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Our brain gets flooded with information provided by our senses. We are faced with too much to store and encode. - The brain has developed sophisticated algorithms for throwing away information.
- The brain has developed algorithms for encoding information into Long Term MEMORY if it is important.
We can use these methods of moving information from Sensory MEMORY into Working MEMORY and encoding it into Long Term MEMORY for easy recall later.
MemoryLifter is designed to lift things into the Long Term MEMORY through controlled repetition and spacing. Basically MEMORY is a group of processes for putting things into the brain so they can be retrieved later. It is the group of processes for acquiring, encoding, storing and retrieving information from our brain. 
Memory failure for example forgetting an important fact reflects a breakdown in one of these stages of MEMORY.
MEMORY is critical to humans and all other living organisms. Practically all of our daily activities talking, understanding, reading, socializing depend on our having learned and stored information about our environments. MEMORY enables us to learn new skills and to form new habits. Without the ability to access past experiences or information, we would be unable to comprehend language, recognize our friends and family members, find our way home or even tie a shoe. Life would be a series of disconnected experiences, each one new and unfamiliar.
MEMORY and learning are very closely related, and the terms used to describe one process are often used to describe the other. The term learning is often used to refer to the processes involved with the initial acquisition of and encoding of information. However the distinction is not hard and fast. After all information is learned only when it can be recalled later, and retrieval cannot occur unless information was learned.
Most who study MEMORY divide memory into at least - a short term memory definition and
- a long term memory definition.
The initial, momentary recording of information in our sensory systems also needs a definition Sensory Memory is a descriptive phrase covering the initial holding of something in memory before it is processed into short or long term memory. Each sense has a different method of holding something in this sensory method. When sensations hit our eyes, they linger briefly in the visuals system. You can still see them if you close your eyes. When you hear something, you can momentarily still hear it after it is done. Each sense has different methods of providing this persistence or sensory memory with varying time periods of persistence.
Much testing of these sensory memory experiences have been done with results incorporated into various learning and communication techniques. Examples are the mechanical speed reading using the persistence of iconic memory (visual) being manipulated into the short term memory very quickly thus enhancing comprehension while shortening time to read a passage. Other applications of manipulating these sensory memory techniques would be in the position of information on Heads Up displays. Research shows that comprehension can be enhanced under certain conditions by sequentially presenting different but related displays instead of just showing a parallel view of all displays. Short Term Memory is the term used to refer to the ability to access information in mind for a brief time. Information can be kept circulating in Short Term Memory by rehearsing it. By saying a phone number over and over it will not be forgotten as long as you are repeating it. Once the repetition is stopped you may immediately lose the ability to recall the phone number. This ability to move things from Short Term Memory into Long Term Memory is covered in the next section on forgetting.
Short Term Memory has a number of limitations. It can hold only a certain level of information which is not that much when compared to all the things we must remember during our whole life.
Short Term Memory is critical for mental work such as solving problems in your head. Short Term Memory does seem to change with age and can be affected by other influences. A short way of thinking of it is that Working Memory is where the action is. 
A catch all phrase that refers to the rest of memory is Long Term Memory. It refers to facts learned a few seconds ago as well as things you learned as a child. Generally Long Term Memory refers to a system in the brain that can store and retrieve vast amounts of information on relatively enduring basis.
There are many theories of how information enters this Long Term Memory. Traditionally it works to think of information entering Working Memory, spending some time in Working Memory and then entering Long Term Memory. While there are theories that say Short Term and Long Term Memory are entered in parallel rather than in sequence the difference is not relevant on how MemoryLifter works.
Apparently there is no finite capacity limit to Long Term Memory. People can and do learn new facts and skills throughout their lives. While there are several recognized Long Term Memory systems such as episodic memory to recall previous experiences and procedural memory to remember how to do things MemoryLifter is most concerned with Semantic Memory our Long Term Memory of general knowledge that we use to manipulate and observe the world we live in.
The simple model of MEMORY (right) might make this easier to visualize.
In this MEMORY model, information that enters the brain is briefly recorded in Sensory Memory. If we focus our attention on it, the information may become part of our Working Memory (Short term memory), where it can be manipulated and used. Through encoding techniques such as repetition and rehearsal, information may be transferred to Long Term Memory. Retrieving Long Term Memories makes them active again in Working Memory.
MemoryLifter is targeted at controlling certain aspects of the encoding thus ensuring an easier and more sure transition into the Long Term Memory. While this model is greatly oversimplified and there exist varying levels of Long Term Memory it does serve to illustrate how MEMORY works while providing us with a vocabulary to discuss learning by memorization. |
