An Overview of Memory

Memory

Memory is generally viewed as some type of a physical thing stored in the brain (Zlotnik & Vansintjan, 2019). Given this view, popular culture has created a notion that memory is a subjective, personal experience that can be recalled at any time and at will. This belief has created concerns and questions on the maximum amount of memories one can have. However, the field of psychology provides different conceptualizations of memory. These conceptualizations are largely fueled by advances in the science of memory and the field of psychology. Additionally, recent technological advancements continue to shape people’s views and definitions of memory. A proper understanding of memory requires consideration of these different conceptualizations as well as the work of different psychologists like Elizabeth Loftus, one of the most influential psychologists. This paper examines the concept of memory based on the work of Loftus and recent advances in the field of psychology.

Definition of Memory

As previously mentioned, memory is popularly viewed as a subjective, personal experience that can be retrieved at will. Current views of memory in popular culture generate questions on the amount of memories people can have and retrieve. The view of memory as a subjective, personal experience does not capture the concept holistically as people forget their experiences at times. Over the past few decades, the definition of memory has evolved due to advances in information technology and the field of psychology. Advances in the science of memory have contributed to the emergence of the view that memory is not a fixed thing/experience stored in the brain (Zlotnik & Vansintjan, 2019). This is primarily because memory is considered a chemical process between neurons. Since these chemical processes are not static, memory is essentially not fixed.

Zlotnik & Vansintjan (2019) define memory as the faculty of coding, storing, and retrieving information. This process is shaped by the chemical change between neurons, which contributes to different attributes of this concept. Given the role chemical processes between neurons play in this process, memory is essentially the capacity with which people store and retrieve information. People have different capacities at different times to code, store, and retrieve information. According to Huffman, Dowdell & Sanderson (2018), memory is essentially the process by which information or experience is coded, stored, and retrieved. From a psychological perspective, memory is regarded as the persistence of learning over time. Psychologists tend to view memory as learning that persists over time since it entails all processes involved in learning. Similar to learning, the three processes underlying memory are encoding, storing, and retrieving information. In addition, psychologists view memory as a constructive process of organizing and sharing information. The constructive process involving memory sometimes results in serious errors and biases.

Psychologists’ view of memory incorporates recent advances in technology and science. In this regard, memory is not viewed as a static and subjective personal experience stored in the brain, but a process affected by the chemical change between neurons. Current definitions of memory are based on the idea that it is distributed across a wide network of interconnected neurons in the brain. These neurons located throughout the brain are activated to process information as they work simultaneously. Therefore, the incorporation of the various neurons and chemical processes involved in the learning process provides a framework for an accurate conceptualization and definition of memory. The view of memory as a static and subjective personal experience is erroneous as it fails to consider the chemical processes between neurons that underlie the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Three-Stage Memory

Based on the work of Loftus, memory basically requires three distinct boxes or stages (Huffman, Dowdell & Sanderson, 2018). Loftus introduced the concept of three-stage memory to demonstrate the different phases of the process of holding and storing information. These different phases also explain differences in the storage of information over different periods of time as follows:

Sensory Memory

The first phase in the three-stage memory is sensory memory, which refers to the first storage box of everything we hear, see, smell or touch. Unlike the other phases of memory, sensory memory is not consciously-controlled (Zlotnik & Vansintjan, 2019). Since this is the first stage, information in sensory memory does not last for a long period of time. It just stays long enough for the brain to locate relevant bits of information and transfer them to the next phase of the memory process. Therefore, sensory memory simply obtains information and before transferring it to the next stage of memory. Visual information, which is known as iconic memory, stays in sensory memory for approximately one-half a second before fading away rapidly. On the contrary, auditory information, which is also known as echoic memory, stays for approximately four seconds. Both visual and auditory memories are fleeting because the brain cannot process all incoming stimuli. Once visual and auditory stimuli enter the brain, the lower brain centers process them within a few seconds to determine whether they are sufficient enough to be transferred to the level of conscious awareness. While sensory memory was initially thought to have unlimited capacity, recent findings have shown that it is limited as stored images have been found to be fuzzier than initially thought.

Short-Term Memory (STM)

The second stage in this process is short-term memory (STM), which can only hold limited information (Zlotnik & Vansintjan, 2019). STM is defined as the maintenance of information within a short period of time, mostly seconds (Brem, Ran & Pascual-Leone, 2013). As an essential component of cognition, STM is regarded as primary memory as it entails conscious maintenance of sensory stimuli over a short period of time before it fades away. According to Huffman, Dowdell & Sanderson (2018), STM temporarily stores and processes sensory stimuli within a short period of time. STM differs from sensory memory as it does not store exact duplicates of information. On the contrary, it stores a combination of perceptual analyses. The capacity and duration of STM are relatively limited. Despite the view that STM holds information for a time that lasts a few minutes, recent studies have shown that this stage of memory processing stores information for up to 30 seconds. Additionally, STM stores a limited amount of new information that ranges from five to nine items. STM is similar to sensory memory on grounds that information is either transferred quickly to the next stage of memory processing or allowed to fade away.

Brem, Ran & Pascual-Leone (2013) note that memory processing in STM is largely carried out by the prefrontal areas of the brain. Memory processing in STM is supported through processing segregation and domain-specific segregation. Processing segregation involves encoding, storing, and maintaining whereas domain-specific segregation entails verbal, spatial, or object processing. Even though STM is limited in capacity and duration, it can be improved through a technique called chunking and maintenance rehearsal respectively. Chunking basically entails classifying separate pieces of information into larger and more manageable units of information. Maintenance rehearsal is a process that can be used to improve the duration of STM as it involves consciously juggling information. This implies repeating pieces of information over and over again until they are mastered.

Based on Loftus’ ideas, Zlotnik & Vansintjan (2019) contend that STM is also known as working memory. This is primarily because the function of STM is not to passively store information and transfer it to the next stage, but it also allows the brain to hold information temporarily as one performs cognitive tasks. Therefore, STM involves the active processing of information while performing cognitive tasks. As part of active processing, working memory can be improved through constructive training. Brem, Ran & Pascual-Leone (2013) define working memory as temporary, active maintenance and manipulation of information. Information processed in working memory is necessary for complex tasks as this part of memory processing ignores irrelevant information. Working memory entails temporary manipulation of internal or received stimuli as well as external/experienced stimuli. However, this aspect of memory processing significantly relies on selective attention and top-down processing. Top-down processing is the premise with which working memory ignores irrelevant information and focuses on relevant stimuli.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

The third and final phase of the three-stage memory is long-term memory (LTM), which serves as the storehouse for information that must be stored for a long duration of time (Huffman, Dowdell & Sanderson, 2018). Unlike the other stages of memory processing, LTM can store an unlimited amount of information (Zlotnik & Vansintjan, 2019). Brem, Ran & Pascual-Leone (2013) refer to measures through which acquired memories achieve stability or are strengthened over time. Through this process, acquired memories become resistant to interference. Information obtained from STM is organized and integrated with other information in LTM. LTM stores information and sends it back to STM when it is needed for conscious use. Unlike sensory memory and STM, LTM is not limited in duration and capacity.