PSYCHOLOGY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING :: MEMORY AND EFFECTIVE METHODS OF REMEMBERING.

Today, through this blog of mine.... I am going to discuss about the most important topic 'Memory'. Many of us tend to forget matters related to daily life, related to what we just studied and as most of us complain..... Husbands forgetting the important dates!!

We have an important household formula of eating almonds to improve the memory. Indeed almonds are good for health but memory as a phenomenon is entirely dependent on the individual and his or her ability to manage his or her brain connections. 

Hope by the end of this topic, you will have a better understanding of the mechanism of controlling and training your brain. This part of educational psychology has huge importance for teachers and parents. As the saying goes... First impression is the best impression!! It is the first mark made on the brain that helps the child to remember the best and finally helps in attaining a stage where the teachers' and parents' work gets simpler.

Things we learn are stored in our brain. This process is technically called as memory. Learning and remembering are complementary processes. Remembering and forgetting are opposite sides of the same coin. Both the terms memory and remembering carry the same meaning. Sternberg defined memory as the means to draw past experiences in order to assess the information at the present. The complete process of structuring and processing the information involved in the storage and retrieval of such information can be defined as memory.

According to Woodworth, four main elements are involved in memory. They are: learning, retention, recall and recognition. Memory is the mental capacity of an individual to store the information and recall or recognise that information. 

Memory is a store house. It stores information. This information is recollected. Memory in general is an ability to remember things that happened a short or long time ago. So, our mind has the power of retaining and reproducing the information.

Memory processes limitless amount of information every day, and information is stored in different forms like meaning, sounds and images. From storing the information to the final processing in order to produce a desired outcome, memory can be categorized into three stages.

1.       Encoding,

2.      Storage and

3.      Retrieval.

Encoding

Encoding is the first stage of memory. As the term suggests, this is the stage of memory which accumulates all the information from the surrounding and encodes or stores it in our brain. The information we intake from the world around us is processed in three different forms.

·         Visual (picture)

·         Acoustic (sound)

·         Semantic (meaning)

In simple words, these different forms are how we take in the information. We either consume information as a picture, a sound, or we make it meaningful. These three different forms are termed as visual, acoustic and semantic accordingly. 

Encoding can also be defined as the process used to remember the information. We retrieve information in the same form we take it in because of this process. The more deeply we encode the information, the better we are able to recall it. For instance, consider remembering a telephone number say 9xxxxxx333. You are seeing it, means its visual or structural coding . If you’re repeating the number to yourself verbally in order to remember it, that’s acoustic or phonetic coding. Likewise, if you perceive that the last three numbers of the phone number are same, all 3’s, you are giving meaning to it. We are actually connecting small pieces of data to memorize it easily and meaningfully. Visual coding is shallow process compared to acoustic and semantic coding. Semantic coding is a deeper coding process and it helps in strong encoding of data. This is the reason while curriculum designing the topics are designed in a connected way so that the individual can learn by connecting things and can memorize it easily. Every child is different and so the memory levels... When a concept is introduced to a child, it needs to be done in a way that things are more easier to learn, understand and to memorize it for future retrieval. 

All three forms of encoding takes place so that you can remember that particular number. It has been found out that acoustic coding is the major form of encoding in Short Term Memory. Likewise, the major encoding system for the Long Term Memory seems to be semantic, with meaning. But it’s not just limited to that, and can be done in visual and acoustic forms too.

Storage

This stage deals with nature of the memory where the information is stored, time duration of the memory, the amount of information that can be stored, and type of memory. The manner in which information is stored directly affects the way in which information is retrieved. Information is stored in two main parts of memory.

Short Term Memory (STM)

Long Term Memory (LTM)

Miller stated in 1956 that most adults are capable of storing 5 to 9 items in their STM, short term memory, and he called it the magic number 7 (plus or minus 2). According to findings of Miller, there is limited number of slots in Short Term Memory; however, he didn’t specify the amount of information that can be stored in each memory slots. This gives the idea that more than one information can be stored together if information can be related and chunked, one upon another. Total capacity of Short Term memory is said to be around 0 – 30 seconds. 

Long Term Memory, however, is a whole different ball game when it comes to memory. Its capacity is said to be unlimited and the information stored can last as long as whole life time. For example, we might remember the colour of someone’s dress only for a while if it’s stored in short term memory. However, we remember that the sun rises from the east, and we will probably remember it for the rest of our lives, which is the information stored in long term memory. This memory is due to the continuous experiences that are added to this point based on focus of an individual and daily observation in practical sense. This is one of the reasons to include practical observations in the form of experiments and field trip; so that the actual idea is established in the minds of children. 

Retrieval

As the term suggests, retrieval refers to retrieving information out of our memory storage. Failure to retrieve information is often understood as not being able to remember or recall the particular information. Trying to retrieve information from our memory makes the differences between STM and LTM pretty apparent.

STM is both stored and retrieved in a sequential manner. For example, let’s say a subject is given a phone number to remember and then asked the second last number on the list. The person goes through the number from the start to retrieve the required information.

LTM is both stored and retrieved by association. Remembering a certain action might lead to retrieval of information about some other actions. For instance, you lost your phone, travelling the same road you were walking the day before might lead you to retrieve information about the things you had seen the day before. Finally relate it to the missing phone.

Memory organization is one of the ways to increase your ability to retrieve memory. Information can be organized alphabetically, by time, by size, or by any other means you deem fit. This will help you recall the information in a swift manner as you’ll be more comfortable with the manner in which you organized the information. Failure of any of these stages lead to failure in memory or in simple terms leads to forgetting things. 

Fact about our Brain:

Perhaps what is really amazing isn’t how much we forget, but how much we can remember. No one knows for sure how much information the human brain can hold, but most estimates agree that your memory can hold around 2.5 petabytes of information (that’s 2.5 million gigabytes). A digital video recorder with a capacity of 2.5 petabytes could hold 3 million hours of television programmes.

Forgetting!! Reasons why we forget.....

Information floods into your brain via your senses, and the most important information is held briefly in a very short-term zone called the sensory register. If you don’t pay any attention to this information it will almost immediately disappear through a process called decay. Decay is what happens when nerve cells stop firing in a certain pattern, and that pattern is lost.

If you are trying to remember a phone number, short term memory is where you hold it. Again, if you don’t make an effort or the information is not memorable, it will decay or simply be replaced by the next thing. In both this case and the previous one, you forget something because you never stored it as a memory.

In long term memory a memory is laid down in your brain as a more-or-less permanent trace. It seems likely that once a memory is laid down like this it lasts forever unless some physical damage actually destroys the nerve cells involved in the memory. But just because a memory is stored somewhere in your brain, it doesn’t mean you can remember it. If you can’t get hold of it, it means you’ve forgotten it, and there are lots of reasons why this could happen.

One reason is called interference. This is where other memories interfere with the one you are trying to remember. For instance, if you are trying to remember what you had for lunch two days ago, the memory of what you ate yesterday might interfere.

Decay and interference explain how forgetting might help us to survive. Decay means that our brains don’t store every single thing that happens. According to some studies it is estimated that, we only remember one out of every 100 things. This helps us to focus on things that are important or things which are prioritized by us, such as where to find shawarma in Hyderabad, location of the important documents or location of your phone.

Interference makes it hard to remember stuff, so by forgetting things we stop them from interfering with the important stuff. In other words, in order to have a good memory, you have to have a selective memory, and that means forgetting.

Techniques for effective memorization:

·         Practice improves methods of learning.

·         Concentration in learning is conducive for effective recall.

·         Interest in learning brings out memory too.

Methods of memorizing:

Recitation Method: It is the mental repetition of something, it is an active way of study and it not only saves time, but also ensures longer retention of the material learnt. In preschools recitation on a constant basis help all the children in the learning process. During the Vedic period, Guru used to recite the hymns and ask the shishyas to repeat to learn faster. This is also an important way to understand the intonation and pronunciation.

Spaced and un-spaced Method: Spaced method is one in which time intervals are given in the learning process. Un-spaced method is gone at one sitting, without any intervals. These two methods are used based on the maturity of the learner. Spaced method is considered advantageous than un-spaced. Since the individual comes back every time with freshness to learn.

Part and whole Method: In the part method, the learning material is divided into parts and memorised separately; where as in whole method, the material is learned from the beginning till end. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Whole method is more effective for short learning material. The combined method is also to be encouraged. Connecting each part to the other also increases the curiosity and there by enhances the focus and leads to good memory of an individual.

Rote and Intelligent Method: Learning and memorizing without understanding the content is rote or unintelligent method. Learning and memorizing with proper understanding and deep knowledge of the content is intelligent method. Intelligent method is more effective than rote learning.

Grouping and Rhythm Method: Memorization is carried away by rhythm or grouping. It is easier to memorise poetry than prose because of the rhythm involved.

Nevertheless to say, there are many topics where the children find it difficult to learn. So, as a parent or as a teacher; designing the learning process filled with lot of fun, games and activities make it not only easy for the children, rather it makes them more enthusiastic towards learning. Connecting it to daily life events makes it more memorable and so it gets easy to remember. Understanding the main essence of a topic is important. To make the learning process easy and interesting, we use a number of teaching aids. Teaching aids create visual and interactive experience for the students and help to present the information in a way that can help students learn and understand. Teaching involves more than simply sitting in the front of the classroom reciting information to the students in the class. These techniques also help in memory building.

In today's era of knowledge explosion, parents and teachers have huge expectations from the growing minds. It is not the mistake of the student or the parent or the teachers, if the child is unable to learn. Learning depends on many factors as we have seen in our previous blog. It is the responsibility which must be taken equally by everyone in the life of a child, including he or she himself or herself. Every child and every individual is different, unique and special. So the ways of learning also differs. Make the learning more activity and fun based for a better learning. The main idea is the right impact!!