Human Memory
Explaining Memories
Memory is defined as the faculty by which sense impressions and information are retained in the mind and subsequently recalled. A person’s capacity to remember and the total store of mentally retained impressions and knowledge also formulate memory. (Webster, 1992) The study of human memory and in particular the attempts to distinguish between different types of memory have been investigated for the last century. Philosophy, psychiatry, and psychology have all contributed to this study. Memory has been a controversial issue for centuries, not just the last few years. There have been many attempts to develop a satisfactory theory to explain its workings: why we remember what we do and why we forget so many seemingly important things but none of them have continued to hold force for long.
There are many intriguing problems related to memory. There are the individuals suffering from forms of temporary amnesia. There are those talking about repressed memories. There is shock treatment that sometimes eliminates short-term memory and sometimes erases years from people 's lives. Cognitive psychology offers us yet another model of memory. The first influential theory about memory in cognitive psychology was the three stage processing model, developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (p301). This model built on the work of others in distinguishing between short-term memory storage, and use, and longer-term memory storage and use. However, Atkinson and Shiffrin added another component, in what they termed the sensory store, and conceptualized memories as short-term and long-term stores. Essentially, this model shows that environmental input is processed through the senses and moved into short-term memory or temporary working memory.
The human memory can be viewed as an information processing system which is divided into three storage structures which correspond to a stage of processing stimulus. Sensory register, for the five senses, visual, hearing, touch,
Memory is defined as the faculty by which sense impressions and information are retained in the mind and subsequently recalled. A person’s capacity to remember and the total store of mentally retained impressions and knowledge also formulate memory. (Webster, 1992) The study of human memory and in particular the attempts to distinguish between different types of memory have been investigated for the last century. Philosophy, psychiatry, and psychology have all contributed to this study. Memory has been a controversial issue for centuries, not just the last few years. There have been many attempts to develop a satisfactory theory to explain its workings: why we remember what we do and why we forget so many seemingly important things but none of them have continued to hold force for long.
There are many intriguing problems related to memory. There are the individuals suffering from forms of temporary amnesia. There are those talking about repressed memories. There is shock treatment that sometimes eliminates short-term memory and sometimes erases years from people 's lives. Cognitive psychology offers us yet another model of memory. The first influential theory about memory in cognitive psychology was the three stage processing model, developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (p301). This model built on the work of others in distinguishing between short-term memory storage, and use, and longer-term memory storage and use. However, Atkinson and Shiffrin added another component, in what they termed the sensory store, and conceptualized memories as short-term and long-term stores. Essentially, this model shows that environmental input is processed through the senses and moved into short-term memory or temporary working memory.
The human memory can be viewed as an information processing system which is divided into three storage structures which correspond to a stage of processing stimulus. Sensory register, for the five senses, visual, hearing, touch,
References: Atkinson, R.C., and R.M. Shiffrin (1968). "Human memory: a proposed system and its control processes." In W.K. Spence & J.T. Spence (Eds.). The psychology of learning and motivation: advances in research and theory (Volume 2). New York: Academic Press. Memory - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved June 8, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/memory Myers, D. G. (2004). Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers. Russell, P. (1979). The Brain Book: Know Your Own Mind and How to Use it. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.