Cognnitive Psychology and Communiction Sciences

L3, Second Semester, 2019-2020

Lecture N° 01
Introduction to Human Memory and Memorizing

Lecture Objectives:

1- Initiate students to the basic notions, theories and functions of

memory
2- Know about the different types of memory
3- How we memorize (encode data from the environment into our minds)
4- How memory relates to the way we communicate in daily life
Definition of memory:

Memory can be defined as a complex biopsychological capacity to receive,

encode store and retrieve/recall data/information for a brief or indeterminate
period of time (from microseconds to almost forever). The type of data we store
differs qualitatively and quantitatively. In other words, we store data of different
quality such as colors, shapes, scents/odors, sounds, words, ideas, thoughts,
concepts, digits, feelings and emotions, etc. In addition, we store data in our
minds in relation to numbers and counting (we can remeber tens, hundreds,
thousands of things about one particular stimulus).

It is biopsychological because memory is both dependent on biology (the 5

senses and the brain where it is located) and on pure cognition and
mental/abstract processes.

Human memory is said to be infinite; it is capable of storing tens of billions of

different information! This is a huge performance but less so if we compare it to
artificial (computer) memories or to some animals’ memories.
Types of memory:

There are different types of memory (we often talk about memory systems). One
way of categorizing memory is in relation to its duration (that is, the lapse of time
a stimulus/input/information is kept/retained in mind before it is forgotten). In
this way, there are four types of memory:

1- Sensory memory: as its name suggests, sensory memory is the capacity to

store and recall/remember information that are related to our five senses.
Sensory memory is therefore subdivided into five types related to each of the
five senses, but the most importan and researched types of sensory memory
are those related to vision and hearing:

A- Visual/Iconic memory: visual memory is the capacity to remeber and

recognize information very quickly when the stimulus reaches our eyes. For
example, when we see a particular color, we immediately know its name, or
when we see someone’s face we immediately recall his/her name. This
memorizition and remebering is very brief (less than a second) and it does not
need very complex mental processing.

B- Auditory/Echoic Memory: it is the capacity to store sounds and voice-related

information and recognize them. When we hear somone talking, coughing,
laughing, etc. we remeber almost immediately who the person is.
The five types of sensory memroy are connected to the five senses (therefore to
the external environment) and to the brain. In this way, the information is stored
at the level of the five senses and we recall things almost inmmediately and we
do not need further mental and cognitive processing.

2- Short-term Memory (STM): this type of memory is longer than sensory

memory (on which it is dependent) but still very brief (two seconds to some more
seconds). It is the capacity to store and retain information very briefly in order
sustain and help and work with attention, perception, judging, etc.

What you have to know about STM is that it is limited both in span/duration and
in capacity (number of elements retained). In other words, STM is the capacity
to retain, process, organize and think about a reduced number of things
(probably no more than 5 things for most people) for very few seconds.

3- Working Memory (WM): for many researchers in the field of applied

(cognitive) psychology, WM is a kind of STM but with a larger capacity to retain
elements (more elements) and longer time span (up to some minutes) before the
information is (partially or completely) forgotten.

For example, when you go to some popular fastfoods in some place in algeria, the
attendant would ask you to make an order; yoy tell him what food is available.
The server would spell out a dozen or double dozen dishes which you are
supposed to memorize in a few seconds. Once you meorize them, you are then
capable of making your order. Once yoy have finished eating, you’d probably
forget a lot of the dishes the attendant spelled out.

As its name suggests, WM is the retaining of some information for just enough a
lapse of time to accomplish a given task (once the task is done, we no longer
need to/remember those inforamtion).

In our daily communication (spoken or writen), we absolutely need both STM

and WM. For instance, when someone is talking, we have to listen to him/her
and retain as much words and meaning as possible; otherwise, the
communication would not be possible (if we forget the first words of the person’s
speech, we could ask them to repeat once. But if we keep forgetting, the person
would not be happy of repeating each time!).

Another example of STM and WM is when the teacher speaks/dictates and the
learners take notes or write down. Still another example is making mental
calculus (manipulating numbers in the mind to find some results, equation)
without using a calculator or a pen.
4- Long-term memory (LTM): LTM is the capacity to retain/store information for a
long period of time (ranging from some long minutes, hours, to some days,
weeks, months, years or lifespan). There two distinct types of LTM:

A- Explicite/Conscious Memory: it has two types

A-1- Semantic/Declarative: this type of memory is related to storing information

and knowledge about words, meanings/concepts, definitions, names, places, ect.
For example, if a students is asked « what is the capital of… a given country », the
students either knows or does not know. Another example, in the exams,
students are expected to use their LTM to remeber correctly some knowledge
about words, their meanings, concepts, definitions, etc. Those who have a good
performing LTM would find more exam answers than those with weak LTM.

A-2- Episodic memory: this type of memory is related to recalling some person-
related past experiences and emotions (emotioanl memory). For example, when
you smell some kind of odor, this odor would activate some past souvenirs and
emotions that could go as far back as to one’s three or first years age.
B- Procedural/Unconscoious/Impliocite Memory: this type of LTM is related to
storing knowledge that is retrieved unconsciously when needed to execute some
daily tasks. For example, the activity of writing: once we learned to write, we just
write automatically without thinking (about the shapes, the size, the direction of
letters). Another example is driving, running a machine, a mobile phone, etc.
where lots of information, knowledge and gestures are memorized and executed
mechanically.

LTM is probably one of the most important and needed human competences;
without it, the world just seems chaotic and disorderly and unsafe (think about
people who lost their memories). LTM allows intergenerational transmission of
knowledge, especially in oral traditions ( societies and cultures) who do not rely
on reading and writing or technology, but only on mouth-to-ear communication.

All types of LTM are imortant retrieve/recall information by the time we need
them. However, retrieval is not always successful since there is an important
cognitive factor which is FORGETTINGT (partially or totally).