Learning Skills
Types of memory
Sensory memory briefly holds an idea of sensory information after the stimuli has been removed. Think about trying to remember a phone number someone has just told you. If you repeat it over and over 'til you reach a phone, you may remember it, but if you're interrupted on the way, you'll probably forget it. Similarly, if you hear law or history facts or anatomical or botanical names in a lecture but do nothing to deposit them in long term memory, they may be gone after the lecture is over.
One way of moving information to short term memory is chunking. For example, when reading, we chunk letters into meaningful units called words and words into phrases and so on. Ten digit mobile phone numbers are easier to recall if they are chunked into 4, 3 and 3 digits. Sensory memory only has the capacity to hold information for about 20 seconds unless some active strategies are employed to retain it (Roberts, 1999, p. 32).
There is a range of strategies which transfer information to long-term memory. For example, even though it is rarely important in adult life, many people can recall the rainbow or spectrum colours because, as a child, they memorised the link between the first initial of each colour and the nonsense name ROY G. BIV. A child will have rehearsed the linked pieces of information so often they became firmly embedded in long–term memory.
R- Red
O- Orange
Y- Yellow
G- Green
B- Blue
I- Indigo
V- Violet
At university you will need to remember in different ways. The most common way is remembering the material presented, and being able to express it in your own words, without using the author or lecturer's exact words. Often this type of memory work is used in the arts and social sciences.
Another way is verbatim memorising of exact words and facts, such as formulae, lines in a play, legislation or vocabulary that must be learnt in law, drama, science, engineering, mathematics and languages. You may have heard this referred to as rote learning.