Memory in Everyday Life

Ying Liang
Student number 822-913-679
Humber College
Professor Ann Wainwright
September 25, 2013

Memory in Everyday Life

Introduction
There are three memory processes: encoding, storage, and retrieving (Wood, Wood,
Wood, Boyd, Wood and Desmarais, 2011). Each of them should be implemented in an
orderly manner. In this essay, I will analyze two of my memory failure experiences,
clarify the three processes of memory, discuss the causes of my memory failures, and
demonstrate what should be done to make improvements.
Part 1
I want to represent two experiences of my memory failure. One case is that I had a
hard time to recall my previous classmates name. It was in 2004, the 10 th year after I
graduated from high school, all the classmates gathered together to attend the
celebrating party. Of course, after ten-year separation, I was excited to see my friends.
Unfortunately, I was extremely embarrassed because I could not recall several of their
names. Those are the names I used to call almost every day, but I just could not take
the names out of my mouth. The other case happened more frequently during my
student life. I showed up in the classes and paid attention to the lectures, but I forgot
about half of the contents merely after a single day. As a student, how I wish I could
remember the notes at least before the exams. At that time, I was not supposed to be
old enough to forget things so easily. I was pretty sure I was not suffering from an
inefficient memory. But I couldnt tell what the real causes of these experiences are.
Fortunately, I have got a taste of how our memory works in psychology class at

Humber College. I want to clarify the process of memory, the root cause of my
memory failure and the solutions I should take to improve my memory as well.
Three memory processes: Encoding, as the first step, involves the conversion of the
selected information that we pay attention to. In this form, it can be stored in our
memory. Then, it comes to the next process called storage which is achieved by the
physiological activity of consolidation. So, the information is kept in our memory.
Ultimately, the retrieval process allows us to seek out and regain the massages we
previously stored. Frequently, this well-organized procedure is disturbed by any
absence of one of these three indispensable parts, and the so-called memory failure
take place (Wood, Wood, Wood, Boyd, Wood & Desmarais, 2011).
When I take a step back and look at my memory failure experiences, I realize that
retrieving failure and decay are the respectively cause of them. In the first case, I
could not remember the names of former classmates because I failed to locate the
information. Those are the things I know very well and I am very confident it can
remain in my brain for a life-long time. However, I miss my way to find the exact spot
in my memory jungle. This type of failure is called retrieval failure which happens in
long-term memory.
As far as the second case is concerned, memory decay is the cause. It is well accepted
that our sensory and short-term memory fades as time goes by (Wood, Wood, Wood,
Boyd, Wood and Desmarais, 2011). When I was in class, a great amount of
information came up to me. Some of them were still my sensory memory while others
may have been encoded to be short-term memory. On one hand, sensory memory can

totally disappear within a fraction of a second; on the other hand, short-term memory
can not be transformed to be long-term memory without rehearsal. In this case, I did
not review the text on the same day after class. Our short-term memory decays
abruptly in the first 24 hours (Ebbinghaus, 1913). That is why I could not recall the
notes the day after the class.
Part 2
As I have stated in the first case, I could not remember the name of my familiar
classmates because of retrieving failure. Researchers found if cues are provided to
stimulate memory, the long-term memory could be recalled (Schab, 1990). What I
have learned is trying to connect some cue to my current task so as to prepare a piece
of hint for the future. For example, when I remember a name, I remember the
homophony of it, the nick name I used to call him or her, the circumstances we met,
the character of that person, and etc. Therefore, when I retrieve the name, I already
have some clues. Hopefully, this change can help me out of the embarrassment I
experienced.
Moreover, I want to change my learning habit after I analyzed the second case. I lost
most of the information because I did not review on the day when I learned the new
information. Ebbinghaus Curve of Forgetting shows how rapidly our memory decay
in the first 24 hours (Ebbinghaus, 1913). I should take advantage of the over learning
step to minimize the opportunities of decay, displacement and interference. For
instant, after each class, I will quickly look through the notes; when I go home, review
it for the second time. In this way, more information can be memorized. It would be

much better than if I review it a week after that when almost 80 percent of the
information is forgotten (Ebbinghaus, 1913).
In addition, there are a lot more practices that can help me improve my memory,
including organization, active learning, spaced learning and learning before sleep.
Firstly, I will make every thing in order. It will make retrieve easier if the information
is organized in a meaningful way. Secondly, I will take advantage of active techniques
which can help to gain a more efficient memory. Compare with rereading, active
learning (e.g., asking questions) connects with what we have already known (Wood,
Pressley, & Winne, 1990). Thirdly, it is better to divide the material into small
portions than learning the whole mass at the same time. Lastly, I will go over the
notes before sleep to minimize the chance of interference. I believe the utilization of
above techniques will definitely benefit my study in the future.
Conclusion
Memory is an orderly process consists of encoding, storage, and retrieving. Memory
decay and retrieving failure happened to me respectively when I couldnt remember
my classmates names and when I couldnt remember the information I learned the
day before. To be frank, forgetting things is not avoidable, but there are certain
techniques to minimize the chance. Making clues, Rehearsal, Organization,
relearning, spaced learning and learning before sleep are effective methods we can
take to improve memory (Wood, Wood, Wood, Boyd, Wood & Desmarais, 2011).

References
Ebbinghaus, H. E. (1913). Memory. Oxford, England: Teachers College, Columbia
University.
Schab, F. R. (1990). Odors and the remembrance of things past. Journal of
Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16, 648-655.
Wood, E., Pressley, M., & Winne, P. (1990). Elaborative interrogation effects on
childrens learning of factual content. Journal of /educational Psychology, 82, 741748.
Wood, E., Wood, G., Boyd D., Wood & Desmarais, S. (2011). Memory, The World of
Psychology, 174-190
Wood, E., Wood, G., Boyd D., Wood & Desmarais, S. (2011). Memory, The World of
Psychology, 194-199.