Short Term And Long Term Memory example essay topic

Memory Memory is the vital tool in learning and thinking. We all use memory in our everyday lives. Think about the first time you ever tied your shoe laces or rode a bike; those are all forms of memory, long term or short. If you do not remember anything from the past, you would never learn; thus unable to process. Without memory you would simply be exposed to new and unfamiliar things.

Life would be absent and bare of the richness of it happy or sorrow. Many scientists are still unsure of all that happens and what and how memory works. They are certain, though, that it is involvement of chemical changes in the brain which changes the physical structure (Loftus p. 392). It has been found after many research, that new memory is stored in a section of the brain called the hippocampus (Loftus p. 392).

Memory is acquired by a series of solidifying events, but more research is still needed to discover and fully understand (Loftus p. 392). Memory is broken down into three systems or categories. These different systems are sensory memory, short-term, and long-term memory. Sensory memory is the shortest and less extensive of the others. It can hold memory for only an instance (Memory p. 32). Suppose you see a tree, the image of the tree is briefly held by the sensory memory and quickly disappears unless you transfer it to your short-term memory (Rhodes p. 130).

The next level is called short-term memory. The image or fact can be held as long as the brain is actively thinking about it (Loftus p. 392). For example, if you look up a number in the phone book and repeat it to yourself until you dial it, that is a form of short-term memory. Short-term memory lasts roughly half a minute unless it is transferred to long-term memory. Long-term memory is the last and final stage of memory. It is so large and limitless it can hold nearly anything (Loftus p. 392).

Long-term memory can hold something that is only a few moments old to many, many years. Memory can be measured in three ways. These techniques include recall, recognition, and relearning (Loftus p. 393). Suppose someone asks you who was ata party.

When you try to list everyone you saw, that is known as recall. The other form is recognition, which contains recall. For example, the person asking you a list of names. The list contains names of people who were at the party and names of those who were not at the party.

' In relearning you would memorize the guest list after apparently forgetting it ' (Loftus p. 393). There are many questions to why people forget. Scientists still do not know exactly how people forget. Not surprisingly, people forget more and mores time progresses. The chief explanations for forgetting include interference, retrieval, failure, motivated forgetting, and constructive processes (Loftus p. 393). ' Interference occurs when the remembering of certain learned material blocks the memory of other learned material ' (Loftus p. 393).

Retrieval failure is the inability to recall material or data that has been stored (Loftus p. 393). An example of this is when you try to think of a certain date or number, but fail to remember. Later it will come naturally without any effort. The third reason is a loss of memory caused by conscious or unconscious desires called motivated forgetting (Stevenson p. 393). Scientists believe that many of us forget in purpose because we choose to. Motivated forgetting is closely related to a process motivated by the needs and wishes of the individual called regression (Memory p. 33).

A very good example is when people gamble. When people gamble they choose to remember all the times that they have won, and not the times that they lose. The last explanation of forgetting is constructive process. This is involves the unconscious invention of false memories. Memories became systematically distorted or changed over a long period of time (Memory.

33). When people try to remember a certain fact that has occurred a long time ago, the individual will tend to fill in the gaps with information that is not true. There are many ways to improve memory. Not surprisingly, practice makes perfect and the way people use the devices include rhymes, clues, mental pictures, and other methods (Rhodes p. 130). Another method provides clues by means of an acronym, a word formed from the first letters or syllables of the words (Rhodes p. 132). A mental picture can be provided by the key-word method, which is particularly useful in learning foreign words (Rhodes p. 135).

Mental pictures can also be used to remember names. When you meet a person for the first time, pick out a physical feature of the individual and relate it to his or her name. To use mnemonic devices, however, you can use it at anytime you wish. A good way to ensure remembering a certain part of information is to study it over and over so you know it perfectly. The more you thoroughly study something, the chances are, the more lasting it will be. There are times when uncommon memory conditions occur.

Sometimes you of people having photographic memory. No one really has a photographic memory, but there are many people who have eidetic memory (Loftus p. 394). Eidetic memory isa picture that remains in a person's mind for a few second after the picture has already disappeared (Loftus p. 394). People who have this imagery can look at a scene and describe it, though it is not exactly accurate. It is rare to have this way of remembering a picture. Scientists say that only about 5 to 10 percent of children have this (Loftus p. 394).

Even the children who do have this lose it as they grow up. A more serious result is called amnesia. This can result in disease, injury, or emotional shock (Loftus p. 394). Many cases of amnesia, even more severe ones are usually temporary and do not last very long.

The more severe the injury the greater the loss of memory. Football players and other sport players have the greatest chance of being affected. Someone who suffers brain damage from a car accident might lose months of years of memory. In general, memories are less clear and detailed than perceptions, but occasionally a remembered image is complete in every detail..