Decoding Human Memory: Sensory to Long-Term

Categories: Human Memory Perception

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What is the Human Memory Model? Do you know where your thoughts and memories go? We are going to look at the three different memory types. What makes them up and how they function. Developing short and long term memories is something that is a long term project. We do not fill our cerebral cortex with all the knowledge and memories overnight. In this paper we are going to look at the human memory model. What makes us process thoughts into memories, process things we see, hear, feel, taste and smell into memories.

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We are going to look at short term memory, long term memory and sensory memory types.

These different types of memory models make up the structural and functional model of memory. First we look at sensory memory this is like the safety deposit box of the memory bank. Sensory memory is the processing of brief sensations that occur through the five senses. They are briefly stored in your short term memory bank.

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If you enter a room that has a not so pleasant smell your brain is processing this in your short term memory. You may remember the room itself, but not necessarily the smell. Sensory memory only sticks around while the stimulus is also around.

Certain instances can help recall the memories like an emotional memory, the stronger the emotion, the stronger the memory. Short term memory is also referred to as working memory, the combination of transient sensory memory and extensive long term memory. New material comes in and mashes with the old information, and is managed as a working process.

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Not all short term thoughts get put into our long term memory vault. Some methods of retaining information are called chunking. We process letters, numbers and thoughts by grouping into chunks of seven.

Phone numbers are a good example of this, two groups of three digits and one group of four digits. Maybe this is why phone numbers are formatted this way, so we can remember so many different sets of phone numbers. If you make a call one time, you may not remember that number ever again. But placing this call multiple times will store the digits in your long term memory bank. (Editorial Board, 2011 p. g. 124) With this we move right into long term memory, long term memory is something we need to work at day after day. If you are trying to study for a test, it is best to study a little bit at a time every day, cramming is not recommended.

You are not supplying your brain enough repetition to store information in your long term memory bank. This method of learning has been proven over time in many ways. Episodic memories are something you experience or an event in your life. Semantic memories are items of memory that you learned at some point in your life. Items that are told to you or you read about. Learning with your semantic memory still requires repetition for it to be stored in your long term memory bank. You must listen to someone speak and understand what they are saying before you will remember it.

You cannot simply just stare at them and hear what they are saying. Your undivided attention is required. Explicit and Implicit memories are described as bringing information forward for recall. Implicit memory is brought forward automatically without intentional conscious recall. Whereas, explicit memories are brought forth through conscious recall. You use explicit memories to remember family and friends birthdays or mundane information that you learned in grade school. You need to recall this information to bring it back to the surface; where implicit memories are the ones that we never forget like riding a bike or driving a car.

Retrospective memory is items of information that have already been presented and stored in the long term memory bank. Prospective memory is future information such as a grocery store list without writing the needed items down. Without making the list, you could walk into the grocery store and ask yourself, “why am I here”? But with retrospective memory you could recall that your kids ran out of milk at breakfast and not everyone could have cereal. So now you remember that your list included milk. Prospective emory may spark your memory for other items that you need to get. Encoding is the initial process of recording and identifying information.

Three types of codes help to make memories acoustic, visual and semantic. Acoustic code is sound, some sounds recall memories. The sound of the ocean might give you a joyful memory of your childhood. There are also sounds that might bring up bad memories, like a gun shot. When thinking of a gunshot you recall a traumatic experience where two law enforcement officers are trying to apprehend a suspect. When you arrive they are all three wrestling on the ground.

Now that the law enforcement officers are fighting and shouting at the suspect, you have to try to remember who is saying what and who pulls their gun out first. Then the gunshot happens and suddenly your mind goes blank. When other officers arrive you are expected to recall what has just happened and make a statement. However, the situation was so traumatizing that you only remember two details of the scene. Visual memories are much the same, as when you see the space where this event took place you are remembering the details of the event some years later.

Semantic memories understand the relationship between signifiers such as words, phrases, signs and symbols. This is what you would learn while attending school and living in mainstream America. You brain stores all of this information like a flash drive, when you want to restore this information you simply full the file and remember. (LeMee & Shaw, 1997) (Editorial Board, 2011 p. g. 121) Now where do you think all of these memories go? They must all be stored somewhere right? Of course, the information is stored in the limbric system, which includes the hippocampus and the amygdala.

The hippocampus is responsible for transferring the short term memory into long term memories. The amygdala is responsible for linking emotions and memories. The hippocampus acts as the neurological message system, passing along information from long term storage in the cerebral cortex. Different parts of the hippocampus are thought to be involved in different activities, such as consolidation of spatial memories. The amygdala provides a means of retrieval by pairing emotions in an event with the memory of the event.

The hippocampus and amygdala are very important functions in the brain they are certainly not the only functions. (Editorial Board, 2011 p. g. 119) The brain is a very complex organ. It is the most important organ besides the heart in the human body. Without the brain, your quality of life would be awful. Brain injuries are all too common where a hit to the head in just the right place can take away all your short term memory. This could leave you with the ability to not retain any new memories. You should always protect your brain, especially the cerebral cortex which stores all your memories.