It is almost impossible for someone to truly learn something without also having the memory to retain what they learned.

Learning and memory are closely related concepts. Learning is the acquisition of skill or knowledge, while memory is the expression of what has been acquired.

Let’s take a look at the interplay of memory and learning.

What is memory?

Memory refers to the processes that are used to acquire, store, and later retrieve information.

There are three major activities involved in memory:

1. encoding i.e. converting information into code, in other words, getting information into our memory system through automatic or effortful processing
2. storage i.e. accumulating or putting away for future use, and
3. retrieval i.e. locating and recovering information.

Human memory involves the ability to both preserve and recover information we have learned or experienced.

Your memory plays a more important role in the acquisition of knowledge than you may realize. Your identity…your individuality…how you think about yourself, for example, is highly dependent on your memories. Your memory will also influence how you gather new knowledge and may influence or ‘color’ your other Ways of Knowing, such as sense perception.

The same is true for children.

Have you ever walked past a building and caught the smell of someone’s cooking that took you back decades into your mother’s kitchen eating one of her culinary masterpieces that smelled like the aroma you just experienced?

It’s amazing how something occurs and our brains go right back to a childhood memory.

Why are memory and learning linked?

Memory is essential to learning, but it also depends on learning because the information stored in one’s memory creates the basis for linking new knowledge by association. It is a symbiotic – a reciprocal – relationship which continues to change and grow throughout our lives.

There are 3 types of memory:

1. Sensory memory
2. Short-term memory
3. Long-term memory

Creating a memory involves 3 stages:

1. Information begins in sensory memory, then
2. Moves to short-term memory, and eventually moves to
3. Long-term memory

Sensory Memory

Sensory memory is the shortest-term element of memory. It is the first and most immediate form of memory you have. It is the ability to retain impressions of sensory information (information that comes to us through our senses) after the original stimuli have ended. For example, the ability to look at something and remember what it looked like with just a second of observation is an example of sensory memory.

It is often thought of as the first stage of memory that involves registering a tremendous amount of information about the environment, but only for a very brief period.

There are different types of sensory memory, including

1. Iconic memory (Referring to the sense of sight),
2. Echoic memory (Referring to the sense of hearing), and
3. Haptic memory (Referring to the sense of touch)

In sensory memory, no manipulation of the incoming information occurs, and the input is quickly transferred to the short-term memory.

Sensory memory is a brief precursor to short-term memory that allows you to process and recall the sensations you take in.

It is a mental representation of how environmental events look, sound, feel, smell and taste. It includes a long-term component useful for such activities as recognizing a color or a familiar voice. However, most vivid details of sensory memory seem to fade quickly.

This type of memory does not require your attention. It is automatic and exceptionally detailed. It is brief and is constantly being replaced by new sensory memories as the senses processes your surroundings.

How does sensory memory affect learning?

Remembering that sensory memory is the first kind of memory, it is important for effective learning because it is the starting point which the brain uses to form new short-term and long-term memories.

Imagine taking your child for a walk along the main street of your city. He will see buildings of differing sizes and shapes, vehicles of many colors, various kinds of shrubbery and people talking to each other or staring at their phones.

Because most of these things are not important to you or your child, neither of you will remember those images.

If, on the other hand, you paid attention to some musicians and dancers on a street corner doing breathtaking performances, you would remember them after you leave the scene.

One cannot remember all the things he is exposed to. As your child takes in the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings, his brain makes a snap decision on whether to transfer that information to the short-term memory or to discard it. Once it is let go, it is gone forever.

You can equate it to the below-the-basement foundation of the “memory” house.

Your child’s learning success is dependent on him paying attention to information so that it enters his sensory memory. This is a crucial first step.

In my next article, I will discuss short-term memory and long-term memory and their impact on your child’s academic success.

It is your responsibility to set the stage for your children to encode, store and retrieve their memories.

What are some things you still remember from your childhood?