An Apple for Every Memory:

Human Memory and the Different Types

Think of an apple, and try to recall every memory you have ever had of an apple or
including one. For most ordinary people, their memories of apples are just memories of
apples all of them the seemingly the same as the next or the last, each memory simply a
memory. But as clich as it may sound, not all memories are made the same.
Though we are all familiar with the concept of memory, not everyone understand
what memory actually is. The concept is difficult to define, and even if one were to check a
dependable dictionary, that person would not be that much closer to understanding what
memory is. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines memory as the power or process of
reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through associative
mechanisms. An etymology dictionary gives the definition of memory based on its AngloFrench roots: mind, memory, remembrance; memorial, record. Other dictionaries would
give similar definitions, but more often than not the definitions are not enough. Recall your
memories of an apple; would you say that all of those memories would fall under those
definitions of memory? Perhaps most, but there will be a few exceptions - what then? Are
those memories, not actually memories? To answer that question, we must explore the
concept of memory and understand what it is.
Mark Ashcroft (1989) reports that there are three general components of memory:
sensory, short-term, and long-term memory. This is based on the Atkinson-Shiffrin Model of
Memory presented in 1968 (Matlin, 1994). The type of information retained and the length of
time at which it is stored in the mind determines which type of memory it is. The websites,
The Brain from Top to Bottom (researched by Bruno Dubuc and affiliated with the Canadian
Institute of Health Research: Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, 2013),
The Human Memory (Mastin, 2010), and Postit Science (headed by co-founder and chief

scientific officer, Dr. Michael Merzenich, PhD, Professor Emeritus at the University of
California, San Francisco, 2013) provide their own explanations for these different types of
memory.
To understand the different types of memory, it is important to first understand the
processes that information and experiences undergo in order to become memories. It starts
with the stimulation of the brain through the senses which perceive the experiences and
information a person encounters. When the senses have perceived the information, the brain
encodes the stimuli, whether it be acoustic, visual, or tactile, into short term memories.
Acoustic stimuli are sounds, words or other auditory stimulus while visual stimuli refers to
images; those that are perceived by the eyes. Tactile stimuli refers to the texture or feel of an
object; those that are perceived by the sense of touch. Encoding is when information
perceived by our stimuli is translated into a code in order for a memory trace or engram to
form. Once the stimuli has been processed into short term memories, the brain consolidates
them into long term memories. The long term memories are stored and can be recalled later
on. (Ashcroft, 1989; Matlin, 1994; Mastin, 2010; Turkington & Harris, 2001)
Sensory memory is the memory made by the sensory stimuli; it is the ability to retain
the information sent by the stimuli even when the stimulation has ended or is no longer
available. This type of memory is stored only briefly before it is processed into short term
memories; it is said to degrade (when the information is forgotten) in as much as a fifth or a
half of a second. We are able to retain sensory memories long enough to develop a perception
of the experience, and the process of memory formation is begun. Recall the example of the
apples. In a familiar experiment, stare unfocused at an apple for a few seconds, look away
and instead set your eyes on a blank space. What do you see? You might be seeing the imprint
or silhouette of an apple, in its color negative. Sensory memory is why one can remember the
shape of an object after having seen it for only a few seconds or why a person can remember

the texture of an object after just touching it in passing. It is also why, unless we pay attention
to the object of the stimulus, we forget very easily what is perceived by our senses. Unless
you look at the apple again and really focus, you may not be able to remember exactly how it
looks. When we pay attention to the stimuli our senses perceive, the information in our
sensory memory is processed or encoded into short-term memory. With the amount of stimuli
the brain is subjected to, not all of the sensory memory made are converted into short-term
memory. (Ashcroft, 1989; Matlin 1994; Mastin, 2010; Turkington & Harris, 2001)
Attention is what the mind uses to determine whether the information from the stimuli
is negligible or significant. Take a few seconds to pause; in that pause several different
stimuli we perceived by your senses. For example, some of them may have been the light
coming from above, the sound of an electric fan, the number of stripes on your blanket, or
perhaps the cold feeling of the floor on your feet. When you are actually listing them down,
the stimuli seem few, but there are much more that you may not have even realized your brain
had noticed: which is precisely the point of attention. Unless the person consciously thinks
about the object of stimulus, unless that person pays attention, the sensory memory made by
the stimulus is forgotten rather than encoded into short-term memory. (Turkington & Harris,
2001).
Short-term memory (or working memory) is the second form that memory takes on. It
is the type of memory that stores information for a short amount of time (hence the name); it
is said to be retained for only ten seconds up to a minute At that point, the memory is either
forgotten or consolidated into long-term memory. Not a large amount of information can be
held in short-term memory. This amount of information is what the brain is able to process
and manipulate at a given period of time. Short-term memory is how we are able to mentally
take note of tasks that must be done or how we are able to do mental math. Let us go back to
the example of the apple. Martin was mentally counting the number of apples on each of his

15 apple trees. Martin returns to his desk to note down the number of apples on each tree, but
he could only remember how many apples were on the first, the third and the sixth until the
twelfth apple tree. Martin is having difficulty in remembering, and unless he tried
memorizing or rehearsing the numbers as he went from tree to tree, he might not be able to
remember at all. Research suggests that only 7 2 items can be on our minds short term
memory storage at a given time. This is where rehearsal and memorization come into account
the short term memories must be recoded into long term memories, and rehearsal and
memorization, as well as association techniques provide the bridge for short-term and longterm memories. (Ashcroft, 1989; Matlin, 1994; Mastin, 2010; Postit Science, 2013; Rose,
2003)
Long-term memory is much more complex than sensory or short-term memory. It is
memory that has been encoded from stimuli and sensory memory and consolidated from
short-term memory. The information stored as short-term memory must then be processed
further, either unconsciously or consciously, as mentioned above (rehearsal and
memorization), in order to be stored as long-term. Long-term memory can last longer than a
few minutes; it can last for days, months, even years, and effectively, with unlimited storage
capacity. Essentially, it stores every piece of information that the brain has encountered. In
itself, long-term memory is distinct in three ways: Implicit and Explicit, Procedural and
Declarative, and Episodic and Semantic. While procedural and declarative memory long-term
memory are different distinctions from implicit and explicit memory, the former are closely
related to the latter. The episodic and semantic distinctions are subcategories of the
declarative distinction of long-term memory. (Dubuc, 2013; Matlin, 1994; Mastin, 2010;
Postit Science, 2013; Walsh, 2010)
Implicit memory and procedural memory are closely related. Implicit memory is what
is commonly known as unconscious memory. It is the type of memory that does not require

conscious thought in order to be recalled. Implicit or unconscious memory are the

information that unconsciously enter our memory. It is why when we visit a location as a
child, we may not remember having gone there but it feels familiar. For example, Mark had
only gone to his grandparents house once when he was a child, but when he visited again as
an adult he could still remember the route to the kitchen. The memory of his grandparents
house had unconsciously entered his memory, and without actively trying to remember, Mark
recalled how to get to the kitchen. This is what makes implicit memory closely related to
procedural memory. Procedural memory is the type of implicit memory that retains
information on skills, and how to perform certain tasks. It is the memory of knowing how.
Janet has made apple pies several times before, and making it again seems almost natural to
her, like second nature. She might not always remember what to do, but she always
remembers how each task should be done. Her implicit procedural memory allows her to
remember how to make her apple pie again; similarly, it is the reason why they say you
cannot forget how to ride a bike. Many tasks that we deem as natural, such as walking and
talking, are also possible due to procedural memory. It does not require active thought for
most people to walk or write once the skill has been learned. It is because when those skills
were being learned, the brain was consolidating the short-term memories into procedural,
implicit, long-term memories. (Dubuc, 2013; Mastin, 2010; Postit Science, 2013;
SparkNotes, 2013)
Similarly, explicit memory and declarative memory are closely related. Explicit
memory is the opposite of implicit memory, which means that it is conscious memory. It is
what most people associate with the word memory. Explicit memory is memory that
requires conscious or active thought in order to be recalled. It is the type of memory that must
be intentionally remembered, unlike implicit memory which required no active effort. It is the
memory we use when trying to list down all of ones favorite books or movies, or when

trying to remember the names of all the regions and provinces in a country. This is how it is
related to declarative memory. Declarative memory is the type of explicit memory that retains
information on facts, dates, events, etc. While procedural memory is the memory of
knowing how, declarative memory is the memory of knowing what. It is responsible for
why we know that Manila is the capital of the Philippines, or why we know that the year is
currently 2013. We need to actively or consciously think and recall those pieces of
information. For example, a student of Chem 16 must consciously think in order to remember
what name of the formula CaCO3 is for the exam. That student makes use of declarative
memory in order to remember that the answer is calcium carbonate. Another example is when
Ben tells the story of when he and Gina traveled to the Mediterranean. In that case, Ben is
also using declarative memory. Although both made use of declarative memory, Ben and the
student used two different categories of declarative memory. Going back to the example of
the apples, think of these two situations: Recall the last time you ate an apple how it was
prepared, who you were with, what else you were doing then recall all of the facts you
know about apples what its scientific name is, which temperate zones it grows in, what its
nutritional value is. Your memory of those facts about apples is the same subcategory of
declarative memory the student makes use of in his exam. Similarly, your memory of the last
time you ate an apple is the same subcategory of memory that Ben used, different from the
students. These two subcategories of declarative memory are episodic memory and semantic
memory. (Dubuc, 2013; Mastin, 2010; Postit Science, 2013; Turkington & Harris, 2001;
SparkNotes 2013)
Semantic memory is the memory of information about the world external to our own.
It is the memory of general facts, concepts and knowledge that we acquire in our lives.
Semantic memory is the record of the information we have acquired independent of our
personal experiences. In essence this is the memory that we make use of when we study.

When John is learning about World War II and when Jane is learning about monocots and
dicots, the memories being formed are semantic. In the examples earlier, it was the student
who used semantic memory. In the examples of the apples, semantic memory is what you
would have used in the second situation knowing an apples scientific name, its nutritional
value, and the climate zones it grows in. Radvansky describes semantic memory as
encyclopedic (2006). It is what we call the general knowledge that we have stockpiled for
years. (Ashcroft, 1989; Dubuc, 2013; Mastin, 2010; Postit Science, 2013; Radvansky, 2006;
SparkNotes, 2013)
The counterpart of semantic memory is episodic memory, which can also be called
autobiographical memory. It is the memory of personal facts, events and information.
Episodic memory pertains to the memory we have of our thoughts, feelings and experiences.
It allows us to remember our experiences as a scene of events or an episode. It is why when
we think back to the memories of our past, we sometimes remember them as if they were
video clips of what we had experienced. It is episodic memory that allows us to remember
what happened at our last birthday party, or how we felt when the exam results came out. In
an earlier example, Ben told the story of when he and Gina went to the Mediterranean. Ben
made use of his episodic declarative memory which is why he could remember the events
that took place during their trip. In the example of the apples, episodic memory is used in the
first situation the memory of your last experience of eating an apple. Ashcroft defines
episodic memory as a persons autobiographical memory, the personally experienced and
remembered events of a lifetime (1989). In essence, episodic memory is the record we make
of our own lives; which is why it is also called autobiographical. (Ashcroft, 1989; Dubuc,
2013; Mastin, 2010; Postit Science 2013; Radvansky, 2006)
Though the different types of memories are all different, all are equally important.
Sensory and short-term memory may not seem as important as long-term memory because

their storage capacities are so limited in comparison, but it is important to remember that
sensory and short-term memory are essential to the formation of long-term memories. All of
the information (the facts, the knowledge, the events, the skills) that is learned and stored by
our brains must undergo the processes of perception, encoding, consolidation and storage
before they can become memories. From one process to another the information only changes
form; from stimuli to sensory memory to short-term to one of the types of long-term memory.
If information was lost as sensory memory or short-term memory, it cannot be found as any
one of the different types of long-term memory later on. Each type of long-term memory
serves a different purpose, and each important in their own right.
What is memory? Simply, it is a record of everything a person has learned or
experienced. It is a record of everything that a person has perceived and paid enough
attention to. Memory is how a person is able to store and recall information, but memory is
much more than that. Memory is not just a single gigantic chunk of information that slowly
degrades over time. Think of an apple, and try to recall every memory you have ever had of
an apple or including one. They may all seem the same, but each one is different: the memory
of an apples shape, the memory of the number of apples on a tree, the memory of how to
bake an apple pie, the memory of the last time you ate an apple, or the memory of everything
you have learned about apples. For every memory you have ever had, there is a
corresponding type of memory. The same is true for every memory you have had of an apple,
or any other fruit that you may prefer: for every apple, a different memory.