The functioning
of the information processing system (memory model) has a simple goal: to make
sense of significant sensation and to organize and store for recall that which
is potentially either important or/and interesting, or useful while ignoring or
discarding more trivial matters.
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| Long-Term Memory Process |
To achieve
this goal, the system uses a variety of processes. Much sensory data that is
not attended to (not processed) does not go beyond immediate sensory memory.
Paying attention is one of the important activities, or processes, of our
information processing system. By this means, information is transferred from
sensory to short-term storage.
There are
three other basic processes that are involved in remembering. These are: rehearsal, elaboration, and organization.
What is “Rehearsal”?
Rehearsal
is a memory process that involves repetition, important for maintaining
information in short-term memory and transferring it to long-term memory.
Rehearsal
involves repeating. The simplest rehearsal strategy is to state the material
(such as, five, five, five, one, two, one, two) over and over again until it
seems unlikely that it will escape from memory.
Rehearsal
serves not only to maintain information in short-term memory but also to
transfer material from short-term to long-term storage. Most children younger
than age five do not rehearse spontaneously and cannot easily be taught to do
so.
What is “Elaboration”?
Elaboration
is a long-term memory process which involves changing or adding to material, or
making associations to make remembering easier.
Elaboration
is a cognitive process whereby material is extended or added to (elaborated) to
make it more memorable.
One way
of elaborating material is to associate mental images with items which are to
be remembered.
Sometimes,
elaboration involves forming associations between new material and material
that is already well known.
What is “Organization”?
Organization
is a memory strategy that involves grouping and relating material to maintain
it in long-term memory.
Let us
assume, for example. You need to memorize the following list: man, dog, green, cayenne,
woman, cat, child, canary, and jalapeno. Some of you will immediately notice
that the list can be easily organized into three groups of related items (pets,
persons, and peppers) and will use this organization to help remember the items—which,
again, are not something younger children will spontaneously do.
The organizational
strategies, that are so important to long-term memory, can be either extremely
complex or quite simple. What most of these have in common, however, is that
they are based on our recognition of similarities and differences. Humans
(perhaps other animals as well) seems to have a tendency to see similarities
and differences (and other relations) and to generalize from them.
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