Discover your intellectual strengths
Short term memory is part of the memory storage system which is capable of storing material for a brief period of time and to some extent it determines how well the rest of your intelligences are utilized. At any one time short term memory can contain seven, plus or minus two, "chunks" of information. If short term memory tries to acquire more items than it can handle, the middle items will often be displaced. Items remain in short term memory around twenty seconds. Substantial evidence exists to support a general dependency of reasoning upon short term memory capacity. The longer information is stored in short term memory the easier it is to manipulate information needed in the execution of complex cognitive tasks (e.g. short term memory has been shown to be correlated with problem solving, learning, reasoning, and reading comprehension).
One of the models that attempts to explain how working memory functions is the multi component model of working memory. The articulatory loop and the visuo-spatial sketch pad are responsible for short term maintenance of information and the central executive is responsible for coordinating these two systems. The articulatory loop stores phonetic information, for example numbers that we repeat to ourselves as soon as we learn them and the visuo-spatial sketch pad stores visual and spatial information. The central executive is responsible for processing the information gathered by the other two components and determining which information is relevant.
Another model proposed by Graeme Halford suggests that short term memory can be better defined as the ability to create or distinguish relationships between items or elements. For example in the following sentence "In metropolitan areas budget hotels charge excessively for internet access whereas expensive hotels in seaside resorts charge more reasonable rates" the relationship between three variables is analyzed, location, cost of internet access and hotel cost. Since all the information is presented to us in one sentence the difficulty lies in determining relationships and not in remembering the individual items or variables.
When reading a list the first and last items are remembered better than middle words. The two memory processes that cause this to happen are called the primacy and recency effects. Try to schedule frequent short breaks as this will create more primacy/recency peaks helping you to remember more information. The longer you study the bigger the dip in recall between the primacy and recency effects.
When reading a list the first and last items are remembered better than middle words. The two memory processes that cause this to happen are called the primacy and recency effects. Try to schedule frequent short breaks as this will create more primacy/recency peaks helping you to remember more information. The longer you study the bigger the dip in recall between the primacy and recency effects.
It is much easier to memorize words that we can visualize. Words that represent ideas and beliefs are usually harder to memorize than words that can be visualized such as places or things. For example words such as hope, peace and wisdom may may harder to memorize than video game and bicycle.
Here are a few more cases where we may find it easier to memorize words.