The Control Processes of Short and Long Term Memory

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On a day-to-day basis humans are processing different information constantly. Have you ever wondered how this is possible? Have you ever wondered why you are able to obtain new information, store it, and then recall it for later usage? For example, how is it possible that we can study for a test one day, and then the next day we are able to retrieve that very information to use to take and pass a test? Because memory is an important cognitive process it helps us to record the past, so we are able to refer back to it at a later date. If humans didn’t have a memory, we would only be able to understand the present and our past wouldn’t exist. The urge to study how memory works and the concept behind, it has been around for many years. Scientist, and more importantly psychologist, have devoted countless hours and effort to understanding the human mind; and how something as simple as remembering what you had for breakfast yesterday could be so important to our cognitive processes and human functioning. The question still remains, what exactly is memory? How is it significant to humans and how are we able to process the different memories we have on a day to day basis.

According to Merriam-Webster, memory is the process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained. Memory also involves the process of information through encoding, storing, and retrieving (Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, n.d.). Memory is not only important in our lives, but it is very much needed. Because memory allows us to recollect our past, it allows us also to function properly in the present and plan for the future (McLeod, 2007). For example, without our memory functioning properly humans would not be able to recall what we did yesterday, w...

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... memory allows us to recall different places or even the knowledge of knowing what the capital of China is. Semantic memory also represents knowledge about different words and other verbal or non-verbal symbols, according to Tulving (1972).

Works Cited

Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1971). The control processes of short-term memory. Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences, Stanford University.

McLeod, S. A. (2007). Stages of Memory - Encoding Storage and Retrieval. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/memory.html

Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63 (2): 81–97.

Tulving, E. (1972). Episodic and semantic memory. In E. Tulving & W. Donaldson (Eds.), Organization of Memory, (pp. 381–403). New York: Academic Press.

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