Memory
In psychology, memory is the ability of an organism to store, retain, and subsequently recall information. Although traditional studies of memory began in the realms of philosophy, the late nineteenth and early twentieth century put memory within the paradigms of cognitive psychology. In the recent decades, it has become one of the principal pillars of a new branch of science that represents a marriage between cognitive psychology and neuroscience, called cognitive neuroscience.
There are several ways of classifying memories, based on duration, nature and retrieval of information. From an information processing perspective there are three main stages in the formation and retrieval of memory:
- Encoding (processing and combining of received information)
- Storage (creation of a permanent record of the encoded information
- Retrieval/Recall (calling back the stored information in response to some cue for use in some process or activity)
An example of the three phases of memory formation:
Bobby goes to Baskin-Robbins for his 7th birthday. Bobby gets a free ice cream for the occasion. The creamy frozen delicousness transmits from his tastebuds to the memory center of his brain. The big smile he has at that moment is also encoded within the memory.
The following year, on the day before his 8th birthday little Bobby finds himself smiling uncontrollably. His brain is now recalling the memory and on his birthday Bobby is all smiles and a little drool. Young Bobby was quick to remind his parents that it was his birthday and ice cream time.