Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

The brain receives information from all the senses. Although we are unaware of it, the brain constantly processes all sensory information. The information enters sensory or immediate memory and is filtered for importance. Short-term memory consists of two types, sensory and working, and lasts for a few seconds to a few minutes. Sensory memory becomes working memory when we start to pay attention to it. Try tuning into the sounds in the room around you now. What do you hear? By focusing on sound, your working memory is now active. Emotions, or strong sensory information, also activate working memory. Processing items in working memory with focus happens for about 20 minutes before interference from mental fatigue, boredom, or distraction starts. To maintain focus, find a way to process the material differently, such as a quiz, game, activity, or take a break. The hippocampus, the brain structure responsible for memory creation, activates with working memory. It works like a video recorder. Once activated, it begins to encode the information into long-term memory for storage. It is worth noting the hippocampus cannot record two things simultaneously or multitask without losing or combining some of the information. Another brain structure, the amygdala, has a role in learning. It filters information for survival, for example, the smell of smoke from a fire. When activated, the amygdala creates moments of hyper-focus, thus turning on the hippocampus. This hyper-focus is why we remember intense moments with clarity or feel it’s happening in slow motion. Once information encodes into long-term memory, it can last a lifetime. Long-term memory contains two main categories: explicit or declarative and implicit or non-declarative memory. Explicit memory is what we think of when we use the word “memory.” We are conscious of the memory and have recollection of creating it. Think of it as “I know…” Implicit memory is unconscious and relates to “knowing how” to do something. We use it every day for walking, skill performance, etc. Explicit memory consists of two categories: semantic and episodic. Semantic memory stores facts and concepts like multiplication tables, countries, and grammar, independent of personal experiences. Episodic memory is autobiographical and recalls what we personally experienced. Implicit memory consists of four categories: procedural, priming, nonassociative, and classical conditioning. Procedural memory is our habits and skills. These parts of memory are automatic, like tying your shoes. Priming is our ability to integrate new information with information we already have. Remember the string on the evidence board. Nonassociative memory uses the brain’s reflexes to habituate or sensitize us to information. Habituation means we become less aware, and sensitization makes us more aware. Classical conditioning uses an outside stimulus to create a physical or emotional response. Remember Pavlov’s dogs? The bell sound activated a salivation, a physical response. Have you ever had a smell bring up a memory of a specific place and time? This emotional response to a stimulus also demonstrates classical conditioning. Lastly, Instrumental Learning states that consequences strengthen or weaken behaviors. Retrieval is recalling and applying stored information. We have an unlimited amount of memory storage in our brains. The more we recall information, the easier it becomes. Neural pathways strengthen with each retrieval of information.