Short-Term and Long-Term Memory

Written Assignment 3

Yumiko Cesar

Thomas Edison State College

January, 2015

PSY-101-OL010

Abstract

This article will define memory, including the different types of memory. We will explain the different between short-term and long-term memory. The theories behind motivation will be explored as well as the theories behind emotions.

Written Assignment 3

What is memory? How is it that we are able to store completely random, and sometimes useless information within our brains? What are the different types of memory? Short-term versus long-term memory – how do they work and what is the difference between the two? As animals of thought, we experience emotions, but why? All of these questions will be answered in the paragraphs to come.

Memory

Memory can be defined as the mental capacity to encode, store, and retrieve information (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2010). This is basically saying how we process information, remember it for future use, and then use it in context. It seems simple enough and we would hardly think twice about the process that goes into using our memories, but is in fact an extremely complicated process. There are several different types of memory, but they all branch from three exclusive categories: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. For now, we will focus on long-term memory and some of its components.

The first aspect of long-term memory we will focus on will be implicit uses of memory. This is described as the availability of information through memory processes without conscious effort to encode or recover information (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2010). This is the most “stable” type of memory since it relies on information that we do not have to put too much effort in to recalling, or in other words, put too much conscious effort to access. It is also the first to be most likely recovered after brain injury, or the least of all memories to go due to brain injury and sometimes even to aging.

Along with implicit memory use, we have procedural memory. Since the information within our memories that we access using this method is mostly instinctual, procedural memory coincides right along within this category. As the concept implies, procedural memory is for how things get done; the way perceptual, cognitive, and motor skills are acquired, retained, and used. The memories used in this manner are usually acquired through repetition and practice – such as counting numbers, driving a motor vehicle, and dressing yourself at the start of your day.  

Next, we will focus on explicit memory uses, which is when a conscious effort to encode or recover information through memory process is necessary (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2010). This is the type of memory we use when we are studying for an exam, learning the functions of certain aspects of society, or the beginning stages of learning to drive which entail learning all the different traffic signs. Since a conscious effort is needed to put into this types of memory use, it is most likely the first to be compromised with aging, brain injury and trauma. Which also means that it is the most difficult type of information to acquire after such instances (Mastin, 2015).