WHAT CAUSES PEOPLE TO REMEMBER OR FORGET?

Most forgetting occurs because information in working memory was never transferred to long-term memory. However, it can also occur because we have lost our access to information that is in long-term memory.

Interference: Inhibition of recall of certain information by the presence of other information in memory. Interference happens when information gets mixed up with, or pushed aside by, other information. One form of interference occurs when people are prevented from mentally rehearsing newly learned information. Retroactive inhibition:  Decreased ability to recall previously learned information, caused by learning of new information.

Reducing Retroactive Inhibition

There are two ways to help reduce retroactive inhibition for students. The first is by not teaching similar and confusing concepts too closely in time. The second is to use different methods to teach similar concepts.

Proactive inhibition: Decreased ability to learn new information, caused by interference from existing knowledge. (Driving left-right)

Proactive facilitation: Increased ability to learn new information due to the presence of previously acquired information. Learning Spanish first may help an English speaking student later learn Italian, a similar language.

Primacy and Recency Effects

The tendency to learn the first things presented is called the primacy effect; the tendency to learn the last things is called the recency effect. The most common explanation for the primacy effect is that we pay more attention and devote more mental effort to items presented first.

Automaticy: A level of rapidty and ease such that tasks can be performed or skills utilized with little mental effort. (Readin

Practice

The most common method for committing information to memory is also the most mundane: Practice

·         Massed practice: Technique in which facts or skills to be learned are repeated often over a concentrated period of time.

·         Distributed practice: Technique in which items to be learned are repeated at intervals over a period of time.

·         Enactment: A learning process in which individuals physically  carry out tasks

HOW CAN MEMORY STRATEGIES BE TAUGHT?

Many of the things that students learn in school are facts that must be remembered. These form the framework on which more complex concepts depend. Factual material must be learned as efficiently and effectively as possible to leave time and mental energy for meaningful learning, such as problem-solving, conceptual, and creative activities.

Verbal Learning

Learning of words (or facts expressed in words). There are three types of verbal learning;

1.       Paired-associate learning: Learning of items in linked pairs so that when one member of a pair is presented, the other can be recalled.( e learning the states' capitals) In paired-associate learning, the student must associate a response with each stimulus. Techniques;

·         Imagery Mental:  visualization of images to improve memory.

·         Mnemonics:  Devices or strategies for aiding the memory. 

·         One of the most extensively studied methods of using imagery and mnemonics (memory devices) to help paired-associate learning is the keyword method,  which was originally developed for teaching foreign language vocabulary  but was later applied to many other areas

2.       Serial learning involves learning a list of terms in a-particular order. (Memorization of the notes on the musical staff). Techniques;

·    Loci Method A mnemonic device for serial learning that was used by the ancient  Greeks employs imagery associated with a list of locations

·    Pegword Method: Another imagery method useful for serial learning. . To use this mnemonic, the student might memorize a list of pegwords that rhyme with the numbers 1 to 10. To use this the student creates mental images relating to items on the list to be learned with particular pegwords. (first 10 U.S. presidents, you might picture George Washington eating a bun (1) with his wooden teeth, John Adams tying his shoe (2), Thomas Jefferson hanging by his knees from a branch of a tree (3), and so on.)

· Initial-letter strategies: Strategies for learning in which initial letters of items to be memorized are made into a more easily remembered word or phrase

3. Free-recall learning tasks also involve memorizing a list, but not in a special order. Recalling the names of the 50 states

Rote versus Meaningful Learning

Rote learning refers to the memorization of facts or associations, such as the multiplication table. Meaningful learning is mental processing of new information that relates to previously learned knowledge.

Inert Knowledge: This is knowledge that could and should be applicable to a wide range of situations but is applied only to a restricted set of circumstances. Usually, inert knowledge consists of information or skills learned in school that we cannot apply in life. For example, you may know people who could pass an advanced French test but would be unable to communicate in Paris.

Schema Theory

Theory stating that information is stored in long- term memory in schemata (networks of connected facts and concepts), which provide a structure for making sense of new information.

Hierarchies of Knowledge It is thought that most well-developed schemata are organized in hierarchies similar to outlines, with specific information grouped under general categories, which are grouped under still more general categories.

The Importance of Background Knowledge one of the most important determinants of how much you can learn about something is how much you already know about it.