Human Memory, Essay Example

Taking Tests

Taking a test is a daunting task, and several students claim that test results do not represent their true knowledge. However, there are several benefits associated with taking tests: checking knowledge, summarizing connection between ideas and theories, as well as supporting the cognitive function of retrieving information. The below essay is going to examine which cognitive processes taking a test supports and how it can help the developing mind.

Theories of Cognition

The three stages of memory are encoding, storage, and retrieval. It is evident that learning new things is the process of encoding. When reading a textbook, students do need to understand the messages, conclusions, connections between ideas, as well as the cause-effect relationship between the thoughts presented. An example would be learning history. When studying the history of Civil War, the student will face several pieces of information that add up the history of the war. They need to fully understand how it started, how different views about democracy and human rights collided, and what led to the outcome. This memory stage of encoding, is followed by storing. By maintaining memory representations and storing knowledge, students are able to keep the information for the future (tests, assignments, or even conversations of the topic). Without this stage completed, the next stage; retrieval would not be possible. If students are unable to retrieve the knowledge because this is not stored in their memory, they would not only fail the test, but also have difficulties talking about the topic, understanding history. The process of retrieval is activated during tests: the brain faces different queries that relate to the information stored in the memory to successfully retrieve it.

According to the theory of James (1890), there are two types of memory: primary and secondary. Primary memory is in the focus of conscious present awareness, while secondary memory information can be recalled. This theory has later been developed further by Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968), who concluded that there are three different storages used by human memory: sensory, short term, and long term. Short duration memory information has a limited capacity. Therefore, even though the student just read the textbook a week ago and the information was present in his memory for a while, it was replaced by other short term information that had more use during the one week period. This means that the information in the textbook will need to move to the long term store and needs to be recalled.

Without tests, students would not be able to exercise the process of retrieval from the long term memory. Indeed, testing is a form of retrieval, and without it, memory of the text studied would fade. This also means that testing is a part of memory functions and helps students retrieve information stored in long term memory.

Testing can also improve memory, as it has been proven by Ericsson,  Chase,  & Falloon,  (1980). By repeating testing for 18 months, the researchers were able to improve the memory of the subjects from 7 digits to 79 digits. Further, it was also proven by the authors that items that were rehearsed transfer to long term memory. Short term memory also decays when it is not rehearsed, as it is replaced with other information that the person needs more urgently. This indicates that the purpose of testing is to keep the information learned by students in the short term memory, as they will need it in the near future.

An example for this purpose can be rehearsing times table in elementary school. While some pupils can claim that this is a repetitive process, they later understand that if they did not have the times tables embed in their short term memory, they would not be able to complete difficult equations and word problems without help.

When looking at testing from the learning and memory aspect, it is important to examine the forgetting curve, created by Ebbinghaus. He stated that there is a connection between the time elapsed between the study and the test and results. This indicates that rehearsal is important in order to do well in tests, in order to practice keeping the information in the short term memory storage.

One important opposing theory, however, needs to be mentioned. Bartlett (1932) stated that the true detail is forgotten over successive tests. Further, he claimed that distortions of the information occurred every time the memory items were recalled. This theory, then led to the discovery that has been indicated previously by the author of the current study. That is, that testing is a proven way of improving one’s memory. Roediger & Karpicke (2006) proved that studying resulted in better results in recalling memory, while testing led to improved recall after a delay between the study and testing.

Conclusion

As a conclusion of the above reviewed theories and literature, it is evident that testing is necessary and a part of the memory storage process. It enhances learning outcomes, memory, and the process of recalling information even long time after studying. Rehearsal has also been proven to help the brain remember how to recall the information and keeping the knowledge in the short term memory storage.

References

Atkinson, R.C.; Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). “Chapter: Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes”. In Spence, K.W.; Spence, J.T. The psychology of learning and motivation (Volume 2). New York: Academic Press. pp. 89–195.

Bartlett, F.C. (1932). Remembering. Cambridge University Press.

Ebbinghaus, H. (1885). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. New York: Dover.

Ericsson, K.A., Chase, W.G., & Falloon, S. (1980). Science, 208, 1181 – 1182.

James, W.  (1890) The principles of psychology. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston;

Roediger, H.L. III, & Karpicke, J.D. (2006). Psychological Science.