Memory refers to the capability of encoding, processing and be able to regain or recover information that one has been expose

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Abstract

Memory refers to the capability of encoding, processing and be able to regain or recover information that one has been exposed to for a given period of time. Memory cannot be separated from the academic performance and learning as a skill. Even though the skills of memory is connected to academic performance like reading as well as solving of problems in cognitive areas, it is a serious area for center of attention within the education sector for some reasons. First, it mirrors the applied cognition. This implies that the operation of memory can reflect every significant feature of learning. The second reason is that the skills of memory applied by children do not show to wear out or tap their capabilities. As a result we require finding out the procedures of instruction that benefit from the potential of children to memorize and regain information (Swanson & Alloway, 2012). This paper tackles the modal model of memory, structures and functions of working memory, short term memory and the long term memory with the inclusion of types of long term memory in that order.

Modal Model of Memory

Memory is the ability of an individual to encode process and recall information that he or she has been exposed to previously. The modal model of memory is the immediate memory which is the existence of a unitary memory which is short term in nature and that strongly relies on phonological coding. The information gets in to short term memory from the environment through the sensory buffer. The sensory buffer in this case holds the short term information before the same information goes to long term memory. The information enters the long term memory if at all it can be retained for some considerable amount of time in the short term memory (Pickering, 2012).

The normal modal model of memory is a heuristic guide for appreciating the functioning of memory or how it operates. IT provides the framework of understanding how the information is stored in memory over time. The modal model of memory has four parts. The first part is the sensory register. The second one is the short term store. The third component is the long term store while the last part of modal model is the control processes. The sensory register component can be thought of as a group of stores for memory each of which match up to various sensory modality. For instance, there is one sensory register is used for vision, another one for touch and many others for different functions. The sensory registers in our memory permits us to hold briefly in order to find out whether the information is worthy enough for more consideration. This means that the minds of human beings could only be fixed on the present state of affairs without these kinds of memory stores (Radvansky, 2015).

The short term memory component play the role of retaining information for a period of less that one minute in case nothing is done with it. The state of consciousness is connected with the information that resides within the short term memory. This can be described as knowledge that is presently in conscious alertness or beyond. The amount of information that can be stored in this short term memory is overwhelmingly small. The third component, that is, the control processes responsible for the active manipulation of information within the short term memory. This might comprise of procedures from rehearsing information to relocation of knowledge to and from the components of long term memory or may be reasoning. Apart from just acting as a passive absorption and the mechanism of information retrieval, this control processes makes the modal model an active participant. The long term memory which is the fourth component consists of extensive different types of long term knowledge. In addition, it consists of different approaches of using the same knowledge. It is the component of modal model memory that fascinates the majority of people. The various types of long term memory are also discussed in the later topics of this paper (Radvansky, 2015).

Structures and functions of working memory

The working memory comprises of the central executive which is the major part together with other two components. The two components include the phonological lop and the visual spatial. The main functions of the central executive are to regulate type flow of information in the working memory. It also plays the role of retrieving information from the different systems of memory like the long term memory. Moreover, the central executive also takes part in processing as well as information storage. Its efficiency in carrying out these functions relies on whether there are other anxieties or burdens that are that are concurrently placed on it. The phonological loop takes part in the maintenance of information that is verbally coded. The visual-spatial sketch pad on the other hand takes part in the short term information processing in addition to maintaining materials which have strong visual or spatial component (Gathercole & Baddeley, 2014).

Structures and functions of short term memory

The short term memory as mentioned earlier is use in holding information coded from the environment temporarily before the same is transferred to long memory for permanent storage. The consideration of short time models of learning can be carried out through the assumption of many various state of learning. In this case, the items begin with the first state of knowledge from which the precise answer may be made only through guess work. As the individual continues to learn the materials offered, the learning process is represented in the model by changing to the state of intermediate knowledge. As usual, the items in the state of intermediate are never permanent given that they can return to different states. The processing of verbal kind of information, for instance, employs an auditory memory that is short tern in nature and which has limited capacity.

The number of times an idea is repeated increases the chance of retaining it in the short term memory. In this case, the more times a repetition are made, the more chances of retaining information within the short term memory. The probability that that given information will enter the permanent or long term memory in this case is dependent on the attention given to that particular information in addition to the type of operations that are carried out on it. Therefore, the structure of the short term memory is such that the information goes in to short term memory from the system of perception from the process of naming as a vector of attributes. As more information continues to enter in to short term memory a number of vector attributes are either degraded in quality or lost and thus cannot always be recovered from memory Norman, 2013).

Structures and functions of long term memory

The structure of long term memory consists of two main parts namely the declarative and the non-declarative memories. The declarative part is also called the explicit memory while the non-declarative part is also called the implicit memory. The explicit memory part of the long term storage is comprised of both episodic and the semantic memories. On the other hand, the non-declarative memory part of the long term storage consists of the procedural memory, the classical conditioning and the priming memory. The declarative part of long term memory is the memories that are simpler for an individual to express and even talk about. The non-declarative part on the other hand is the information that is hard to express or articulate though it still has deep control in our lives (Radvansky, 2015).

Both declarative and the non-declarative memory are the main categories of long term system of memory. The declarative category permits the conscious recollection of events together with facts. This category is usually marked by our capability for explicit recall or recognition of facts and/or events that took place in the past. The non-declarative category is the part of long term memory which can be accessed with no consciousness. It can be accessed implicitly via performance instead of remembrance of facts and events (Anticholinergics, 2014).

Semantic and episodic yypes of long term memory

The semantic memory type comprises of skills, rules, relations that are excessively leaned. They are those things which we are familiar with in standard. They may also be those things which we know how to do irrespective of situations under which this knowledge was gotten from the environment. Unlike in episodic memory, the semantic memory can be achieved better through repetition which is necessary in language, perceptual as a well as motor learning. With sufficient number of repetition such as the spontaneous mental rehearsal, even particular incidents can get in to the semantic memory of the long term storage.

The episodic memory type is connected autobiographical time. It helps in triggering searches via long term memory by the normal events of information retrieval with rare kind of memories. These rare memories can be considered in terms of the number of evens of events that are retrieved in every unit of autobiographical occasion. This type of memory is also associated with essential difficulty with memory of past long events or episodes thus the past information in many cases becomes hard to remember. There is thus the aspect of relative impairment of memory for the past episodes which is a defect or a limitation in the episodic memory (Wood, Ebert & Kinsbourne, 2014).

Procedural memory, classical conditioning and priming types of long time memory

Procedural memory is an implicit type of long term memory that involved getting skills plus habits that take place with no conscious alertness and over the course of performance. The system of procedural memory is very crucial in supporting the capability of gesture in order to drive the fresh learning. This implies that the deficit in procedural memory is highly likely to disrupt the production of gesture together with comprehension or understanding. Meanwhile, the non-declarative memory which includes procedural memory, the classical conditioning and priming can support the individual’s ability to get and carry out skills and be able to form habits through the help of experience. Since learning comes from the act of generating and experiencing gesture, this also implies that procedural memory is thus helpful in learning too. Therefore procedural memory supports cognitive, motor as well as perceptual knowledge/skill learning. The procedural memory do benefit from conducting actions by an individual at the time of encoding knowledge, meaning that action performance employs procedural memory. In addition, the influence of gesture on the learner is frequently implicit but nonetheless affects the behavior (Klooster et al., 2014).

Priming also affects the individual’s behavior in much faster as compared to procedural memory which needs slow and comprehensive process of learning. The effects of prime are normally observed by means of just a single exposure to the stimulus of prime. In contract, the procedural tasks of memory comprise the use of repeated trials before learning can be shown (Klooster et al., 2014).

References

Anticholinergics, B. (2014). Declarative and Nondeclarative Memory.

Gathercole, S. E., & Baddeley, A. D. (2014). Working memory and language. Psychology Press.

Klooster, N. B., Cook, S. W., Uc, E. Y., & Duff, M. C. (2014). Gestures make memories, but what kind? Patients with impaired procedural memory display disruptions in gesture production and comprehension. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 8.

Norman, D. A. (Ed.). (2013). Models of human memory. Elsevier.

Pickering, S. J. (2012). 2 Working memory in dyslexia. Working memory and neurodevelopmental disorders, 7.

Radvansky, G. A. (2015). Human memory. Psychology Press.

Swanson, H. L., & Alloway, T. P. (2012). Working memory, learning, and academic achievement.

Wood, F., Ebert, V., & Kinsbourne, M. (2014). The episodic-semantic memory distinction in memory and amnesia: Clinical and experimental observations. L. S. Cermak (Ed.), Human memory and amnesia, 167-193.