THEHUMANMEMORY

Memor
yist
heabi
l
ityt
otakei
ninf
ormat
ion,st
orei
t,andr
ecal
litatal
atert
ime.I
n
psy
chol
ogy
,memor
yisbr
okeni
ntot
hreest
ages:
encodi
ng,
stor
age,
andr
etr
iev
al.

St
agesofmemor
y:Thet
hreest
agesofmemor
y:encodi
ng,st
orage,andr
etr
iev
al.
Pr
obl
emscanoccuratanyst
ageoft
hepr
ocess.

TheMemor
yPr
ocess

1.Encodi
ng(
orr
egi
str
ati
on)
:thepr
ocessofr
ecei
vi
ng,pr
ocessi
ng,andcombi
ning
i
nfor
mat
ion.Encodi
ngal
l
owsi
nfor
mat
ionf
rom t
heout
sidewor
ldt
oreachour
sensesi
nthef
ormsofchemi
calandphy
sicalst
imul
i
.Int
hisf
ir
stst
agewemust
changet
hei
nfor
mat
ionso t
hatwemayputt
hememor
yint
otheencodi
ng
pr
ocess.

2.St
orage:t
hecr
eat
ionofaper
manentr
ecor
doft
heencodedi
nfor
mat
ion.St
orage
i
sthesecondmemor
yst
ageorpr
ocessi
nwhi
chwemai
ntai
ninf
ormat
ionov
er
per
iodsoft
ime.

3.Ret
ri
eval(
orr
ecal
l
,orr
ecogni
ti
on)
:thecal
l
ingbackofst
oredi
nfor
mat
ioni
n
r
esponset
osomecuef
orusei
napr
ocessoract
ivi
ty.Thet
hir
dpr
ocessi
sthe
r
etr
iev
alofi
nfor
mat
iont
hatwehav
est
ored.Wemustl
ocat
eitandr
etur
nitt
oour

1|Page
 consci
ousness.Somer
etr
iev
alat
tempt
smaybeef
for
tl
essduet
othet
ypeof
i
nfor
mat
ion.

Pr
obl
emscanoccuratanyst
ageoft
hepr
ocess,
leadi
ngt
oany
thi
ngf
rom f
orget
ful
ness
t
oamnesi
a.Di
str
act
ioncanpr
eventusf
rom encodi
ngi
nfor
mat
ioni
nit
ial
l
y;i
nfor
mat
ion
mi
ghtnotbest
oredpr
oper
ly,ormi
ghtnotmov
efr
om shor
t-
ter
mtol
ong-
ter
m st
orage;
and/
orwemi
ghtnotbeabl
etor
etr
iev
ethei
nfor
mat
iononcei
t’
sst
ored.

Ty
pesofMemor
y

Sensor
yMemor
y

Sensor
ymemor
yal
l
owsi
ndi
vi
dual
stor
etai
nimpr
essi
onsofsensor
yinf
ormat
ionaf
ter
t
heor
igi
nalst
imul
ushasceased.Oneoft
hemostcommonexampl
esofsensor
y
memor
yisf
ast
-mov
ingl
i
ght
sindar
kness:i
fyouhav
eev
erl
i
taspar
kleront
hedayof
cel
ebr
ati
onorwat
chedt
raf
fi
crushbyatni
ght
,thel
i
ghtappear
stol
eav
eat
rai
l
.Thi
sis
becauseof“
iconi
cmemor
y,”t
hev
isualsensor
yst
ore.Twoot
hert
ypesofsensor
y
memor
yhav
ebeenext
ensi
vel
yst
udi
ed:
echoi
cmemor
y(t
heaudi
tor
ysensor
yst
ore)and
hapt
icmemor
y(t
het
act
il
esensor
yst
ore)
.Sensor
ymemor
yisnoti
nvol
vedi
nhi
gher
cogni
ti
vef
unct
ionsl
i
keshor
t-andl
ong-
ter
m memor
y;i
tisnotconsci
ousl
ycont
rol
l
ed.
Ther
oleofsensor
ymemor
yist
opr
ovi
deadet
ail
edr
epr
esent
ati
onofourent
ir
esensor
y
exper
iencef
orwhi
chr
elev
antpi
ecesofi
nfor
mat
ionar
eext
ract
edbyshor
t-
ter
m memor
y
andpr
ocessedbywor
kingmemor
y.

Shor
t-
Ter
m Memor
y

Shor
t-
ter
m memor
yi so known aswor
sal king memor
y.I
thol
dsonl
ya f
ew i
tems
(
resear
chshowsar
angeof7+/
-2i
tems)andonl
ylast
sforabout20seconds.Howev
er,
i
temscanbemov
edf
rom shor
t-
ter
m memor
ytol
ong-
ter
m memor
yvi
apr
ocesses
ker
l
i ehear
sal
.Anexampl
eofr
ehear
sali
swhensomeonegi
vesy
ouaphonenumber
v
erbal
l
yandy
ousayi
ttoy
our
sel
frepeat
edl
yunt
ily
oucanwr
it
eitdown.I
fsomeone
i
nter
rupt
syourr
ehear
salbyaski
ngaquest
ion,
youcaneasi
l
yfor
gett
henumber
,si
ncei
t
i
sonl
ybei
nghel
diny
ourshor
t-
ter
m memor
y.

Long-
Ter
m Memor
y

2|Page
Long-
ter
m memor
iesar
eal
lthememor
ieswehol
dforper
iodsoft
imel
ongert
hanaf
ew
seconds;l
ong-
ter
m memor
yencompassesev
ery
thi
ngf
rom whatwel
ear
nedi
nfi
rst
gr
adet
oourol
daddr
essest
owhatwewor
etowor
kyest
erday
.Long-
ter
m memor
yhas
ani
ncr
edi
blyv
astst
oragecapaci
ty,
andsomememor
iescanl
astf
rom t
het
imet
heyar
e
cr
eat
edunt
ilwedi
e.

Ther
ear
emanyt
ypesofl
ong-
ter
m memor
y.Expl
i
citordecl
arat
ivememor
yrequi
res
consci
ousr
ecal
l
;itconsi
stsofi
nfor
mat
iont
hati
sconsci
ousl
yst
oredorr
etr
iev
ed.
Expl
i
citmemor
ycanbef
urt
hersubdi
vi
dedi
ntosemant
icmemor
y(f
act
stakenoutof
cont
ext
,suchas“
Par
isi
sthecapi
talofFr
ance”
:thi
siswher
ethement
all
exi
coni
shel
d)
andepi
sodi
cmemor
y(per
sonalexper
iences,such as“
When Iwasi
n Par
is,Isaw
heMonaLi
t sa“
).

I
ncont
rastt
oexpl
i
cit
/decl
arat
ivememor
y,t
her
eisal
soasy
stem f
orpr
ocedur
al/
impl
i
cit
memor
y.These memor
ies ar
e notbased on consci
ousl
y st
ori
ng and r
etr
iev
ing
i
nfor
mat
ion,butoni
mpl
i
citl
ear
ning.Of
tent
hist
ypeofmemor
yisempl
oyedi
nlear
ning
new mot
orski
l
ls.Anexampl
eofi
mpl
i
citl
ear
ningi
slear
ningt
ori
deabi
ke:y
oudonot
needt
oconsci
ousl
yrememberhow t
ori
deabi
ke,y
ousi
mpl
ydo.Thi
sisbecauseof
i
mpl
i
citmemor
y.

Memor
yconsol
i
dat
ioni
sacat
egor
yofpr
ocessest
hatst
abi
l
izeamemor
ytr
aceaf
teri
ts
i
nit
ialacqui
sit
ion.Li
keencodi
ng,consol
i
dat
ionaf
fect
show wel
lamemor
ywi
l
lbe
r
emember
edaf
teri
tisst
ored:i
fiti
sencodedandconsol
i
dat
edwel
l
,thememor
ywi
l
lbe
easi
l
yret
ri
evedi
nful
ldet
ail
,buti
fencodi
ngorconsol
i
dat
ioni
snegl
ect
ed,t
hememor
y
wi
l
lnotber
etr
iev
edormaynotbeaccur
ate.

Consol
i
dat
ion occur
sthr
ough communi
cat
ion bet
ween sev
eralpar
ts oft
he br
ain,
i
ncl
udi
ngt
hehi
ppocampus,
theamy
gdal
a,andt
hecer
ebel
l
um.

Br
ainAr
easAssoci
atedwi
thMemor
y

I
magi
ngr
esear
chandl
esi
onst
udi
eshav
eledsci
ent
ist
stoconcl
udet
hatcer
tai
nar
eas
oft
hebr
ainmaybemor
especi
ali
zedf
orcol
l
ect
ing,pr
ocessi
ng,andencodi
ngspeci
fi
c
t
ypesofmemor
ies.Act
ivi
tyi
ndi
ff
erentl
obesoft
hecer
ebr
alcor
texhav
ebeenl
i
nkedt
o
t
hef
ormat
ionofmemor
ies.

3|Page
Lobesoft
hecer
ebr
alcor
tex:Whi
l
ememor
yiscr
eat
edandst
oredt
hroughoutt
hebr
ain,
somer
egi
onshav
ebeenshownt
obeassoci
atedwi
thspeci
fi
cty
pesofmemor
y.The
t
empor
all
obei
simpor
tantf
orsensor
ymemor
y,whi
l
ethef
ront
all
obei
sassoci
atedwi
th
bot
hshor
t-andl
ong-
ter
m memor
y.

Sensor
yMemor
y

Thet
empor
alandocci
pit
all
obesar
eassoci
atedwi
thsensat
ionandar
ethusi
nvol
vedi
n
sensor
ymemor
y.Sensor
ymemor
yist
hebr
ief
estf
orm ofmemor
y,wi
thnost
orage

4|Page
capabi
l
ity
.Inst
ead,i
tisat
empor
ary“
hol
dingcel
l
”forsensor
yinf
ormat
ion,capabl
eof
hol
dingi
nfor
mat
ionf
orsecondsatmostbef
oreei
therpassi
ngi
ttoshor
t-
ter
m memor
y
orl
ett
ingi
tdi
sappear
.

Shor
t-
Ter
m Memor
y

Shor
t-
ter
m memor
yissuppor
tedbybr
iefpat
ter
nsofneur
alcommuni
cat
iont
hatar
e
dependentonr
egi
onsoft
hepr
efr
ont
alcor
tex
,fr
ont
all
obe,andpar
iet
all
obe.The
hi
ppocampusi
sessent
ialf
ort
heconsol
i
dat
ionofi
nfor
mat
ionf
rom shor
t-
ter
mtol
ong-
t
erm memor
y;howev
er,i
tdoesnotseem t
ost
orei
nfor
mat
ioni
tsel
f,addi
ngmy
ster
yto
t
hequest
ionofwher
ememor
iesar
est
ored.Thehi
ppocampusr
ecei
vesi
nputf
rom
di
ff
erentpar
tsoft
hecor
texandsendsout
putt
ovar
iousar
easoft
hebr
ain.The
hi
ppocampusmaybei
nvol
vedi
nchangi
ngneur
alconnect
ionsf
oratl
eastt
hreemont
hs
af
teri
nfor
mat
ioni
sini
ti
all
ypr
ocessed.Thi
sar
eai
sbel
i
evedt
obei
mpor
tantf
orspat
ial
anddecl
arat
ive(
i.
e.,
fact
-based)memor
yaswel
l
.

Long-
Ter
m Memor
y

Long-
ter
m memor
yis mai
ntai
ned by st
abl
e and per
manentchanges i
n neur
al
connect
ionsspr
eadt
hroughoutt
hebr
ain.Thepr
ocessesofconsol
i
dat
ingandst
ori
ng
l
ong-
ter
m memor
ies hav
e been par
ti
cul
arl
yassoci
ated wi
tht
he pr
efr
ont
alcor
tex,
cer
ebr
um,f
ront
all
obe,andmedi
alt
empor
all
obe.Howev
er,t
heper
manentst
orageof
l
ong-
ter
m memor
iesaf
terconsol
i
dat
ionandencodi
ngappear
stodependupont
he
connect
ionsbet
weenneur
ons,wi
thmor
edeepl
ypr
ocessedmemor
ieshav
ingst
ronger
connect
ions.

Memor
yisnotper
fect
.St
ori
ngamemor
yandr
etr
iev
ingi
tlat
eri
nvol
vesbot
hbi
ologi
cal
and psy
chol
ogi
calpr
ocesses,and t
he r
elat
ionshi
p bet
ween t
he t
wo i
s notf
ull
y
under
stood.Memor
ies ar
e af
fect
ed byhow a per
son i
nter
nal
i
zes ev
ent
sthr
ough
per
cept
ions,i
nter
pret
ati
ons,andemot
ions.Thi
scancauseadi
ver
gencebet
weenwhat
i
sint
ernal
i
zedasamemor
yandwhatact
ual
l
yhappenedi
nreal
i
ty;i
tcanal
socause
ev
ent
stoencodei
ncor
rect
ly,
ornotatal
l
.

Tr
ansi
enceOurmemor
iesar
enoti
nfal
l
ibl
e:ov
ert
ime,
wit
houtuse,
memor
iesdecayand
wel
oset
heabi
l
ityt
oret
ri
evet
hem.

5|Page
I
tiseasi
ert
orememberr
ecentev
ent
sthant
hosef
urt
heri
nthepast
,andt
hemor
ewe
r
epeatorusei
nfor
mat
ion,
themor
eli
kel
yiti
stoent
eri
ntol
ong-
ter
m memor
y.Howev
er,
wi
thoutuse,orwi
tht
he addi
ti
on ofnew memor
ies,ol
d memor
ies can decay
.
“
Transi
ence”r
efer
stot
he gener
aldet
eri
orat
ion ofa speci
fi
c memor
yov
ert
ime.
Tr
ansi
encei
scausedbypr
oact
iveandr
etr
oact
ivei
nter
fer
ence.Pr
oact
ivei
nter
fer
encei
s
whenol
dinf
ormat
ioni
nhi
bit
stheabi
l
ityt
oremembernew i
nfor
mat
ion,suchaswhen
out
dat
ed sci
ent
if
icf
act
sint
erf
ere wi
tht
he abi
l
ityt
orememberupdat
ed f
act
s.
Ret
roact
ivei
nter
fer
encei
swhennew i
nfor
mat
ioni
nhi
bit
stheabi
l
ityt
orememberol
d
i
nfor
mat
ion,suchaswhenhear
ingr
ecentnewsf
igur
es,t
hent
ryi
ngt
orememberear
li
er
f
act
sandf
igur
es.

Encodi
ngFai
lur
e

Encodi
ngi
sthepr
ocessofconv
ert
ingsensor
yinputi
ntoaf
orm abl
etobepr
ocessed
andst
oredi
nthememor
y.Howev
er,t
hispr
ocesscanbei
mpact
edbyanumberof
f
act
ors,andhowwel
linf
ormat
ioni
sencodedaf
fect
showwel
liti
sabl
etober
ecal
l
ed
l
ater
.Memor
yisassoci
ati
vebynat
ure;commonal
i
tiesbet
weenpoi
ntsofi
nfor
mat
ion
notonl
yrei
nfor
ceol
dmemor
ies,butser
vet
oeaset
heest
abl
i
shmentofnewones.The
waymemor
iesar
eencodedi
sper
sonal
;itdependsonwhati
nfor
mat
ionani
ndi
vi
dual
consi
der
stober
elev
antandusef
ul,
andhowi
trel
atest
othei
ndi
vi
dual
’
svi
sionofr
eal
i
ty.
Al
loft
hesef
act
orsi
mpacthowmemor
iesar
epr
ior
it
izedandhowaccessi
blet
heywi
l
l
bewhent
heyar
est
oredi
nlong-
ter
m memor
y.I
nfor
mat
iont
hati
sconsi
der
edl
ess
r
elev
antorl
essusef
ulwi
l
lbehar
dert
orecal
lthanmemor
iest
hatar
edeemedv
aluabl
e
andi
mpor
tant
.Memor
iest
hatar
eencodedpoor
lyorshal
l
owl
ymaynotber
ecov
erabl
e
atal
l
.

Ty
pesofFor
get
ti
ng

Ther
ear
emanyway
sinwhi
chamemor
ymi
ghtf
ail
tober
etr
iev
ed,
orbef
orgot
ten.

Memor
yisnotst
ati
c.How y
our
ememberanev
entdependsonal
argenumberof
v
ari
abl
es,i
ncl
udi
ngev
ery
thi
ngf
rom how muchsl
eepy
ougott
heni
ghtbef
oret
ohow
happyy
ouwer
edur
ingt
heev
ent
.Memor
yisnotal
way
sper
fect
lyr
eli
abl
e,becausei
tis
i
nfl
uenced notonl
ybyt
heact
ualev
ent
sitr
ecor
ds,butal
so byot
herknowl
edge,

6|Page
exper
iences,expect
ati
ons,i
nter
pret
ati
ons,per
cept
ions,andemot
ions.Andmemor
ies
ar
enotnecessar
il
yper
manent
:theycandi
sappearov
ert
ime.Thi
spr
ocessi
scal
l
ed
f
orget
ti
ng.Butwhydowef
orget
?Theansweri
scur
rent
lyunknown.

Ther
ear
esev
eralt
heor
iest
hataddr
esswhywef
orgetmemor
iesandi
nfor
mat
ionov
er
t
ime,
incl
udi
ngt
racedecayt
heor
y,i
nter
fer
encet
heor
y,andcue-
dependentf
orget
ti
ng.

Tr
aceDecayTheor
y

Thet
racedecayt
heor
yoff
orget
ti
ngst
atest
hatal
lmemor
iesf
adeaut
omat
ical
l
yasa
f
unct
ionoft
ime.Undert
hist
heor
y,y
ouneedt
ofol
l
ow acer
tai
npat
hway
,ort
race,t
o
r
ecal
lamemor
y.I
fthi
spat
hwaygoesunusedf
orsomeamountoft
ime,t
hememor
y
decay
s,whi
ch l
eads t
o di
ff
icul
tyr
ecal
l
ing,ort
he i
nabi
l
ityt
orecal
l
,the memor
y.
Rehear
sal
,orment
all
ygoi
ngov
eramemor
y,cansl
ow t
hispr
ocess.Butdi
suseofa
t
racewi
l
lleadt
omemor
ydecay
,whi
chwi
l
lul
ti
mat
elycauser
etr
iev
alf
ail
ure.Thi
s
pr
ocess begi
ns al
mosti
mmedi
atel
yift
he i
nfor
mat
ion i
s notused:f
orexampl
e,
somet
imeswef
orgetaper
son’
snameev
ent
houghwehav
ejustmett
hem.

Memor
yov
ert
ime:Ov
ert
ime,amemor
ybecomeshar
dert
oremember
.Amemor
yis

7|Page
mosteasi
l
yrecal
l
edwheni
tisbr
andnew,
andwi
thoutr
ehear
sal
,begi
nst
obef
orgot
ten.

I
nter
fer
enceTheor
y

I
tiseasi
ert
orememberr
ecentev
ent
sthant
hosef
urt
heri
nthepast
.”Tr
ansi
ence”
r
efer
stot
hegener
aldet
eri
orat
ionofaspeci
fi
cmemor
yov
ert
ime.Underi
nter
fer
ence
t
heor
y,t
ransi
enceoccur
sbecauseal
lmemor
iesi
nter
fer
ewi
tht
heabi
l
ityt
orecal
lot
her
memor
ies.Pr
oact
iveandr
etr
oact
ivei
nter
fer
encecani
mpacthow wel
lwear
eabl
eto
r
ecal
lamemor
y,andsomet
imescauseust
ofor
gett
hingsper
manent
ly.

Memor
yint
erf
erence:Bot
hol
dandnewmemor
iescani
mpacthowwel
lwear
eabl
eto
r
ecal
lamemor
y.Thi
sisknownaspr
oact
iveandr
etr
oact
ivei
nter
fer
ence.

Pr
oact
iveI
nter
fer
ence

Pr
oact
ivei
nter
fer
enceoccur
swhen ol
d memor
ieshi
ndert
heabi
l
ityt
o makenew
memor
ies.I
nthi
sty
peofi
nter
fer
ence,ol
dinf
ormat
ioni
nhi
bit
stheabi
l
ityt
oremember
new i
nfor
mat
ion,suchaswhenout
dat
edsci
ent
if
icf
act
sint
erf
erewi
tht
heabi
l
ityt
o
r
ememberupdat
edf
act
s.Thi
sof
tenoccur
swhenmemor
iesar
elear
nedi
nsi
mil
ar
cont
ext
s,orr
egar
dingsi
mil
art
hings.I
t’
swhenwehav
epr
econcei
vednot
ionsabout
8|Page
si
tuat
ionsandev
ent
s,andappl
ythem t
ocur
rentsi
tuat
ionsandev
ent
s.Anex
ampl
e
woul
dbegr
owi
ngupbei
ngt
aughtt
hatPl
utoi
sapl
aneti
noursol
arsy
stem,t
henbei
ng
t
oldasanadul
tthatPl
utoi
snol
ongerconsi
der
edapl
anet
.Hav
ingsuchast
rong
memor
ywoul
dnegat
ivel
yimpactt
her
ecal
loft
henew i
nfor
mat
ion,andwhenasked
howmanypl
anet
sther
ear
e,someonewhogr
ewupt
hinki
ngofPl
utoasapl
anetmi
ght
sayni
nei
nst
eadofei
ght
.

Ret
roact
iveI
nter
fer
ence

Ret
roact
ivei
nter
fer
ence occur
s when ol
d memor
ies ar
e changed by new ones,
somet
imessomucht
hatt
heor
igi
nalmemor
yisf
orgot
ten.Thi
siswhennewl
ylear
ned
i
nfor
mat
ioni
nter
fer
eswi
thandi
mpedest
her
ecal
lofpr
evi
ousl
ylear
nedi
nfor
mat
ion.
Theabi
l
ityt
orecal
lpr
evi
ousl
ylear
nedi
nfor
mat
ioni
sgr
eat
lyr
educedi
fthati
nfor
mat
ion
i
snotut
il
ized,andt
her
eissubst
ant
ialnew i
nfor
mat
ionbei
ngpr
esent
ed.Thi
sof
ten
occur
swhenhear
ingr
ecentnewsf
igur
es,t
hent
ryi
ngt
orememberear
li
erf
act
sand
f
igur
es.Anexampl
eoft
hiswoul
dbel
ear
ninganewwayt
omakeapaperai
rpl
ane,and
t
henbei
ngunabl
etor
emembert
hewayy
ouusedt
omaket
hem.

Cue-
DependentFor
get
ti
ng

Whenwest
oreamemor
y,wenotonl
yrecor
dal
lsensor
ydat
a,weal
sost
oreourmood
andemot
ionalst
ate.Ourcur
rentmoodt
huswi
l
laf
fectt
hememor
iest
hatar
emost
ef
for
tl
essl
yav
ail
abl
etous,sucht
hatwhenwear
einagoodmood,wer
ecol
l
ectgood
memor
ies,andwhenwear
einabadmood,wer
ecol
l
ectbadones.Thi
ssuggest
sthat
wear
esomet
imescuedt
oremembercer
tai
nthi
ngsby
,forexampl
e,ouremot
ional
st
ateorourenv
ironment
.

Cue-
dependentf
orget
ti
ng,al
so known as r
etr
iev
alf
ail
ure,i
sthe f
ail
uret
orecal
l
i
nfor
mat
ioni
ntheabsenceofmemor
ycues.Ther
ear
ethr
eet
ypesofcuest
hatcanst
op
t
hist
ypeoff
orget
ti
ng:

 Semant
iccuesar
eusedwhenamemor
yisr
etr
iev
edbecauseofi
tsassoci
ati
on
wi
thanot
hermemor
y.Forexampl
e,someonef
orget
sev
ery
thi
ngabouthi
str
ipt
o
Ohi
ount
ilhei
sremi
ndedt
hathev
isi
tedacer
tai
nfr
iendt
her
e,andt
hatcue
causeshi
mtor
ecol
l
ectmanymor
eev
ent
soft
het
ri
p.

9|Page
  St
ate-
dependentcuesar
egov
ernedbyt
hest
ateofmi
ndatt
het
imeofencodi
ng.
Theemot
ionalorment
alst
ateoft
heper
son(
suchasbei
ngi
nebr
iat
ed,dr
ugged,
upset
,anxi
ous,orhappy
)iskeyt
o est
abl
i
shi
ng cues.Undercue-
dependent
f
orget
ti
ngt
heor
y,amemor
ymi
ghtbef
orgot
tenunt
ilaper
soni
sint
hesame
st
ate.

 Cont
ext
-dependentcuesdepend on t
he env
ironmentand si
tuat
ion.Memor
y
r
etr
iev
alcanbef
aci
l
itat
edort
ri
gger
edbyr
epl
i
cat
ionoft
hecont
exti
nwhi
cht
he
memor
ywasencoded.Suchcondi
ti
onscani
ncl
udeweat
her
,company
,locat
ion,
t
hesmel
lofapar
ti
cul
arodor
,hear
ingacer
tai
nsong,orev
ent
ast
ingaspeci
fi
c
f
lav
or.

Ot
herTy
pesofFor
get
ti
ng

Tr
acedecay
,int
erf
erence,
andl
ackofcuesar
enott
heonl
yway
sthatmemor
iescanf
ail
t
o be r
etr
iev
ed.Memor
y’s compl
ex i
nter
act
ions wi
th sensat
ion,per
cept
ion,and
at
tent
ionsomet
imesr
endercer
tai
nmemor
iesi
rr
etr
iev
abl
e.

Absent
mindedness

I
fyou’
veev
erputdowny
ourkey
swheny
ouent
eredy
ourhouseandt
hencoul
dn’
tfi
nd
t
hem l
ater
,youhav
eexper
iencedabsent
mindedness.At
tent
ionandmemor
yar
ecl
osel
y
r
elat
ed,andabsent
mindednessi
nvol
vespr
obl
emsatt
hepoi
ntwher
eat
tent
ionand
memor
yint
erf
ace.Commoner
ror
soft
hist
ypei
ncl
udemi
spl
aci
ngobj
ect
sorf
orget
ti
ng
appoi
ntment
s.Absent
mindednessoccur
sbecauseatt
het
imeofencodi
ng,suf
fi
cient
at
tent
ionwasnotpai
dtowhatwoul
dlat
erneedt
ober
ecal
l
ed.

Bl
ocki
ng

Occasi
onal
l
y,aper
sonwi
l
lexper
ienceaspeci
fi
cty
peofr
etr
iev
alf
ail
urecal
l
edbl
ocki
ng.
Bl
ocki
ngi
swhent
hebr
aint
ri
est
oret
ri
eveorencodei
nfor
mat
ion,butanot
hermemor
y
i
nter
fer
eswi
thi
t.Bl
ocki
ngi
sapr
imar
ycauseoft
het
ip-
of-
the-
tonguephenomenon.Thi
s
i
sthef
ail
uret
oret
ri
eveawor
dfr
om memor
y,combi
nedwi
thpar
ti
alr
ecal
landt
he

10|Page
f
eel
i
ngt
hatr
etr
iev
ali
simmi
nent
.Peopl
ewhoexper
iencet
hiscanof
tenr
ecal
loneor
mor
efeat
uresoft
het
argetwor
d,suchast
hef
ir
stl
ett
er,wor
dst
hatsoundsi
mil
ar,or
wor
dst
hathav
easi
mil
armeani
ng.Somet
imesahi
ntcanhel
pthem r
emember
:anot
her
exampl
eofcuedmemor
y.

Amnesi
a

Amnesi
a,t
hei
nabi
l
ityt
orecal
lcer
tai
nmemor
ies,
oft
enr
esul
tsf
rom damaget
oanyofa
numberofr
egi
onsi
nthet
empor
all
obeandhi
ppocampus.

“
Amnesi
a”i
sagener
alt
ermf
ort
hei
nabi
l
ityt
orecal
lcer
tai
nmemor
ies,ori
nsome
cases,t
he i
nabi
l
ityt
0for
m new memor
ies.Some t
ypes ofamnesi
a ar
e due t
o
neur
ologi
calt
rauma;buti
not
hercases,t
het
erm“
amnesi
a”i
sjustusedt
odescr
ibe
nor
mal
memor
yloss,
suchasnotr
emember
ingchi
l
dhoodmemor
ies.

Amnesi
afr
om Br
ainDamage

Amnesi
aty
pical
l
yoccur
swhent
her
eisdamaget
oav
ari
etyofr
egi
onsoft
het
empor
al
l
obeort
hehi
ppocampus,causi
ngt
hei
nabi
l
ityt
orecal
lmemor
iesbef
ore,oraf
ter
,an
(
oft
en t
raumat
ic)ev
ent
.Ther
e ar
etwo mai
nfor
ms ofamnesi
a:r
etr
ogr
ade and
ant
erogr
adeRet
rogr
adepr
event
srecal
lofi
nfor
mat
ionencodedbef
oreabr
aini
njur
y,
andant
erogr
adepr
event
srecal
lofi
nfor
mat
ionencount
eredaf
terabr
aini
njur
y.

Ret
rogr
adeAmnesi
a

Ret
rogr
ade amnesi
aist
he i
nabi
l
ityt
orecal
lmemor
ies madebef
oret
he onsetof
amnesi
a.Ret
rogr
adeamnesi
aisusual
l
ycausedbyheadt
raumaorbr
aindamaget
o
par
tsoft
hebr
ainot
hert
hant
hehi
ppocampus(
whi
chi
sinv
olv
edwi
tht
heencodi
ng
pr
ocessofnewmemor
ies)
.Br
aindamagecausi
ngr
etr
ogr
adeamnesi
acanbeasv
ari
ed
as a cer
ebr
ovascul
ar acci
dent
,st
roke,t
umor
,hy
poxi
a,encephal
i
tis,or chr
oni
c
al
cohol
i
sm.

Ret
rogr
adeamnesi
aisusual
l
ytempor
ary
,andcanof
tenbet
reat
edbyexposi
ngt
he
suf
fer
ert
ocuesf
ormemor
iesoft
heper
iodoft
imet
hathasbeenf
orgot
ten.

11|Page
Ant
erogr
adeAmnesi
a

Ant
erogr
adeamnesi
aist
hei
nabi
l
ityt
ocr
eat
enewmemor
iesaf
tert
heonsetofamnesi
a,
whi
l
ememor
iesf
rom bef
oret
heev
entr
emai
nint
act
.Br
ainr
egi
onsr
elat
edt
othi
s
condi
ti
oni
ncl
udet
hemedi
alt
empor
all
obe,medi
aldi
encephal
on,andhi
ppocampus.
Ant
erogr
adeamnesi
acanbecausedbyt
heef
fect
sofl
ong-
ter
m al
cohol
i
sm,sev
ere
mal
nut
ri
ti
on, st
roke, head t
rauma, sur
ger
y, Wer
nicke-
Kor
sakof
f sy
ndr
ome,
cer
ebr
ovascul
arev
ent
s,anoxi
a,orot
hert
rauma.

Ant
erogr
adeamnesi
acannotbet
reat
edwi
thphar
maceut
ical
sbecauseoft
hedamage
t
obr
aint
issue.Howev
er,
suf
fer
erscanbet
reat
edt
hrougheducat
iont
odef
inet
hei
rdai
l
y
r
out
ines:t
ypi
cal
l
y,pr
ocedur
almemor
ies(
mot
orski
l
lsandr
out
inesl
i
ket
yingshoesor
pl
ayi
ng an i
nst
rument
)suf
ferl
ess t
han decl
arat
ive memor
ies (
fact
s and ev
ent
s).
Addi
ti
onal
l
y,soci
alandemot
ionalsuppor
tisi
mpor
tantt
oimpr
ovet
hequal
i
tyofl
i
feof
t
hosesuf
fer
ingf
rom ant
erogr
adeamnesi
a.

12|Page