The Necessity Of A Good Memory In College

Fiona
Psych
29 January 2015
Memory Chapter Essay
College can be a stressful time and learning and memorizing all the information for all your classes can seem overwhelming. I have some tips that I learned from studying the brain that can help you through this stressful time. The existence of memory is learning that persists over time. Memory performs three tasks: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Memory in humans is viewed as emerging from interconnected neural networks in the brain. According to Atkinson and Shiffrin’s three stage processing model, we record information first as fleeting sensory memory. Next, when a person pays attention to a stimulus it goes into the short-term memory. Last, through rehearsal the information is encoded into the long-term memory. The key word is rehearsal. For your next exam, instead of just reading the information in the chapter over and over again, try covering the information and testing yourself, or using flash cards of the important information. This is called the testing effect and will help you remember the

information better according to Hermann Ebbinghaus. This will encode the information into your long-term memory. The information you consciously declare are in your explicit memory. This is where the information for your exams is stored. The processing takes place in the hippocampus and frontal lobe. Other good ways to encode information are the peg-word system and acronyms. These are examples of mnemonic devices.
Another way memory can be aided is through grouping information into chunks. Once you’ve learned something it’s easier to relearn it. When you study information from your notes you will recognize it and additional rehearsing of stuff you learned, called overlearning can increase your retention. Studies have also shown that spreading out studying helps retention. Just remember, when studying rehearsal is the best way to encode a memory, making retrieval easier for the exam. ALso, use mnemonic devices to help remember the information better. Hope these tips will help you get through college with less stress and better grades.