Stages of memory

Stages of memory

From the day a child is born, his or her brain receives massive information about themselves and their surroundings. The brain of human beings receives stores and processes information every single day. Memory is an essential part of human life. Human memory is that part of the brain through which information and data are received, stored, and retrieved.  The human brain can retain acquired knowledge for a short time or a long time. This paper will focus on the three critical stages of memory which are, encoding, storing, and retrieval. Additionally, this paper will discuss the forms of memory storage, which are sensory, short-term, and long-term memory, and the factors that affect memory.

Stages of memory

According to the psychologist, memory is the capability of the human brain to store and recall information. (Loftus, E.F. 2019) The human memory is broken down into three main stages, which are encoding, storing, and retrieving.

Encoding stage

When a person comes into contact with any information, they have to register it in their mind first. Encoding is the process by which the brain receives, processes, and combines information and converts it into memory for the purpose of storage and retrieval. Encoding permits registered information from our surroundings to get to our senses in the form of physical or chemical stimuli.  There are three significant areas of encoding that makes categorization and recognition in the brain possible. These are,

Visual encoding; The method of visual encoding starts when a striking image is converted to a state of understanding it as an object. Iconic memory is an essential constituent of visual encoding and permits human beings to record vast amounts of visual information within a short period of time. This is why human beings are usually in a position to take in immense amounts of stimuli, for example, while driving. Visual encoding is purely dependent on how a person views a given situation or object. Their interpretation of a situation or object will equally translate to how the information will be recorded in the memory.

Acoustic encoding: This process of encoding occurs when the human brain starts to make sense of the distinct aspects of an experience or object. It is the process by which one comprehends and remembers something that they hear. Usually, it involves repeating of words or putting the information into a rhythm or song. However, if the audio aspects of an experience or object are no clear, then registering the information will be distorted. This will, in return, lead to a transfer of the wrong details to the short-term memory, or the data will not be registered at all.

Semantic encoding; this type of encoding involves putting meaning to something like a word, picture phrase, or any other information that comes across. Several types of research suggest that people have better retaining and retrieval of information if they attach some meaning to it. Sematic encoding is highly dependent on the interest and interpretation of a given situation. For example, an individual can relate a phrase of good luck. Such as individual will always recall that phrase whenever something good happens to them

Storage stage.

Information once received is stored for either a short period. Storage involves the duration the data stays in the brain and the capacity of the information that the brain can hold at one given time and the type of information that the brain can maintain. The way the brain stores information is crucial during the process of recovery. Data from an event that was interesting can be stored for a longer period, unlike details that one sees as not exciting or one from a painful experience.

Retrieval stage

This stage involves recognizing and recalling encoded and stored information. The retrieval stage consists of bringing back stored information to the conscious mind. At times the retrieval process may prove to be fruitless, depending on the information that was received. For example, data from a traumatic experience can be moved to the unconscious mind or even deleted, and hence efforts to recall the information might prove difficult. Remembering of stored information is either a conscious or unconscious process.

Problems can be experienced at any level of the memory process, causing forgetfulness of the acquired information. This state of oblivion is referred to as amnesia by psychologists. The memory process is influenced by several factors like one’s capability to retain information, health, age, maturity, willingness to remember, intelligence, interest, sleep, and the meaningfulness of the data acquired. For example, a young person who is of good health can hold on to information over a long time if the data lies in the person’s line of interest.

Types of memory

Once the information is received, the brain stores the data for a specified period. Information can be kept for a short period or a lengthy period before it is stimulated. (Terry, W. 2017) Psychologists have recognized three distinct categories of memory, which are sensory, short term, and long-term memory.

Sensory memory

Once information is received, the part of the memory that first registers the data is known as the sensory memory. The sensory memory allows the receptors of the information to remember imprints of sensory information after the initial stimulus has stopped. At this level, data from the surrounding setting is kept for a short time. The period that is usually taken is half-second for information that is visual, and about three to four seconds for auditory information. The sensory memory does not engage in higher cognitive roles like long-term and short-term memory hence not deliberately under control. The primary responsibility of sensory memory is to give a comprehensive illustration of our whole sensory involvement for which essential data are removed by the short-term memory and managed by the active memory.

Sensory memory is highly dependent on the sense of human beings. Based on this, the information acquired may be incorrect, resulting in wrong information being sent to the short-term memory and in return to the long-term memory. Encoding of information to the sensory memory is dependent on a number of factors, for example, health, age, interest attention, among others. A healthy person will be very keen on the surroundings; therefore will be in a good position of processing the information around them. This will, in return, result in high retention of the information that they receive and the information around them. If the data collected is distorted, it will result in wrong information being transferred to the short-term memory and then to the long-term memory.

Short-Term Memory

Short term memory, also known as active or working memory. This entails the information we are currently thinking about or are conscious of. According to Sigmund Freud, a psychologist, this type of memory is known as the conscious mind. Data in the active memory stays for an approximate time of 20 to 30 seconds. Short-term memories are quickly forgotten; however, they can move to long-term memory through a process known as a rehearsal.

An individual can recall things that happened many years back but fail to remember something that has happened a few minutes again. Such a person is said to be suffering from short-term memory loss. Some of the factors that lead to short-term memory loss are brain-related injuries, medical conditions, or any other external influence. Patients with brain infections, head trauma, stroke, or undergoing cancer treatment can suffer from short-term memory loss. Additionally, the lack of enough oxygen supply to the brain can cause progressive memory loss.

Long term memory

Memories which human beings hold for more than just a few seconds are called long term memory. Long-term memory includes all memories learned from childhood to the very recent memories. Long-term memory has a large storage capacity. According to Freud, the psychologist, the long-term memory, is the unconscious and the preconscious. Some information stored in the long-term memory is fast to recall while others are tough to access or are even forgotten.

An individual’s ability to access and recall information from the long-term memory allows a person to use the information to solve problems, intermingle with others, and make informed decisions. This is because an individual can relate current happenings with something that happened in the past, therefore, helping them to compare and make the appropriate decisions. Successful retrieval of information from the long-term is usually an indication that one has a healthy mind.

Retrieving data from long-term memory can, at a time, become unsuccessful. This can be attributed to a number of factors. For example, health conditions like brain cancer, head trauma, or head injuries can lead to loss of information in the long-term memory. If the information that was gathered is from a painful experience, that a person would want to forget that given incident by pushing it to the unconscious mind. Hence trying to recall information that one would rather forget can prove to be challenging. Additionally, if the information that was gathered was not of considerable significance to the person, chances are recalling of the information will be incorrect.

Factors that affect memory

Memory plays a very significant role in our well-being. Loss of memory is alarming for an individual or close friends and family of the person experiencing the loss ( Lewandowsky, S, 2016). One can lose either their active memory or long-term memory or both. Several known factors cause memory loss, as discussed below.

Lack of sleep: lack of sleep or failure to sleep at all is one of the causes that lead to forgetfulness and memory loss. It is, therefore, essential to get about six to eight hours of sleep for your memory to function effectively. Having a constant sleeping pattern improves memory and reduces forgetfulness. Therefore, it is vital to get enough sleep.

Anxiety and stress: Everyone undergoes a certain amount of anxiety and stress at one point or another in their life. Anxiety and stress are associated with intense emotions and feelings that can affect the way we encode, store, and retrieve information. A combination of all these intense feelings can significantly lead to forgetfulness and memory loss. It is, therefore, essential for one to deal with anxiety and stress effectively to minimize the chances of forgetfulness and memory loss.

Depression: different people struggle with depression differently. Depression being a mental disorder, can significantly affect a person’s ability to make decisions, concentrate, remain organized, and recall details. All these factors associated with depression can lead to forgetfulness and memory loss. Hence, it is critical to seek professional help if one has depression to reduce the risk of forgetfulness and memory loss.

Alcoholism: Consumption of too much alcohol can affect a persons’ short-term memory and cause forgetfulness. A person who is under the influence of alcohol will, in most cases, encode information in a distorted way hence storing the wrong information to the working and long-term memory. It is essential, therefore, for one to watch out the amount of alcohol one consumes.

In conclusion, retaining the information we acquire is essential for our survival. It is also vital that we store the right information in our sensory, working, and long-term memory. The various stages of memory are encoding, storage, and retrieving. Encoding is the process of acquiring data or information. The information is then kept in sensory memory, active memory, and long-term memory. The acquisition of data and its retention for retrieval in the near or distant future is influenced by a number of factors. Some of these factors are health conditions like cancer, stroke, concussions, and head injuries that can affect how information is received, stored, and retrieved.

Additionally, other factors cause forgetfulness and memory loss. These factors are sleeplessness, anxiety and stress, depression, and alcoholism. It is, therefore, for individuals to be keen while receiving information to ensure they collect and store the right information. A good memory helps to improve ones’ mental, emotional, and psychological health. This, in return, results in a good well being and boosts our ego.

References

Terry, W. S. (2017). Learning and memory: Basic principles, processes, and procedures. Routledge.

Loftus, G. R., & Loftus, E. F. (2019). Human memory: The processing of information. Psychology Press.

Oberauer, K., Farrell, S., Jarrold, C., & Lewandowsky, S. (2016). What limits working memory capacity. Psychological Bulletin, 142(7), 758.