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Memories are crucial to who we are as human beings. They essentially shape who we are and make up our internal biographies, the stories we tell to ourselves about what we have done with our lives (Harvard Medical School, 2024).

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Very short lived (milliseconds) retention of information, such as sights and sounds

For example, being able to recall what someone said even though we were not listening

Incoming sensory information is first sent to the thalamus to monitor the importance and nature of the sensory impulses

In just milliseconds the brain uses past experiences to determine the importance (Sousa, 2022)

Most are unimportant and are dropped out of the processing system

Implications on Teaching

Sensory register blocks out certain stimuli that allows our brains to focus on the most important things

Helps students block out distractions in the classroom such as noise from the hall, interruptions in the classroom, etc. in order to focus on instruction

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A memory may be saved in long term or may be forgotten in minutes (Harvard Medical School, 2024).

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Includes early steps of temporary memory that will eventually lead to stable long term memory

Related to immediate and working memory:

Immediate: acts as a clipboard (Sousa, 2022)

Information is briefly placed until a decision is made on what to do with it

Holds information up to 30 seconds

Individual experiences determine the importance of the memory

Working: acts as a work table (Sousa, 2022)

Very limited capacity

Ideas are built, taken apart, and reworked that need to be stored elsewhere in the brain

Captures focus and demands attention, which speaks to the limited capacity of handling only a few items at once

Implications on Teaching

Less is more (Sousa, 2022)

Keep the number of items being taught in a lesson that require to be remembered within the age appropriate capacity

Lessons need to be no more than 15 minutes to keep student's interest and engagement

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A learner will most likely store information if it makes sense and has meaning (Sousa, 2024).

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Considered to be durable yet changeable (Harvard Medical School, 2024).

Refers to the storing and processing of information

Duration: ability to store information for years up to a person's entire lifetime

Unlimited capacity that ranges from personal experiences to factual knowledge

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Explicit Memory: memories that can be consciously recalled such as facts and events (Psychology Today, 2024)

Types of Explicit Memory

Episodic: related to personal experiences and specific events in time

Semantic: involves general world knowledge, facts, and meanings of words

Procedural Memory: includes skills and habits

How to do things both physically and mentally (Psychology Today, 2024)

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Ultimate goal of long term memory is retention and understanding

Teachers can do this by:

promoting deep learning by asking students to not only understand the information, but apply it

-This involves higher order thinking skills such as analyzing and synthesizing

make learning meaningful by connecting learning to student's prior knowledge and experiences

providing a positive and supportive learning environment to reduce stress and stressors

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Learning and retention are different. We are able to learning something for a few minutes, but then lose it forever just minutes later (Sousa, 2024).

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Rehearsal, the process of reprocessing information, is a crucial part of one being able to transfer information from working memory to long term storage in order to be retained (Sousa, 2022).

Retention of new material allows for the transfer of material within a different context, which leads to a deeper understanding.

Educators must adhere to the primacy-recency effect, which involves students learning what was taught first the best, and what was taught after that second best (Sousa, 2022).

When new learning is understood and is related to

experiences, retention increases ( Sousa, 2022).

Engage students in hands on learning experiences

Teach using a variety of contexts

Use repetition throughout instruction

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Understanding the effect that stress has on brain development and learning is also important.

Trauma can especially affect the emotional networks with in the brain, which can cause one to either overreact or under-react in stressful situations (Greenberg, 2021).

We also know that stress, fatigue, lack of sleep, and the feeling of being overwhelmed can contribute to short-term memory loss and forgetfulness (Harvard Medical School, 2024).

Stress can have many different effects on learning, both cognitively and emotionally.

It can inhibit learning in the areas of retention and recalling of material and attention and focus.

Stress during or just before learning takes place may actually strengthen memory, but stress experienced some time before the learning event can impair memory (Whiting, S et al.,2021).

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How to help? Strategies to improve memory

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How to help? Strategies to improve memory

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Metacognition is thinking about thinking and a useful tool to enhance student learning (Owen, 2017).

It relates to other skills such as problem solving, decision making, and critical thinking.

It teaches students to be responsible for their learning by reflecting on what they learned as well as what they found to be challenging.

For example, using an exit ticket at the end of a lesson to self-assess their level of understanding of the content for that day.

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Overtime, practice and rehearsal increase retention (Sousa, 2022).

There are two types of rehearsal: Massed and Distributed

Massed:

Involves practicing new material over a short period of time (cramming)

May be beneficial before some assessments

New information is often dropped because it has no meaning to students (Sousa, 2022)

Distributed:

The key to retention (Sousa, 2022)

Involves continuous practice over a longer period of time

Creates meaning and therefore transfers knowledge to long term memory (Sousa, 2022).

Effective practice begins with massed practice first, then concludes with distributed. The end result is an increase in retention (Sousa, 2022).