Memory is one of the most important ways by which your past influences current actions and experiences. It gives you a sense of who you are and what makes you truly unique. Memory provides you with clear pictures of bygone times and helps shape new information into coherent memories for future use.
Process
Memory, a cognitive process, involves encoding, storage and retrieval of information. Encoding is your ability to translate sensory input into meaningful information. Storage is simply placing information in memory for later use. Consolidation, a slow process that converts a still labile memory trace into a more permanent or enhanced form, must first take place. Retrieval brings previously encoded and stored information into the forefront of awareness.
Types
Sensory memory holds information from your senses for a period of time ranging from a fraction of a second to about 2 seconds. Information that makes it through sensory memory is taken into short-term memory, which can hold about 30 seconds of information. Long-term memory is your vast storehouse of permanent or relatively permanent memories.
Functions
Your memory must perform three basic tasks to work effectively: recollection, recognition and relearning. In recollection, you search for information in stored memory and bring it to awareness, such as when you are trying to remember someone's name. In recognition, you attempt to identify previously recorded information; objective tests are examples of this. In relearning, you relearn previously known information. Students exemplify relearning when they study for comprehensive exams at the end of a semester.
Considerations
Loss of information may disturb the way your memory works. Encoding failure, the failure to store sufficient information to form a useful memory, is the source of forgetting. In other words, it's hard to remember things that were not thoroughly learned. Memory decay, or the fading of memories over time, occurs because sensory or short-term memories are forgotten, not long-term memories.
Expert Insight
An effective way to prolong your memory and maintain its proper working is constant stimulation. Dr. Monique Tremaine, senior neuropsychiatry and clinical manager of Kessler's Cognitive Rehabilitation Program in New Jersey, states that playing stimulating games such as Brain Age will boost the brain's speed and thus improve memory. Another form of memory preservation is ensuring proper encoding consciously. Creating an environment where you know your mind functions at its optimum capacity will help in your ability to create long-lasting memories.
References
- "The World of Psychology"; Memory. Wood, Samuel E, Ellen Green Wood , and Denise Boyd. 2007
- Journal of Sleep Research. ;The relationships between memory systems and sleep stages; Rauchs, Géraldine, et al; April 2005
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Memory
- "Momentum"; Memory loss; Patricia Wadsley; Spring 2010
