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Unlock This CourseLong-term memory is the final stage in Atkinson and Shiffrin's multistore model of memory. Think of it as your brain's massive storage warehouse - it can hold an incredible amount of information for potentially your entire lifetime. Unlike short-term memory, which is like a small notepad that fills up quickly, long-term memory is more like an enormous library with unlimited shelves.
Understanding how long-term memory works helps explain why you can remember your first day at school from years ago, but might forget what you had for lunch yesterday. It's all about how information gets processed, stored and retrieved in this remarkable memory system.
Key Definitions:
Long-term memory has virtually unlimited capacity. Unlike short-term memory which can only hold about 7±2 items, your long-term memory can store an enormous amount of information. Scientists estimate it could hold the equivalent of millions of books worth of information. This means you never really "run out of space" in your long-term memory - there's always room for more!
One of the most remarkable features of long-term memory is its duration. Information stored here can potentially last a lifetime. However, this doesn't mean all memories are permanent or equally accessible.
Research suggests that once information is properly encoded into long-term memory, it can remain there indefinitely. However, our ability to retrieve these memories can fade over time if they're not used regularly. This is why you might struggle to remember details from a holiday five years ago, but can still remember how to ride a bike even if you haven't done it for years.
Memories accessed frequently remain easily retrievable, like your home address or best friend's name.
Less frequently accessed memories may take more effort to retrieve, like the name of your Year 3 teacher.
Some memories seem "lost" but can be triggered by specific cues, like suddenly remembering a childhood song when you hear it again.
Long-term memory primarily uses semantic encoding - this means information is stored based on its meaning rather than how it sounds or looks. This is different from short-term memory, which often relies on acoustic (sound-based) encoding.
When you learn French vocabulary, you don't just memorise the sounds of words. Your long-term memory connects "chien" with the concept of "dog" - linking the French word to its meaning, related experiences with dogs and even emotional associations. This semantic encoding makes the memory much stronger and more retrievable than if you just tried to remember the sound pattern.
Long-term memory doesn't just store facts and figures. It holds a rich variety of information types that make up your personal knowledge base and identity.
This includes things like knowing that London is the capital of England, mathematical formulas, or historical dates. These are objective facts that don't depend on personal experience.
Your autobiographical memories - like your last birthday party, first day at secondary school, or a family holiday. These memories often include sensory details and emotions.
Long-term memory isn't just a random dumping ground for information. It's highly organised, with related memories linked together in networks. This organisation helps with both storage and retrieval.
Think of long-term memory as a vast web of interconnected information. When you think of "summer," it might trigger memories of holidays, ice cream, hot weather and school breaks. These associations help strengthen memories and make them easier to retrieve.
Ancient Greek and Roman orators used a technique called the "method of loci" to remember long speeches. They would mentally place parts of their speech in different rooms of a familiar building. When giving the speech, they would mentally "walk" through the building, retrieving each part of their speech from its designated location. This technique works because it uses the organised, associative nature of long-term memory to create strong retrieval cues.
Getting information out of long-term memory involves reconstruction rather than simply playing back a recording. This is why memories can sometimes be inaccurate or change over time.
Often, we need triggers or cues to access long-term memories. The smell of your grandmother's perfume might suddenly bring back vivid memories of visiting her house. These cues help activate the right memory networks.
Several factors influence how well we can retrieve information from long-term memory:
External or internal triggers that help access stored memories. Context, emotions and sensory information can all serve as powerful cues.
Generally, more recent memories are easier to retrieve, though this isn't always the case for very significant or frequently accessed memories.
New learning can sometimes interfere with retrieving older memories and old memories can interfere with new learning.
While Atkinson and Shiffrin's model provides a useful framework for understanding long-term memory, it's important to recognise both its strengths and limitations.
Studies show that when people try to remember a list of words, they remember the first few items (primacy effect) and the last few items (recency effect) better than those in the middle. The multistore model explains this: early items have time to transfer to long-term memory, while recent items are still in short-term memory. This supports the idea of separate memory stores.
The multistore model has been influential in psychology, but modern research has revealed additional complexities in how memory works.
The model is simple and easy to understand. It's supported by research showing different types of memory stores and explains many everyday memory phenomena. It also provides a useful framework for understanding memory disorders.
The model may be too simplified. It doesn't fully explain the complexity of long-term memory or how different types of long-term memory (like procedural vs. declarative memory) work differently.
Understanding long-term memory features has practical implications for learning and education. Knowing how information gets encoded, stored and retrieved can help you develop better study strategies.
Research shows that reviewing information at increasing intervals (spaced repetition) is more effective for long-term retention than cramming. This works because it takes advantage of how long-term memory consolidates information over time. Instead of studying for 3 hours straight, try studying for 1 hour, then reviewing after a day, then after a week, then after a month.
Long-term memory shapes who we are and how we navigate the world. From remembering how to get to school to recalling facts for an exam, we rely on this memory system constantly.
Understanding its features helps explain why some information sticks while other information seems to disappear and why certain techniques work better than others for learning and remembering information.