What's covered
Key facts
How memory works
Information can be encoded visually (as a picture), acoustically (as a sound) or semantically (by meaning). Repeating a phone number to yourself uses acoustic coding.
How we learn — practice and reinforcement
Without review, a new memory naturally gets weaker over time — this fading is called the forgetting curve.
Memory tricks and revision
The acronym ROY G BIV uses first letters to help recall the rainbow colours in order.
Short-term and long-term memory
Episodic memory stores personal events you have lived through, like your first day at school.
Why we forget
Testing yourself (active recall) fixes memories better than just rereading notes.
How memory works
Encoding is putting information into the memory in a form the brain can store.
How we learn — practice and reinforcement
Practising a skill builds up myelin, a fatty layer around brain wiring that helps signals travel faster.
Memory tricks and revision
Chunking means grouping information into small sets so it is easier to hold and remember.
Short-term and long-term memory
Long-term memory has a huge, almost unlimited capacity for storing information.
Why we forget
A cue is a reminder, like a smell or place, that helps us pull a memory back out.
Sample questions
A taste of the 46 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What are the three stages of memory in the correct order?
- ✓Encoding, storage, retrieval
- •Reading, writing, repeating
- •Seeing, hearing, feeling
- •Storing, sorting, deleting
Which study habit helps you remember things for the longest time?
- •Cramming everything the night before
- •Highlighting your notes in colour
- •Reading your notes once quickly
- ✓Spreading practice across several days
Which revision method is one of the most effective?
- •Copying notes out neatly
- •Highlighting your textbook
- •Reading your notes again
- ✓Testing yourself from memory
About how long does short-term memory hold information without rehearsal?
- ✓15 to 30 seconds
- •About 10 minutes
- •About one day
- •About one hour
Roughly how much new information do we forget within a day if we do not go over it again?
- •About 10%
- •About 30%
- •About 50%
- ✓About 70%
What does encoding mean in memory?
- •Bringing information back out
- •Keeping information over time
- •Losing information completely
- ✓Putting information into memory
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