The first stage, cognitive, relies heavily on cognitive thinking and verbal processes or talking oneself through what you have to do.  The gains in performance are high for this stage considering the individual is trying out a bunch of new strategies, retaining the beneficial strategies and discarding the strategies that did not fit.  One who is beginning the learning process of batting may talk through each aspect of the swing starting with hand position and ending with the follow through of the swing. 

            The associative stage is the establishment of motor programs.  By this stage the individual can recognize what they need to do in response to given stimuli.  A batter may have figured out that when the ball is released from the pitcher’s hand, they need to take a step to shift their body weight in preparation of the swing.  Improvements can be seen during this phase but they become more gradual because the batter is able to perform movements that are more consistent.  However, the batter has not perfected or gained the motor knowledge to perform the movement at a proficient level.  In other words, while the individual is swinging they can detect errors in their movement but cannot necessarily fix them.  This is the stage that separates the Michael Jordan batters of Space Jam from the Babe Ruths.  While Michael Jordan was busy saving toon town, Babe Ruth was swinging for the stars.

            Babe Ruth’s move into the third stage, the autonomous stage, was dependent on practice.  With this practice, the skill becomes automatic, reducing the amount of attention required.  Now the batter can process information from other aspects of the task, such as the path of the ball as it approaches the plate.  It is through the autonomous stage that Babe Ruth was able to hit so many home runs.  When the batter fouls off the ball, he or she now has the ability to detect what went wrong and the knowledge to correct the error.

            The “quiz I forgot about” memory, sensory memory, is where information first goes when it is presented.  The information only stays in memory for a short time, just long enough for you to nail the quiz.  The duration and capacity of the sensory memory stage depends on what sensory receptors are registered.  Hopefully you focus on what will actually be on the quiz because sensory memory filters out information that isn’t critical at the time and limits your recollection to about 4 objects.  Color coding the information or making flash cards could be a way to register your sensory receptors. 

               The “exam I should’ve started studying for earlier” memory, short-term memory, has the capacity to hold a small amount of information for a short amount of time.  This means that you will not miserably fail your exam because you will be able to remember the information until the exam, but you better pray that the final is not cumulative since you will have forgotten the information before then.  Actively rehearsing the information allows for longer storage of the information in the short-term memory stage.  According to Miller’s theory, the short-term memory stage can hold seven (plus or minus two) items.  By chunking the information, or taking the individual items and grouping them together, one can increase his or her memory capacity.  Chunking the information turns what would have been three items into one through the use of tricks such as mnemonic devices.  

            Our “this is my jam” memory, long-term memory, is created through consolidation or how often we access the information presented to us.  Thanks to the radio and spotify playlists, we are exposed to songs multiple times a day.  This constant interaction and the synaptic connections that we organize make the lyrics engrained in our heads.  But have no fear college students!  We are capable of remembering more than just the words to “Don’t Stop Believing” because my very eager mother just served us nine pizza pies.