When people identify objects in the environment (e.g., knowing that a thing is a plant or an animal) or when they give the answer to a factual question, they draw upon stores of general knowledge about the world accumulated over time.

Such skills are often considered examples of procedural memory. When people tie their shoelaces or ride bicycles, they rely on past experiences to execute sequences of motor behaviors that accomplish those tasks. Memory can manifest itself in a variety of ways. Memory,” broadly defined, is the ability to use the past in the service of the present. Below we take a look at some of the most influential studies, experiments and theories that continue to guide our understanding of the function of the human memory. Memory has been the subject of investigation among many 20th Century psychologists and remains an active area of study for today’s cognitive scientists. How do our memories store information? Why is it that we can recall a memory at will from decades ago, and what purpose does forgetting information served? The Weapon Effect on Eyewitness Testimonies (Johnson & Scott, 1976) Flashbulb Memories (Brown & Kulik, 1977)ġ0.

Memory Decay (Peterson and Peterson, 1959)Ħ. Working Memory Model (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)ĥ.

Levels of Processing (Craik & Lockhart, 1972)ģ. Multi-Store Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin,Ģ.

Encoding in education