How memory works?

How memory works?

Introduction

A human brain allows us to store information in the human memory for remembering things in the future and transform the memory in various types of things such as colors, images and sounds. There are many strategies which help in storing and retrieval of memory. The steps of human memory help in the understanding to trace the memory system from stimuli to long-term memory (Nicholas, 2009).

There are three processes which are identified in the human memory which act from the beginning till the end. They are: Sensory Memory, Short-term Memory and Long-term Memory which are known as the Atkinson-Shiffrin modal. The sensory memory lasts for less than a second, short term memory lasts for less than a minute and long term memory lasts for life time (Chaney, 2010).

Discussion

There are three simple steps which need to be followed in order to trace the memory. The first one is the encoding of the information which is being retrieved from various sources while being transformed through images and sounds. Secondly storage takes place to store the data in a short term or long term memory. The last process considers the retrieval of the data in which lost memory can be retrieved easily (Chaney, 2010).

Sensory Memory

In the sensory memory, it acts like buffers for stimuli which receive information through the senses. The information passes through the sensory memory to the short term memory which captures data through our five senses (seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling). The only drawback of this memory is that it fades away as soon as the particular experience has been accomplished because the data erases when some other data replaces and attracts in replacement of the current experience (Nicholas, 2009).

It can be related to be an ultra short term memory because it lasts less than a sec which could be at a speed of a blink of an eye. In the sensory memory there are various other stimuli senses such as for visual stimuli it is known as the iconic memory, for aural stimuli it is echoic memory and for touch stimuli it is haptic memory. It is often known as perception because it lasts only for a second or few seconds (Mastin, 2010).

Short-term Memory

The short term memory can be related to the present thinking or a temporary recall of information which is the ability to remember and process information with a limited storing capacity. The information being stored in the short term memory will be lost instantly until we make a conscious effort to retrieve it (Mastin, 2010).

It is also known as the working memory because it is the state in which we currently work. We usually recall randomized items because there is a limited capacity for the short term memory as it can be seen that the memory span varies for an infant to a child, a child to a teenager, a teenager to an adult, and lastly the senior citizens (Mastin, 2010).

Long-term Memory

The long-term memory is the state where the information is stored ...