Memory

Memory is a living library of all references to our past. It isavailable to help us deal with problems of the present to make future decisions. Memory can bestored to later recall or recongize events that were previously experienced. It also refers to what is retained, the total body of remembered experience aswell as a specific experience that is recalled.

Memories are not like photoalbums because memories are rarely exact copies of earlier experiences. Whatyou remember is influenced by many factors, some operating at the time of theoriginal encoding of information, others operating during storage, and still others operating atthe time of recall.

Memories can be affected by physical health, attention,emotion, prejudice, and many other conditions.

There are three types of memory:sensory, short-term, and long-term (Zimbardo, 1993).