Improved Memory

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, cognitive psychology researchers conducted studies that offered new information about how memory is stored and processed. Findings suggested that memory is first encoded based on sensory data from the environment (sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell), moved to short-term memory, where it can be easily retrieved, and, when rehearsed (i.e., repeated thinking about the memory), moved to long-term memory, where it is stored and can be retrieved at a later date (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968; Craik & Lockhart, 1972).

The basic structural information about memory that arose from these early studies, along with the emergence of brain imaging technology, has led to major advancements in our understanding of cognition and cognitive neuroscience. For example, there is a body of literature on the association between PTSD and memory dysfunction. Traumatic memories are thought to be encoded differently than other memories, which helps explain symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety. In addition, experiencing a traumatic event and then consistently reliving it through flashbacks and nightmares can damage the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for memory encoding, leading to deficits in short-term memory (Hays, VanElzakker, & Shin, 2012; MacIntosh & Whiffen, 2005). Fortunately, exciting new research on neuroplasticity suggests that the brain is malleable and that it is possible to reverse the damage to certain parts of the brain (Kays, Hurley, & Taber, 2012).

In this discussion, you will examine other studies on memory and consider how the findings contribute to our understanding of cognition and cognitive neuroscience.

Locate a peer-reviewed journal article on memory related to one of the following topics:

Improving memory

Aging

Amnesia

Cognitive mapping

Consider how the article you selected relates to cognition and cognitive neuroscience.

By Day 4