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The Human Memory
Tracey Percifield
American Intercontinental University

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Abstract
Unit 4 IP
The human mind is a fascinating instrument that is very complex and even though we know quite
a lot about it we still do not know everything. The human memory has three phases of memory
interpretation; Sensory Memory, Short-Term Memory and Long-Term Memory. Knowing how
each of these memories store information is comparison to c computer. The average adult knows
anywhere between 50,000 to 100, 00 words. The brain is incredible in protecting itself when
injuries occur at times.

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The Human Memory
The Father of Psychology begins with Sigmund Freud and his analysis of Psychoanalysis and the
theories he introduced. Freud had many theories that caused controversy throughout his career
but in today’s society they are accepted and his findings were true then as they are now without
the controversy. In the unconscious mind we absorb many things from learning to traumatic
events and information is stored, processed and in some ways affect our lives if we don’t resolve
the issues at hand then we carry them with us and they still may affect us as we grow older (IEP,
2010).
In 1968 two other Psychologist Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin develop a model of the
human mind with the understanding how memory storage is taken in and processed and recalled
for later usage. The model is referred to Atkinson-Shiffrin model and is explained as three phases
of sensory, short-term and long-term memories and how some of that information is taken in and
processed to be recognized as long-term memory (Human-Memory, n.d.).
In Sensory Memory is the shortest of intake of memory we have and acts like a buffer
between our five senses of seeing, hearing, smell, taste and touch. It is the process of looking at
something and trying to recall exactly what prompt the stimuli that we just experienced. In
Sensory Memory we either use the information by perception or is retained automatically and it
enters our brain or we ignore it unconsciously and it last for a very short time between 200-500
milliseconds and it is then gone. Visual stimuli are often referred iconic memory, aural stimuli
are known as echoic memory and touch is known as the haptic memory. These are important
because they are related to Sensory Memory and smell is more linked to memory than the other
senses are due to the fact that smell is located between the olfactory bulb and the olfactory cortex
and because of their location to smell they are closely linked to the hippocampus and the

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amygdala which is part of our memory process. Certain smells can be immediately recalled and
processed and also can be a trigger, example of this is the smell of skunk it has an unusual smell
that you do not forget and as a trigger can give some individuals a instant migraine headache
(Human Memory, n.d.).
The sensory memory is the key to creating memories for our short-term memory by using
perception and knowing that it is an important thing that we do not ignore so we form a memory
of it. Short-Term Memory is our note pad of information that we take in to be recalled at certain
times. When we take in information for our short-term up to seven items at once, sometimes less
and we keep this information anywhere from 10 to 1 minute. An example of our short-term
memory is to remember something to ant mathematical equation, to remember something to give
an answer to someone that has made a statement to us. The Central Executive is part of the
Prefrontal Cortex and plays a role in short-term memory by two ways, the first way it serves as a
storage unit where information is kept currant and can be brought up and the main two
reasoning’s behind this the Central Executive controls two neural loops which one is for visual
data located at visual cortex of the brain and the other being language known as phonological
loop and uses the Broca’s Area of the brain that repeats word sounds. This formulates the note
pad of note taking for our short-term memory (Human Memory, n.d.).
Information that we need and need to learn whether it is language, career operations or anything
that is a repetitive action that we must recall, or even memories as we grow from a child into old
age stays with us for life. Long-Term Memory is information that is stored indefinitely and can
be recalled at any time. We do not forget our long-term memory that is the last thing to go when
we grow old but we lose sensory and short-term memory that is why elderly people can

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remember the events of their life and what they did and have all these amazing and fascinating
stories that they recall and sometimes relive that portion or events.
Short-term memories can become long term memories by the way of consolidation which
involves rehearsals and meaning association. By this definition we have an understanding that it
is by remembering a certain thing or multiple things such as an example of learning a new
language that it becomes repetition and it becomes a long-term memory. Long-term memories
are formed by many structured neurons that create strong road like paths that are strengthening,
neurologist do not know enough of how it exactly works but within the frontal, prefrontal and
parietal lobes are the strongest lobes and hold more information and are more stable verses other
lobes of the brain (Human Memory, n.d.).
A diagram of the Human Mind follows this pattern:
The explicit memory or also known as (Declarative Memory) is basically our conscious mind
that involves facts and information that we are aware of while our implicit mind or otherwise

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known as (Procedural Memory) is our unconscious mind that is where we do things naturally
like breathing we don’t have to think about it we naturally just do it. While the Episodic memory
is part of the long-term memory that is specifically for events, facts, lifelong happenings a part of
the conscious mind that we are aware of and the Semantic memory even though part of the long-
term memory can be categorized by sensory memory but more commonly is the unconscious
mind that is structured in facts more about our surroundings or worldly events, concepts and
meanings (Human Memory, n.d.).

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REFERENCES
Human Memory.(n.d.).Types of memory - the human memory [Web log
message]. Retrieved from http://www.human -memory.net/types.html
IEP.(n.d.).Frued, sigmund [Web log message]. Retrieved from
http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/

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