Into a from that can be stored in memory. Storage of information is the process of placing information in long-term memory. Rehearsal is a process that enables the individual to transfer information from the working memory to long-term memory. Retrieval involves the search through long-term memory for information that must be accessed in order to perform the task at hand.
Assessing Remembering and Forgetting
Before considering the various reasons why we forget and hoe we can facilitate remembering, it will be helpful to consider hoe we generally determine what or how much has been remembered or forgotten. Two categories of memory test will be discussed to introduce you to different types of tests that are commonly used in memory research to assess remembering and forgetting.
Explicit memory tests. When we ask people to remember something, we are asking them to consciously call something to mind. There are tests of memory that do this same type of thing. These tests are known as explicit memory tests. That is, they assess what a person can consciously remember. Two types of explicit memory tests that have been popular in memory research are known as recall tests and recognition tests. On the basis of the results of these tests, we are able to determine how much or what a person has consciously remembered, or, conversely, forgotten.
A recall tests requires a person to produce a required response with few, if any , available cues or aids. Thai test asks the person to “recall” information that has been presented. In the verbal domain, these tests typically take the form of essay or fill-in –the-blank tests. For example, a recall test could ask, “Name the bones of hand.” In motor skills, a recall tests requires the subject to produce a certain movement on command, such as “Perform the skill I just demonstrated to you” or “Show me how you tie your shoe.”
A recognition test, on the other hand, provides some cues or information on which to base a response. In this type of tests, a person’s task is to recognize the correct response by distinguishing it form several alternatives. In the verbal domain, multiple-choice or matching tests are examples of recognition tests. For example, you could be asked, “Which of these is a bone of the hand?” You are then given four alternative answers from which to choose where only one is correct. To answer the question, you need only to recognize which is the correct alternative, or which are the incorrect alternatives, to answer the question. For motor skills, recognition tests can involve having a person produce several different movements and then asking
Declarative knowledge knowledge about “what to do ” in a situation; this knowledge typically is verbalizable.
Procedural knowledge knowledge that enables a person to know “how to do” a skill; this knowledge typically is difficult to verbalize, or is not verbalizeble.
Encoding a memory process involving the transformation of information to be remembered into a form that can be stored in long-term memory.
Storage a memory process involving the placing (i.e., storing) of information in long-term memory.
Retrieval a memory process involving the search through long-term memory for information needed to perform the task at hand.
Recall test an explicit memory test that requires a person to produce a required response with few, if any, available cues or aids.
Recognition test an explicit memory test that requires a person to select a correct response from several alternative responses.