Recall, such as required on essay tests, involves two steps: first generating an answer and then determining whether it seems to be the correct one. Your own experiences taking tests will probably lead you to agree with the scientific research finding that recall is more difficult than recognition. A multiple-choice test is an example of a recognition memory test, a measure of explicit memory that involves determining whether information has been seen or learned before. We rely on our recall memory when we take an essay test, because the test requires us to generate previously remembered information. A recall memory test is a measure of explicit memory that involves bringing from memory information that has previously been remembered. Figure 9.2 Types of Memory.Įxplicit memory is assessed using measures in which the individual being tested must consciously attempt to remember the information. Semantic memory refers to our knowledge of facts and concepts about the world (e.g., that the absolute value of −90 is greater than the absolute value of 9 and that one definition of the word “affect” is “the experience of feeling or emotion”). Episodic memory refers to the firsthand experiences that we have had (e.g., recollections of our high school graduation day or of the fantastic dinner we had in New York last year). As you can see in Figure 9.2, “Types of Memory,” there are two types of explicit memory: episodic and semantic. Explicit memory refers to knowledge or experiences that can be consciously remembered. When we assess memory by asking a person to consciously remember things, we are measuring explicit memory. Table 9.1 Memory Conceptualized in Terms of Types, Stages, and Processes. Our discussion will focus on the three processes that are central to long-term memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval. In this section we will consider the two types of memory, explicit memory and implicit memory, and then the three major memory stages: sensory, short-term, and long-term (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968). Then, in the next section, we will consider the nature of long-term memory, with a particular emphasis on the cognitive techniques we can use to improve our memories. Summarize the capacities of short-term memory and explain how working memory is used to process information in it.Īs you can see in Table 9.1, “Memory Conceptualized in Terms of Types, Stages, and Processes,” psychologists conceptualize memory in terms of types, in terms of stages, and in terms of processes.Explain the function and duration of eidetic and echoic memories.Compare and contrast explicit and implicit memory, identifying the features that define each.The process is said to make the recall of information easier because it helps to bypass the inherent limitations of working memory.Ĭhunking describes the process by which individual pieces of information are broken down and grouped together. However, chunking also relies heavily upon long-term memory.Ĭhunking is, therefore, related to another aspect of memory known as memory span or digit span (the latter term derives from tests that measure memory span by asking people to repeat back a list of digits that increase incrementally). In education, we often describe these terms in relation to cognitive load, or the demands learning places on our limited mental resources. The way instructional design can be adapted to help learners cope with these limitation has been encapsulated into a model known as Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). This is all well and good, but what exactly is a chunk and how does chunking help us enhance our limited working memory? In turn, CLT draws on aspects of memory research that go back as far as the late nineteenth century, including studies that attempted to discover the limitations of human memory. Unfortunately, there isn’t a great deal of consensus on this, even Miller in his famous 1956 paper on capacity noted ‘we are not very definite about what constitutes a chunk of information.’ Cowan (2001) has defined a chunk as ‘groups of items that have strong, preexisting associations to each other but weak associations to other items’. Cowan, like many other theorists, emphasise the role of long-term memory, in that a chunk must be representative of something we already know. Anderson’s ACT-R model, however, views chunks as schema-like structures containing pointers that encode their contents. This latter definition does make sense, in that cognitive schemas and chunking can be thought of as similar mental workarounds.įor us to begin to understand the nature of a chunk, we first need to step slightly away and look at the nature of working memory capacity and why it can be so problematic. Researchers have known for some time that short-term memory is limited.
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