Meaning of memory:

Memory is a critical part of all the cognitive processes. It involves maintaining information over time. The information could be maintained for less than a second or as long as a life time.

It is even said that memory involves both remembering and forgetting, which forms the two faces of the same coin, though they are opposed to each other by nature, they play a very significant role in the life of an individual. Eg: remembering a pleasant moment of life makes a man very happy where as remembering an unpleasant moment makes his life miserable. Thus, forgetting that unpleasant moment is very essential. Remembering and forgetting act as tools to maintain physiological or physical homeostasis. The homeostasis is maintained by certain nerve cells of the brain which undergo changes and help to retain what is learned in the form od memory traces and any unpleasant experience will be ejected by the cells such that forgetting occurs. Memory can also be defined as organism’s ability to store, retain, recall information and experiences.

            This process of remembering and forgetting is sometimes conscious and sometimes unconscious. Some studies have revealed that this process is bases upon 3 laws named as:

1)      Law of contiguity

2)      Law of similarity

3)      Law of contrast

 Law of contiguity   

According to this law any 2 events or incidents which takes place simultaneously at a particular time or at a particular place, tend to associate with each other either in terms of place or time. Thus association is formed between the 2 situations, as a result of this, recalling of event bring the other event automatically to our minds.  E g: if you have seen an accident near a particular circle, than later when ever  you go near that circle it remembers that accident. Similarly if the accident had occurred at 5 o’clock than later on everyday or more often at 5 o’clock you will remember that accident. Hence it is said that chains of ideas occur to our memory by a single stimulation.

Law of similarity

According to this law the event or experiences which are similar to each other ten to associate with each other, hence recalling of one experience makes the related experience to follow the suit automatically. Similarity of experience may be in terms of time, appearance, form, color or size. Eg: If someone resembles his or her friend in appearance he/she will immediately remembers his/her friend and the other associated ideas.

Law of contrast

            Event, things or words which are opposite with each other tend to associate with each other and hence recalling of one makes the other remember automatically. Eg: white and black, good and bad, honesty and dishonesty etc.

Stages of memorizing

Though memory is a single process it undergoes 3 different stages namely.

1. Leaning or memorizing.
2. Retention.
3. Remembering or recalling/ retrieved.

Leaning or memory

     It is considered to be the 1^st stage of memory. Leaning may be either through conditioning, imitation, trial and error or by insight, we have to understand the material 1^st, so that we understand it better and longer.

Good memory depends upon efficient method of learning. Some of them are:

1.  Learning by understanding the meaning
2.  Spaced method Vs un spaces method
3.  Part Vs whole method
4. Repetition Vs recall method
5.  The will to learn and remember.

These methods are also known as economical methods of learning.

Retention

It is a stage where the material learnt will be retained which helps in progress of our learning or else we may have to learn the same material again and again. Hence retention plays a significant role in the progress of learning and achievements in life. Whatever we learn will be retained in our unconscious and comes to our conscious when it is required.

According to some psychologists whenever we learn or experience in our daily life causes memory traces, which are known as neurograms or anagrams which are formed by the modifications in the nerve cells.

            Some psychologists proposed molecular theory of memeory in which they explains that memory storage depends upon RNA metabolism. i.e: the structural and functional states of RNA changes dramatically during learning experience but they do not function as permanent memory traces.

The factors which effect retention are:

1.  Learning b understanding the meaning will be retained longer than learning without knowing its meaning.
2.   Larger the material, longer will it be retained as the learner will be active, attentive and puts more effort to learn throughout the material.
3.  Unpleasant and uninteresting material will be forgotten due to repression and Vise Versa.
4.  Retention is better in a fast learner compared to slow learner.
5.  Retention for incomplete task will be greater the completed tasks (Zigarnic effect)
6.  Age effect retention directly.

Some of the methods which we use to measure retention are:

1-   Recall method – in the absence of materials.
2- Recognition method – in the presence of material but mixed with other material.
3- Relearning method – time required for original learning and then releasing after gap of time.
4- Reconstruction method – the original item presented in a particular order will be jumbled up and the subject has to reconstruct the item in the originally presented order.