2.3 Introduction to Memory

Explain how the types, structures, and processes of memory work. UNIT 2 Cognition

• Memories for learned knowledge, events, and experiences are differentiated by how they are processed by, stored in, and retrieved by the brain.
  • i. Explicit memory is a type of memory that is more easily described or explained to others. Types of explicit memory include episodic and semantic.
  • ii. Implicit memory is more challenging to describe or explain to others. Procedural memory is a type of implicit memory for procedures and processes.
  • iii. Prospective memory is a type of memory related to future actions.
• Long-term potentiation, a process by which synaptic connections between neurons become stronger with frequent activation, is a biological process for memory.
• The working memory model examines how our primary memory system—working memory— engages in a dynamic interaction with several components, namely the central executive, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad, to process information into long-term memory.
• The multi-store model proposes three interacting systems (sensory memory [including iconic and echoic memory], short-term memory, and long-term memory) that information must pass through to be remembered. This model focuses on the impact of automatic and effortful processing on memory encoding, storage, and retrieval.
• The levels of processing model proposes that memory is encoded on three levels from shallowest to deepest: structural, phonemic, and semantic.