- Semantic Clustering – People tend to recall
MEMORY PROCESSES items in category groups (e.g., animals,
- Encoding: How you transform a physical, vegetables), even if presented in random order
sensory input into a representation that can be (Bousfield, 1953).
placed into memory - Deeper, semantic processing leads to
- Storage: How you store (keep) encoded better long-term memory than shallow,
information in memory non semantic strategies.
- Retrieval: How you gain access to information - Visual Encoding – Visual features (e.g., object
stored in memory orientation) also aid memory.
- Participants clustered drawings by both
category and visual orientation (Frost,
1972).
- Acoustic Encoding – Though less dominant,
Encoding and Transfer of Information sound-based encoding can still occur in
- Creating an acoustic code long-term memory (Nelson & Rothbart, 1972).
- Encoding: Left fusiform face area, left PPA.
- What it sounds like
- Retrieval: Right fusiform, anterior medial
- Creating a semantic code
prefrontal cortex, left PPA (for places).
- What it means - General Memory: Medial temporal and
- Creating a visual code prefrontal regions.
- What it looks like
Transfer of Information from STM to LTM
Short-Term Storage - Interference: Forgetting due to competing
- Refers to memory that is held temporarily. information.
- Primary Encoding Type: Short-term memory - Mixing up storylines of two movies with
relies mainly on acoustic (sound-based) the same actor.
encoding, even when information is presented - Decay: Forgetting due to the passage of time,
visually (Conrad, 1964). with no new interference.
- Acoustic Confusability: Errors in recall are - Declarative memory: facts and knowledge
typically sound-based, not based on how - Nondeclarative memory: procedural memories
letters or words look. - Some forms of nondeclarative memory
- Baddeley (1966): are highly volatile and decay quickly.
● Worse recall for acoustically Others are maintained more readily as a
similar words supports the result of practice or repeated
importance of acoustic conditioning.
encoding. - Consolidation: Integrating new information
● Minimal difference in recall into stored information.
between semantically similar - Metamemory: Reflecting on our own memory
and dissimilar words suggests processes to improve our memory
semantic encoding is less - Knowing what you know
influential. - Knowing how your memory works
- Semantic Encoding: Some limited semantic - Being able to assess your own memory
encoding occurs in short-term memory - Principles to strengthen memory
(Shulman, 1970; Wickens et al., 1976), but it - Rehearsal: The repeated recitation of
plays a secondary role. an item. The effects are called practice
- Visual Encoding: Visual information can be effects.
encoded briefly, but it is very short-lived (~1.5 - Overt: Usually aloud and
seconds) and less reliable. obvious
- Short-term memory is primarily acoustic, with - Covert: Silent and hidden
occasional semantic and fleeting visual - Elaborative rehearsal: The individual
encoding depending on the task and context. elaborates/further explains the items to
- We are more likely to remember how be remembered.
something sounds than how it looks. - Maintenance rehearsal: The individual
simply repeats the items to be
Long-Term Storage remembered.
- Refers to memory that may be held - Elaborative rehearsal is better
permanently than maintenance rehearsal
- Primary Encoding: Semantic – Most long-term (Tulving, 1962)
memory is encoded by meaning, not sound or - Spacing effect: Long-term memory is
appearance. enhanced when learning events are
- Participants falsely recognized spaced apart in time, rather than
semantically related distracters more massed in immediate succession
than unrelated ones (Grossman & - Distributed practice: Learning
Eagle, 1970). sessions are spaced over time
- Massed practice: Learning
, sessions are crammed together - Distributed practice benefits memory
in a very short period of time because it allows repeated reactivation during
- Distributed practice is better sleep, enhancing integration into long-term
than massed practice memory.
- Organizing information enhances - Reconsolidation:
memory - After a memory is retrieved, it becomes
unstable and can be disrupted again.
Sleep and Memory Consolidation - Reconsolidation stabilizes these
- REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep: sleep memories once more, especially if they
stage characterized by dreaming and increased were recently encoded.
brainwave activity. It is important for memory
consolidation. Organization of Information
- Many studies have confirmed that REM - Mnemonic devices: Specific techniques to help
sleep aids us in the formation of you organize and memorize information.
memory.
Technique Explanation Example
Categorical Group items into Organizing a
Clustering categories to aid shopping list by food
(hierarchy memory types like fruits,
technique) dairy, etc
Interactive Create vivid mental Scissors cutting a
Images images linking sock with an apple
isolated items inside to remember
together that you need to buy
the said items
Pegword Link new words to One is a bun. Two is
System a memorized list a shoe. Three is a
(like rhymes) using tree, and so on. To
imagery remember that you
need to buy socks,
apples, and a pair of
scissors, you might
imagine an apple
between two buns,
a sock stuffed inside
a shoe, and a pair of
scissors cutting a
tree.
Method of Loci Associate words Placing items in
with specific rooms of a house
locations in a
Neuroscience and Memory Consolidation familiar place,
- Hippocampal cells that were active during forming a mental
learning are reactivated during sleep, “walk” through
suggesting the brain “replays” experiences to them
consolidate them.
- Human studies show increased Acronym Use the first letters "I AM PACK" to
of words to create remember
hippocampal activity during sleep a memorable new Interactive images,
after learning, which correlates with word Acronyms,
better recall performance (e.g., spatial Method of loci,
tasks). Pegwords,
- During this reactivation: Acrostics,
- Administering acetylcholine during Categories, and
sleep weakens declarative memory Keywords.
consolidation but does not affect
procedural memory. Acrostic Make a sentence “Every Good Boy
- The hippocampus acts as a rapid learning where each word Does Fine” for
starts with the first music notes
system, holding new information temporarily. letter of what you’re
- This information is later transferred to trying to remember
the neocortex, which encodes it more
gradually. Keyword Use sound-alike Linking beurre
- Rapid integration into long-term memory System words and link [French for butter]
(without sleep or spaced repetition) them with vivid with “bear” eating
can cause disruption in the system. imagery butter
MEMORY PROCESSES items in category groups (e.g., animals,
- Encoding: How you transform a physical, vegetables), even if presented in random order
sensory input into a representation that can be (Bousfield, 1953).
placed into memory - Deeper, semantic processing leads to
- Storage: How you store (keep) encoded better long-term memory than shallow,
information in memory non semantic strategies.
- Retrieval: How you gain access to information - Visual Encoding – Visual features (e.g., object
stored in memory orientation) also aid memory.
- Participants clustered drawings by both
category and visual orientation (Frost,
1972).
- Acoustic Encoding – Though less dominant,
Encoding and Transfer of Information sound-based encoding can still occur in
- Creating an acoustic code long-term memory (Nelson & Rothbart, 1972).
- Encoding: Left fusiform face area, left PPA.
- What it sounds like
- Retrieval: Right fusiform, anterior medial
- Creating a semantic code
prefrontal cortex, left PPA (for places).
- What it means - General Memory: Medial temporal and
- Creating a visual code prefrontal regions.
- What it looks like
Transfer of Information from STM to LTM
Short-Term Storage - Interference: Forgetting due to competing
- Refers to memory that is held temporarily. information.
- Primary Encoding Type: Short-term memory - Mixing up storylines of two movies with
relies mainly on acoustic (sound-based) the same actor.
encoding, even when information is presented - Decay: Forgetting due to the passage of time,
visually (Conrad, 1964). with no new interference.
- Acoustic Confusability: Errors in recall are - Declarative memory: facts and knowledge
typically sound-based, not based on how - Nondeclarative memory: procedural memories
letters or words look. - Some forms of nondeclarative memory
- Baddeley (1966): are highly volatile and decay quickly.
● Worse recall for acoustically Others are maintained more readily as a
similar words supports the result of practice or repeated
importance of acoustic conditioning.
encoding. - Consolidation: Integrating new information
● Minimal difference in recall into stored information.
between semantically similar - Metamemory: Reflecting on our own memory
and dissimilar words suggests processes to improve our memory
semantic encoding is less - Knowing what you know
influential. - Knowing how your memory works
- Semantic Encoding: Some limited semantic - Being able to assess your own memory
encoding occurs in short-term memory - Principles to strengthen memory
(Shulman, 1970; Wickens et al., 1976), but it - Rehearsal: The repeated recitation of
plays a secondary role. an item. The effects are called practice
- Visual Encoding: Visual information can be effects.
encoded briefly, but it is very short-lived (~1.5 - Overt: Usually aloud and
seconds) and less reliable. obvious
- Short-term memory is primarily acoustic, with - Covert: Silent and hidden
occasional semantic and fleeting visual - Elaborative rehearsal: The individual
encoding depending on the task and context. elaborates/further explains the items to
- We are more likely to remember how be remembered.
something sounds than how it looks. - Maintenance rehearsal: The individual
simply repeats the items to be
Long-Term Storage remembered.
- Refers to memory that may be held - Elaborative rehearsal is better
permanently than maintenance rehearsal
- Primary Encoding: Semantic – Most long-term (Tulving, 1962)
memory is encoded by meaning, not sound or - Spacing effect: Long-term memory is
appearance. enhanced when learning events are
- Participants falsely recognized spaced apart in time, rather than
semantically related distracters more massed in immediate succession
than unrelated ones (Grossman & - Distributed practice: Learning
Eagle, 1970). sessions are spaced over time
- Massed practice: Learning
, sessions are crammed together - Distributed practice benefits memory
in a very short period of time because it allows repeated reactivation during
- Distributed practice is better sleep, enhancing integration into long-term
than massed practice memory.
- Organizing information enhances - Reconsolidation:
memory - After a memory is retrieved, it becomes
unstable and can be disrupted again.
Sleep and Memory Consolidation - Reconsolidation stabilizes these
- REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep: sleep memories once more, especially if they
stage characterized by dreaming and increased were recently encoded.
brainwave activity. It is important for memory
consolidation. Organization of Information
- Many studies have confirmed that REM - Mnemonic devices: Specific techniques to help
sleep aids us in the formation of you organize and memorize information.
memory.
Technique Explanation Example
Categorical Group items into Organizing a
Clustering categories to aid shopping list by food
(hierarchy memory types like fruits,
technique) dairy, etc
Interactive Create vivid mental Scissors cutting a
Images images linking sock with an apple
isolated items inside to remember
together that you need to buy
the said items
Pegword Link new words to One is a bun. Two is
System a memorized list a shoe. Three is a
(like rhymes) using tree, and so on. To
imagery remember that you
need to buy socks,
apples, and a pair of
scissors, you might
imagine an apple
between two buns,
a sock stuffed inside
a shoe, and a pair of
scissors cutting a
tree.
Method of Loci Associate words Placing items in
with specific rooms of a house
locations in a
Neuroscience and Memory Consolidation familiar place,
- Hippocampal cells that were active during forming a mental
learning are reactivated during sleep, “walk” through
suggesting the brain “replays” experiences to them
consolidate them.
- Human studies show increased Acronym Use the first letters "I AM PACK" to
of words to create remember
hippocampal activity during sleep a memorable new Interactive images,
after learning, which correlates with word Acronyms,
better recall performance (e.g., spatial Method of loci,
tasks). Pegwords,
- During this reactivation: Acrostics,
- Administering acetylcholine during Categories, and
sleep weakens declarative memory Keywords.
consolidation but does not affect
procedural memory. Acrostic Make a sentence “Every Good Boy
- The hippocampus acts as a rapid learning where each word Does Fine” for
starts with the first music notes
system, holding new information temporarily. letter of what you’re
- This information is later transferred to trying to remember
the neocortex, which encodes it more
gradually. Keyword Use sound-alike Linking beurre
- Rapid integration into long-term memory System words and link [French for butter]
(without sleep or spaced repetition) them with vivid with “bear” eating
can cause disruption in the system. imagery butter
