Memory in Psychology

Memory in Psychology, There is great importance of memory in our day-to-day life. It is difficult for a man to move his life properly without memory. Whatever a man feels, ever, that continues to collect in some form in his mind. The experiences, which are on the unconscious level of mind or are not conscious, are called collected. And which comes on the level of the conscious mind, they are called Memory in psychology . According to the needs, these collected experiences help us in different situations.

Memory in psychology helps us in the practical activities of life. If man could not remember his previous experiences, he would not have made so much progress today. Thus we can say that development and education are dependent on the tendency of collecting previous knowledge and experiences; good memory is needed for it. Especially intellectual work cannot be done in the absence of memory. Memory has an important place in education. It is almost impossible to get knowledge without memory. So it is necessary to think in detail about the nature of memory.

Meaning and Definition of Memory

Memory in psychology is a mental process. With its help we bring our previous experiences, which are stored in our
unconscious mind as mental instinct, into our current conscience. Many kinds of events happen in our daily life. If we see any place or thing, we get some experiences from them, which do not remain in the conscious mind forever but in the unconscious mind. The impressions of those experiences are marked in the mind. The process of coming into the conscious mind of these experiences collected in the unconscious mind is called memory.

The definitions of memory given by psychologists are the following:

• “Memory in psychology is the ideal revival insofar as ideal revival is merely reproductive, in which the object experiences are reinstated as far as possible in the order and manner of their original occurrence.” – Scout
• “Memory is the direct use of what is learned.” – Woodworth
• “Memory implies imagining events as experienced in the past and recognizing them as belonging to one’s own past experience.” – McDougall
• “Memory is the knowledge of a past condition after being detached from the conscious, or it is the knowledge of an event or fact about which we have not thought till sometimes, along with which we have to think that we have thought or experienced it before.” – W. James
• “The power of collecting our experiences when connected with consciousness, we call it memory.” – Nunn
• “After some time collecting our previous experiences and getting them, the power that we have for bringing them into the field of consciousness is called memory.” – Ryburn

We can say on the basis of above definitions that memory is such a mental process by which collected or
Past experiences, due to need, are again brought into consciousness.

Kinds of memory

Atkinson and Schifrin proposed a theory to explain the nature of Memory in psychology. He divided the memory into three classes, which are as follows:

• Sensory memory
• Short-term memory
• Long-term Memory

Sensory Memory in psychology

Thus the memory is stored at the level of the senses for a few moments. Sensory memory resides in the senses. There are as many sensory memories as can be imagined. The sense organs receive the information of some stimulus at their level, and this information remains for a few moments only. E.g., memory of the sensation of certain visuals as seen through the eyes, memory of the smell sense received from the nose, memory of the taste sensation received from the tongue, memory of the word sensation from the hearing sense, and memory of the sensation of touch through the skin. If the stimulus to the senses is intense, then its memory may be short-term or long-term.

Psychologists Sperling (1960) and Naisser (1967) have conducted experimental research studies on visual sensory memory and auditory sensory memory. According to him, even after the stimulus present in front of the eyes is removed, the image of the stimulus remains for a few moments on the axilla of the eyes. Therefore, it is clear from this that even after the removal of the stimulus, the image of the stimulus remains stored in the retina and can be brought to the memory.

Just as there is a visual sensory memory store, there is also an auditory sensory memory store, and the same is true for other sensory memory stores.

Short-term Memory in psychology (STM)

Short-term memory is also known as working memory. The information received in this type of memory
remains for a very limited time. It usually contains information that is of the present time and has been
received at the moment. Psychologists have described four types of short-term memories. These are active memory, working memory, primary memory, and immediate memory. This type of memory is used during the learning process, especially in the field of verbal learning. Regarding short-term memory, psychologist Hebb (1949) postulates that it is based on a network of actions in certain nerve cells in the
brain in which action in one cell activates another cell, creating a reverberatory circuit. Again, due to lack of practice or due to the passage of time, these actions slow down and end after some time.

Long-term memory (LTM)

We all have this experience that there are many incidents we remember throughout our lives and many incidents we forget within a few days. Almost everyone has a large and relatively permanent memory. When we understand the meaning of words or once we understand the action of an event properly, we often do not forget it. Yet sometimes we forget; even in a few months or years, they are forgotten. Tulving (1972) has described two types of long-term memories—

• Episodic Memory
• Semantic Memory.

The first type of Memory in psychology, i.e., episodic memory, is where events and their temporal-spatial relationships are captured and stored. Whereas language is used in the second type of memory, i.e., semantic memory. In this, verbal symbols, words and their meanings, their mutual relations, and formulas are stored, and on the basis of this memory, he uses symbols and their relations. In this type of memory, many images, cognitive maps, and spatial features are stored in the person. These two types of memories are related to each other and complement each other. Tulving has found a relationship between these two types of memories in his further research work (1983, 1984, and 1985). Episodic memory and semantic memory have some of the following characteristics:

• There is a difference in the nature and structure of both the memories. Episodic memory is concerned with the storage of a particular experience, while semantic memory is concerned with the storage of organized knowledge of words and symbols.
• On the basis of the form of forgetfulness, there is a difference between the two memories. Circular memory is forgotten quickly, whereas semantic memory is delayed.
• Circular memory and semantic subject memory interact with each other even though they are different. In long-term memory, memory is stored by verbal encoding.

Psychologists believe that tangible or intangible properties and concepts are stored in long-term memory in the form of language. Whatever the person remembers, such as the faces of familiar people, the appearance of objects, or any event, their code is only verbal.

Stages of Memory Process (Memory in psychology)

There are three stages of memory, which are as follows:

• Encoding
• Storage
• Retrieval

Encoding (or registration)

The process of receiving, processing, and combining information. Encoding allows information from the
outside world to reach our senses in the forms of chemical and physical stimuli. In this first stage we must
change the information so that we may put the memory into the encoding process.

There are three main ways in which information can be encoded (changed)—

• Visual (picture)
• Acoustic (sound)
• Semantic (meaning)

Storage

The creation of a permanent record of the encoded information. Storage is the second memory stage or
process in which we maintain information over periods of time.

Retrieval (or recall, or recognition)

The calling back of stored information in response to some cue for use in a process or activity. The third
process is the retrieval of information that we have stored. We must locate it and return it to our
consciousness. Some retrieval attempts may be effortless due to the type of information.

Factors/Steps of Memory (Memory in psychology) Process

Memory in psychology is a complicated mental process. According to Woodworth, the following four factors are included in memory—

• Learning
• Retention
• Recall
• Recognition

Learning

First it is necessary to learn for memorizing the content of anything. What is the process of learning and how
does it happen? In this relation it has been described in the chapter related to learning. There is a close
relation between learning and memorizing. We cannot remember anything without learning it very well and we can learn anything without remembering it. In order to learn any lesson, a child repeats it again and again, understands it meaning and connects it with others lesson. In this process its traces falls on the mind. Thus remembering the learnt things from that lesson, he establishes association to the past knowledge with new knowledge. In this section of memory the rules of learning are followed completely.

Retention

To remember anything is only to do retention of learnt things. The power of remembrance depends upon the power of retention. Retention is that power of mind by which we keep the learnt or remembered content in the mind. According to Woodworth- “Retention is such a situation in which everything, which is learnt, until it is repeated again, lies in it. These traces are not destroyed. These are protected in the form of mental purification on the unconscious level. We can remember that learnt material till the memory traces are present in our mind. Retention is such a factor which can be proved by remembrance. We can remember those things again which we have retained in our mind. Thus remembrance depends upon retention an retention depends upon learning.

Recall

To bring the past experiences in consciousness is recall. The concepts which are marked on mind with the
past experiences, they come on the level of consciousness by a recall. Recall depends on retention-power. If a child, after learning any lesson absorbs it in a proper way, he can remember it easily. “Recall is the mental process, by which we bring our past feelings in our consciousness without presented by any original stimulus.‟‟ There are two kinds of recall- (a) Spontaneous (b) Deliberate. In the first kind there is no need of any kind of effort, they come on the level of consciousness itself according to the need. In the second type of recall, there is a need of effort. As in the examination hall, there is need of effort for the remembrance of the answer of the question in writing.

Recognition

Recognition is an important factor. According to Woodworth- “to know the past experiences is recognition, or to introduce that thing in the current time which we have been introduced in the past.’’ For example, an adult man when sees his teacher after many years who taught him in the fourth and fifth class, he recognize that “he taught me math” Teacher also recognizes him by recall that „he was the mischievous boy of the class. Thus association of ideas depends on the feelings of introduction.

Methods of Memorization

Psychologists have given various methods of memorizing- on the basis of their many experiments, by which the subject-matter can be remembered easily and quickly in a short time. Following are the important methods of memorizing-

• Part Versus Whole Method
• Mixed Method
• Progressive Method
• Un-spaced method
• Spaced method
• Active Method
• Passive Method
• Cramming method
• Association of ideas Method

Factors influencing memory (Memory in psychology) process

Factors that Influence Memory Process in humans are as follows-

• Ability to retain
• Good health
• Age of the learner
• Maturity
• Will to remember
• Intelligence and Interest
• Over learning
• Speed of learning
• Meaningfulness of the material
• Sleep or rest

Meaning of forgetting

Why do we forget? There are two simple answers to this question.

• First, the memory has disappeared – it is no longer available. Second, the memory is still stored inthe memory system but, for some reason, it cannot be retrieved.
• These two answers summaries the main theories of forgetting developed by psychologists. The first answer is more likely to be applied to forgetting in short term memory, the second to forgetting in long term memory.
• Forgetting refers to failure to either recall or retain information into present consciousness. All experiences leave traces or after-effects (images) in memory parts of the brain. Failure to retain these traces from the parts of memory is called Forgetting.

Definition of forgetting

• “Forgetting is failing to retain or to be able to recall what has been acquired.” – Munn
• “Forgetting means failure at any time to recall an experience. When attempting to do so, or to perform an action previously.” – Drever
• “Forgetting is a tendency to ward off from memory that which is unpleasant.” – Freud

Causes of forgetting

We can divide the causes of forgetting in two groups, such as-

1. Theoretical Causes
2. General Causes

Theoretical Causes

Theoretical Causes of forgetting are as follows–

• Theory of Disuse
• Repression Theory
• Theory of Interference

General Causes

General Causes of forgetting are as follows-

• Nature of the learning material
• Amount of learning material
• Degree of learning
• Defective method of learning
• Lack of interest and Attention
• Lapse of time
• Age and intelligence of learner
• Lack of repetition
• Emotional Causes
• Desire to forget
• Doubt
• Brain injury
• Mental Shock
• Mental Conflict
• Use of Intoxicants