The Human Memory Model

Memory, Thinking, and Intelligence Memory is the process in our brain that the results of learning are stored for future recall. There are three types of memory, sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory. The human memory processing system is comprised of an input or encoding stage, a storage process, and a retrieval process, the human memory also tends to forget quite a bit of information. Psychologists have many general principles to help us improve our memory and learning how the memory works will enable us to develop new ways to increase memory recall. One of the most significant models of memory was the Shiffrin model, also known as the Modal Model, which was the work of Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968 (Modal Model, n.d.). The study of the human memory process goes back to the beginning if psychology itself. The first to study memory was Herrmann Ebbinghaus who began studying memory in the late 1800s (Davis & Palladino, 2010). Then Atkinson and Shiffrin came up with a new model in 1968 that depicted two types of memory, short term memory and long term memory, and then finally added a third which was actually the first type of memory, sensory memory (Modal Model, n.d.). The memory processing system much like that of a computer, begins with the encoding or input stage which accepts the information, codes the information then is changed into neural version and then it can either be processed more or stored until needed. The next stage in the memory system is storage, depending on how the information was coded determines if it goes to short term storage or long term storage were it is filed away with other memories. Then finally when the information is needed it is retrieved by sending specific cues for that memory to surface (Davis & Palladino, 2010). The sensory memory is the first step in the memory process, this is the first storage and it is used for sensory memories like sight, sound, and taste. Because so much information

References: Banikowski, A.K. (n.d.) Strategies to Enhance Memory Based on Brain Research. Focus on Exceptional Children, 0015511X, Oct99, Vol. 32, and Issue 2 http://sc-boces.org/english/IMC/Focus/Memory_strategies2.pdf Davis, S.F., & Palladino, J.J. (2010), Psychology (6th Ed.) Chapter 7, Pgs. 259- 293. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Modal Model of Memory by Atkinson & Shiffrin, (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2011 from http://sps.nus.edu.sg/~huyihuyi/pub/sp2171/node10.html