Our sensory memory has a large capacity since it is taking in multiple pieces of information at the same time. Much of this information is lost within seconds. According to an article, "sensory memory only lasts for a few seconds before either moving to another memory storage area or disappearing so you can experience other senses" (Camina, 2017). Once information is proceed, our neurons start to send information through our brain. If this fades or stops, the memory is then lost. If the information is important, the neurons sends the information to the working memory where it goes to the correct part of the brain to be processed further.

Sensory memory is important when it comes to educational environments. It helps students to filter out the important information and can help with student attention. Students are always taking in information through different senses at one given time. This allows them to process the information they are taking in through what they are seeing and hearing. In professional settings, our sensory memory allows us to react to situations that are happening around us quickly. By filtering this information, we can then determine what is needed.

Immediate memory is important in educational and professional environments because it allows us to communicate with others efficiently. Immediate memory allows us to process what is being said so that we can effectively respond and recall important information from the conversation. Our immediate memory can also help us with task management and problem solving. These skills are both important for students and professionals specially when given multiple task to complete.

Working memory is the second part of short term memory. Once our immediate memory determines what information is important it passes it to working memory. Here we manipulate and process the new information. It is in working memory where we can add onto a memory or modify a memory. Memories here that are classified as important than move to long-term memory. According to Sousa, "we can process items intently in working memory for up to 45 minutes before becoming fatigued" (Sousa, 2022). If a person is motivated to learn about a subject or topic, they can process information a little longer until they become physically tired. This is important in an educational environment. If students are not motivated or interested in a topic that is being taught, they are only processing information for a short amount of time. Therefore teachers need to chunk information. In working memory, they are able to recall the information and expand on it. This allows students to manipulate the memory in working memory. When information is in working memory, it is also important to practice or rehearse what they learned. This increases neural connections that are being made.

Working memory is important in educational environments because it allows students to take what they have learned and use that skill to problem solve or draw conclusions. This also helps with critical thinking and retaining information. Working memory in a professional environment can help with adaptability and increase productivity. Working memory allows us to recall information, this would allow for errors to be reduced and activities to be completed faster.

Long term memory is divided into two parts, declarative and non-declarative. Declarative memories allow us to recall things such as a phone number, a person's name, things that are more explicit. Non-declarative memories help us to remember things we have experiences with such as how to drive a car, ride a bike, things that are more implicit.

Long-term memory is important in educational environments because it allows us to recall information, skills, and experiences that we had before. Using these recalled memories, we can start to build the skill up over time. This helps students with critical thinking and problem solving since the foundation is already in long-term memory. If we do not have skills or memories in long term memories, students will have more difficulty with connecting new information to prior learning. Recalling these memories allows us to strengthen our neural connections. If we are not using certain connections they eventually are forgotten. Long term memories have the same effect in professional environments. It allows us to recall the skills we need to do our jobs effectively. When something changes or policies change, we can recall the information and modify it accordingly. This allows us to build our skills and be more proficient in our professions.

Retention is also closely related to learning. When we learn new information we want to connect it to prior knowledge that we have. In order to do this, we rely on retention and our ability to access these memories. If we are not able to access these memories or our prior experiences, we have a difficult time learning the new concept since it does not make sense and is foreign to us. This reduces our ability to move it to long-term memory.

When we are taking in more data about a skill or concept, our brain is filtering through our long term memories. Any data that is related is retrieved and brought to working memory. Here we connect our prior knowledge with our new knowledge. This is the first part of transfer. Once we connect the information, we can then use it and recall it in the future. This is the second part of transfer.

Transfer of memories can be positive or negative. When we are transferring memories that uses a skill we already know it can help us to learn a new similar skill. For instance, learning a new language that is similar to a language you already know can help you to be successful in that new language. On the other hand, some memories can make learning more difficult which would be a negative transfer. Some memories can affect how we understand a new skill. For instance, if we are taught one way of writing a paper and another teacher teaches a new way, our prior knowledge can hinder how we understand the new approach.

Transfer is important when it comes to learning, because we are constantly wanting to connect what we are learning to things we already have experience with. This makes our new learning understandable and more meaningful. According to the textbook, "The more information a student can transfer from their schooling to the context of everyday life, the greater the probability that they will be good communicators, critical thinkers and successful problem-solvers" (Sousa, 2022, pg. 126).

Teachers can use chunking in the classroom to help students learn complex skills. We know that working memory only has a window of opportunity for students to retain the information. Using the chunking strategy will allow teachers to take advantage of this window. If we break these skills into chunks, we can help enhance long term retention. Students can learn part of the skill, then practice it and put it into action. The next day we can show the next part of the skill, this allows a student to recall what they learned from the last lesson. This allows them to enhance their neural connections which will help with retention.

Chunking can help with students who also deal with trauma. Students who have trauma may have decreased attention spans, working memory, and emotional regulation. Chunking will help students with trauma by shortening the amount of attention needed. Again breaking down these complex skills, can reduce the amount of time that a student with trauma needs to focus on the skill. Chunking can also help with the amount of pressure we are putting on our working memory. Students with trauma can have an impaired working memory where it gets overloaded easily. This can become stressful on a student who has trauma. Breaking this information down, can reduce the amount of stress we are putting on their working memory. This will reduce their stress level and increase their chances of moving these memories to long term memory.

The bridging and hugging strategy helps with transfer of learning by connecting past experiences to present learning. Students then can use the new neural connection to help them with future skills and content. According to the text, "bridging and hugging are designed to help students make transfer links from past to present and from present to future" (Sousa, 2022, pg. 133). This is an important strategy in today's educational settings because it makes learning for students more relevant and engaging. The bridging strategy allows us to make connections with things that students are already aware about. This prior knowledge helps with understanding new concepts. With today's classrooms being highly diverse, this strategy supports different types of learners. When we have students who are ELL students, we can use their prior knowledge of their language to help them make connections to the content.

The bridging and hugging strategy is great for students who have experienced trauma as well. Students who experience trauma have a hard time regulating emotion and can become anxious in the classroom. By connecting prior knowledge, we can help bridge content to something they already know. This can lower anxiety in these students, making the classroom safe for students. Trauma can cause students to become disconnected from their learning since they are not able to process emotions normally. By connecting past to present, this makes learning more meaningful to these students since we are focusing on their interests and their lives.

This strategy is beneficial as a social studies teacher because it will allow personalized learning to an extent. Using spaced repetition allows students who need more help to get that help and practice they need since we are not building on the skill until later on. This also allows advanced learners to use their skill in more complex situations without putting pressure on struggling students. This strategy allows us to focus on parts of the skill. This way we can master the first part before making it more complex. The spaced repetition strategy is also valuable when it comes to students who have experienced trauma. Using this type of strategy keeps the classroom structured. Students know that when we are learning a skill, we will revisit and practice before moving on to a more enhanced skill. This provides a classroom that is predictable and stable that allows students to feel safe and encouraged. Trauma can cause problems to the hippocampus decreasing its ability to function properly. By being strategic on when we are recalling skills, we can help strengthen these neuron connections, causing us to counteract memory deficits.

Trauma can affect memory since it makes it difficult to process emotions and create memories that are emotional based. Due to the amygdala not working correctly, it causes memories to be fragmented or incomplete since it overrides the hippocampus. The hippocampus allows us to integrate details into our memories, without this we do not get the full picture or the details that are needed to create them. The prefrontal cortex is also affected by trauma, causes problems for students to pay attention for long periods of time. This in return causes problems with encoding and organizing memories.

2. Feng, K. (2019). Spaced Learning Enhances Episodic Memory by Increasing Neural Pattern Similarity Across Repetitions. The Society for Neuroscience.  https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2741-18.2019

3. Norris, D. (2021). Chunking and data compression in verbal short-term memory. Elsevier B.V. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104534

4. Roediger, H. (2018). Remembering What We Learn. Cerebrum.  

5. Sousa, D. (2022). How the Brain Works (6^th Edition). SAGE publication Ltd.