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).

• Sensory memory- preserves fleeting impressions of sensorystimuli-sights, sounds, smells, and textures for only a fraction of a second.
• Short-Term memory- includes recollections for what we have recentlyperceived, such as limited information, lasts only up to twenty seconds unlessspecial attention is paid to it or is reinstated for rehearsal. Information inshort term memory is limited to seven discrete units (plus or minus 2)
• Long-Term memory-preserves information for retrieval at any time. The information may be stored for an entire life time and constitutes ourknowledge about the world. Long term memory is considered to be unlimited induration and capacity.