 1-25.