Memory
MemoryThere has been much research into the ways which our “memory” actually stores information in
our brains. One of the original theories is Crain and Lockhart’s Levels of Processing Model,
which represented the memory of a series of stores and boxes with a fairly linear progression from
sensory information to short term store to long term memory. They proposed that the different
levels of memory were due to the different levels of “processing”, but found it very difficult to
quantify what “deep processing” is. A more complicated, yet more plausible theory is the Parallel
Distributed Process model which suggests that memory operates on many different levels at one
time, connecting many different stored items, which have connections to other items. The evidence
for this is seen in our ability to generalize and remember information that we have not specifically
“stored”.
But these theories do not answer the basic question: How exactly does memory work?
There have been many experiments conducted to try to determine the answer. Hermann
Ebbinghaus was one of the first (1830s) to experimentally pinpoint factors that aid in memory. He
proposed that distributed practice (items learned over a period of time rather than all at once) was
most effective for long term memory. His findings were later confirmed by an experiment run by
Bahrick and Phelps which tested the participants on Spanish vocabulary they had learned eight
years prior. They found that those who had learned over longer periods of time remembered more
than those who had learned through massed practices. Of course, there is an alternative theory
called the Total-Time Hypothesis. This hypothesis states that learning depends on the amount of
time spent altogether, not the way it is spaced out. This theory has several drawbacks in an
experimental setting because it is difficult to control the attention span of participants and would
have no external validity in the real world. The impact of these theories on the idea of “learning” is
enormous. The evidence suggests that the most effective way to learn a piece of information would
be to rehearse it repeatedly over time, not “cram” study in a short, but intense, time periods.
One very interesting experiment that was performed by Karni and Tanne tested the effects
of REM sleep on learning capability, a cognitive function that is difficult, if not pointless, to
separate from memory. It was found that disruptions in REM sleep patterns reduced the amount of
improvement the participants showed on visual-discrimination tasks. The connection was further
evidenced by the finding that there were increases in REM sleep in proportion with exposure to
learning situations. It was concluded...
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