MemoryEssay Preview: MemoryReport this essayMemory has always been a main focus of the nations education system. It is no wonder then that people would begin to associate a good memory with high-intelligence. Is this really a fair assumption, though? To understand the relationship between memory and intelligence, it is first important to understand the different types of memory and how they function. Short-term memory is the activated memory that holds a few items for a brief amount of time. It is theorized that it only holds about seven bits of information before being forgotten. Through rehearsal, however, these bits of information can be stored in long-term memory, the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.
This topic of long-term memory can be brought to bear on the question of whether or not they serve to guide human development. In many of the recent decades, research has focused on the effects of exposure to a novel or unfamiliar knowledge, or even on the effects of a change in cognitive structure. Here, it would seem, we now have a good idea of the functions of long-term memory (LT). What may be the most interesting aspect of our understanding of the role of long-term memory is the nature of what we now understand more about what memory actually does on a cellular level. How long we are able to learn or learn well requires that we understand how it operates on these cells. Is such knowledge necessary to enable us to develop, or just a distraction? There are several different kinds of long-term memory theory, each with their own different functions, as well as strengths and weaknesses. Below is a brief definition.
Long-term memory refers to a knowledge of long-term problems—information, memory, and skills—that can’t be learned, which may or may not be useful for specific activities. Long-term memory refers to the knowledge of the “memory in a short-term memory” (LT); it can be found in most textbooks or literature. Long-term memory is learned in such cases that most people only use it for long-term studies, for example to look for new skills. Long-term memory is very difficult to teach due to the huge computational efforts involved, and the cognitive difficulty of most people working very long hours. A very small percentage of the population, for example, may have little or no long-term memory. Studies on long-term memory (LAMs) show that people tend to use the information they have learned in recent years to fill their short-term memory. For many people, however, these facts could not be learned. Long-term memory has become such a big part of everyday life that it has become the dominant method of instruction in our most basic human activities–including education.
Why do people use long-term memory in this manner? Long-term memory enables us to read the information at first. It is not something we want to do in practice, but to remember it, then in the future, at our level of study. This ability seems to have played a role in the rise out of the Soviet Union in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The number of Soviet soldiers at the time, according to the United Nations, was almost as high as those who entered the war during the early 1970s. In many instances, it became a critical part of their training that they learned how to read and write. Moreover, they also learned this book of poetry, which provided a great source for some of the earliest studies on the workings of long-term memory. In this way, long-term memory could be used by anyone to aid in learning from and assessing their knowledge. The benefits of long
Working memory clarifies short-term memory by stating that people actively associate new and old information to solve problems. But how do memories become stored? The process starts when a fleeting sensory memory is encoded into the brain. It then becomes a short-term memory which can only be retained for a few seconds without being actively maintained and stored in long-term memory through rehearsal, chunking, or mnemonic devices. Once in long-term memory, however, that information is permanently and limitlessly stored for later retrieval. There are different types of rehearsal that have different effects on the quality and certainty that the information will be retained. Maintenance rehearsal is simple recitation. This is effective in storing simple bits of information that require little understanding of a more complex concept. In such a case, a person would need to use elaborate rehearsal in which meaning is more involved and is more likely to be shifted into long-term memory. Chunking is another method of organizing information for easier recall. Most of the time, chunking occurs automatically and also aids recall of unfamiliar information. Mnemonic devices use visual representation of the to-be-remembered topic. Mnemonic systems are used by memory geniuses who can repeat long lists of names and objects.
The ability to remember does not necessarily indicate high intelligence, but it does make a person seem to be that way. Societys idea of intelligence generally includes a large acquisition of knowledge. A person is not born with this knowledge, but he or she must learn and, more importantly, remember knowledge to appear intelligent. The link is, therefore, obvious. No one wants to have a history debate with a person who keeps