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Psychology
Memory can be defined as the capability to absorb, register, and retrieve information in the future. Three types of memories are sensory, short-term, and long-term memories.
Sensory memory enables a person to store an object’s visual impression for a very short time, such as a fraction of a second. Short-term memory or working memory accommodates a small number of items. When kids concentrate on a sensory memory stimulus, it is held for about 30 seconds in the working memory; it functions in middle childhood similarly to an adult-like organization. Short-term memory capacity is defined as chunks of information that the memory can hold at once; 5-6 years old can keep two nuggets of information simultaneously; on the other hand, adolescents accommodate up to 7 pieces of informational items. The failure at Piaget’s activities may be due to his incapability to work on several chunks of information at a time. Rote learning is a type of short-term memory that involves storing and recalling information through repetition. Any memory held longer than a couple of seconds is called long-term memory, usually lasts for a lifetime. Long-term memory is the enormous storage of information comprising names, dates, places, or events lasting for an indefinite period. Older children are more likely to use rehearsal to recall details compared to younger children. English teachers use an elaborated strategy to link new materials to known ones when students use unfamiliar words.
Research on features of sound in humans done in 1999 by Gomez found out that during the early childhood, the sound is held for a shorter time contrary to older children and adults; this shows differences in the sensory memory system’s functioning. Since working memory needs keen focus and attention, younger children have a lower short-term memory capacity than older children and adults. Long-term memory tends to be lower in smaller children but increases its ability to a longer time of up to a lifetime when one grows ( Lally and Valentine-French 128).
A study by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968 established that memory comprises connected stores, which include sensory, short-term, and long-term memory. Information passes through the three stores sequentially. They deduced that once sensory organs perceive data, it is registered in the sensory memory and recorded once given keen attention. The information is then recorded in the long-term memory if rehearsed more often, but the stored details get lost from the main memory without repetition.
Work Cited
Lally, Martha, and Suzanne Valentine-French. LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT: A Psychological Perspective. N.p., 2019. Web.