UVC 100 Home The Study System: Notetaking Listening Memory Time Management Study Stress management Textbook Reading Test Taking

Memory   How does our memory work?

 

We take in information through our senses, but we are constantly being bombarded with a lot of different sensory data.

 

The first step in memory is "PAYING ATTENTION" to the data we want.   But, unfortunately there are a number of "BLOCKS" that keep us from paying attention.

If we can overcome the blocks and pay attention, the sensory data enters the SENSORY MEMORY
	But unless we do some processing it is immediately lost. Processing, like repeating a phone number over and over in your head, moves the data to the SHORT TERM MEMORY (STM)
The STM has a limit of 1-2 days and 7 +/- 2 bits of information. If we try to take too much in, we saturate our memory and begin to lose information. One way to hold more information is by Meaningful Organization Putting information into groups that have meaning to you.
	Probably the most important factor in how well you will be able to take in information is Basic Background This refers to what you already know about the subject. Read the passage below:
The procedure is actually quite simple. First, you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise, you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run, this may not seem important, but complications can arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first, the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon however, it will become just another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then one never can tell. After the procedure is completed, one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually, they will be used once more and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, this is part of life.
Did you find the paragraph hard to follow, hard to understand? it seems to need something to tie it all together. The words were not difficult, but you still don't know what it's about. Send me an e-mail if you want to know!

So, How good is your Basic Background?

Answer the following questions:
1	What major event occurred in 1066?
2	When was the American Civil war?
3	When was the Declaration of Independance signed?
4	Who was Winston Churchill and when and where did he live?
5	Who was Karl Marx and when and where did he live?
6	Who was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and when and where did he live?
7	Who was Apollo and when and where did he live?
8	Who was Roy G. Biv and when and where did he live?
9	Who helped guide Lewis & Clark
10	Who said, "To be or not to be?"
11	Who said, "Ask not what your country can do for you.?"
12	Who said, "One small step for man?"
13	What is Appomattox?
14	What is the largest planet in the solar system?
15	Pick any 5 numbers from 1-48 and list them.
	Don't change your numbers! now Click here

So, how did you do? These questions, over a variety of subjects, represent information incoming college students are expected to know. If you missed some/many of them it may indicate that might need to seek out additional help with some of your classes.

One source of help might be with a tutor. Another source might be lower level (high school or middle school) books on the subject. If your background is weak, it is important that you acknowledge this and seek the help you need to be successful.

But just getting information into our short term memory is not enough! We need to be able to keep it permanently!

There is only one way to move infomation into long term permanent memory. You must USE the information.

USE it or LOSE it!

I suggest putting the questions you generate from you class notes and from your texts on to 3x5 cards. Put the question on one side and the answer on the back. This way you can ask the question either way.

How quickly can you say the alphabet - backwards? Probably a lot slower than you can say it forwards. Why? because you didn't learn it that way. But if you put the information in, in both directions, you can retreive if just as fast either way.

 

 

RELATED LINKS

 

Memory principles

Learning & memory

Mind Tools