UNIT 2: MEMORYAt the end of this unit, you will be able to:

1. Explain how your memory system works

2. 2. Explain the reasons why we forget

3. 3. Select and apply strategies for remembering

4. g4. Apply memory techniques to your other subjects

2.1 The Memory System

• The memory system works in three ways:• 1. Sensory memory (also known as immediate memory): Immediate means what

you remember right now. The sensory memory keeps information we get from our senses (what we see, hear, taste, smell and touch), but only for a few seconds. Can you remember all the people, cars, smells that you passed this morning?

• 2.Short-term memory (also known as working memory): If you asked someone’s cell phone number this morning and you did not write it down, will you still be able to remember the number?You forget information in your short-term memory quickly. Your short term memory can only hold seven “chunks” (or bits) of information before your memory becomes overloaded and you forget.

The memory system continued

• Long-term memory (LTM): These are things that you remember for a very long time. Things that are in your short-term memory can move into your long-term memory.Your long term memory is like a library. You can keep memories like you would keep books in a library. They are there all the time and you can fetch one when you need it.

2.2 Why do we forget?

• 1. As a student, forgetting means that you did not study enough.

• 2. It means that you did not understand the work

• 3. Stress can also make you forget.

• 4. Not using the information over a long time can also make us forget.

2.3 How to remember better

• Attitude: If you are feeling positive it is easier to learn. You have to decide that you want to remember.

• 2. Stay focused: Pay attention and focus on one thing at a time. Work on the more difficult modules first

• .3. Songs: Making rhymes and songs will also help to remember some of your module’s content. Create your own recordings and listen to it while travelling to college.

How to remember better continued.

• 4. Acronyms: Take the first letter of a group of words you need to memorize and create a catchy new word. Then, practice the individual words so you know what each of the letters mean.

• 5. Visualisation: it simply means seeing a picture in your head. Remember, whatever it is you want to learn, you have to change into a picture. Without a picture in your head, you cannot remember.

• 6. Flashcards: A flashcard is just a little card you write information on to study. They are easy to make, and easy to use because you can take them anywhere. You can use many ways to help you memorise on your flashcards – use songs and rhymes, acronyms, acrostics and pictures (visualisation) to make them