1. Memory and its kinds

Memory is an ability to acquire, store and reproduce life experiences. Animals have only genetic and mechanical memories, while humans also possess voluntary, logical and intermediated memories. Memories functions are retention, storage and reproduction of information. The process opposite to retention is forgetting.

The kinds of memory are:

1. Momentary or iconic memory (retaining the full picture of what has just been perceived during 0.1-0.5 seconds without any processing);

2. Short-tem memory (storing information for a very short period of time – as a rule, not longer than 20 seconds – without repeating it and without conscious intention to remember it; the volume of short-term memory is 5-9 units of information and it retains only the most important features of what has been perceived but not the full image);

3. Operative memory with the volume of 7+ or – 2 units is used to store information for its processing while solving a given task; the term of storage is determined by the task and can last from several seconds to several days (not longer); after solving the task the information is erased from operative memory;

4. Long-term memory stores information for an indefinite period of time – which is the longer the more often the information is retrieved from long-term memory and reproduced;

5. Genetic memory is the information stored in genotype which is transmitted and reproduced through hereditary mechanisms.

We can also speak about kinds of memory connected with human senses:

1. Visual memory,

2. Auditory memory,

3. Kinaesthetic memory,

4. Emotional memory,

5. Memories of touch, smell and taste.

2. Retention

There are two most broad categories (types) of retention: voluntary and involuntary retention.

A. Voluntary retention.

Voluntary retention happens when a person consciously tries to retain some information and makes efforts to do so. There are several ways that make voluntary retention possible:

1. Mechanical retention through numerous repetitions of the information to be remembered – like when we repeat many times a telephone number that we want to remember. Mechanical retention is the least efficient because it does not make use of the logical and creative abilities of human intellect.

2. Retention through using associations is much more effective because it puts the information to be remembered in connection with other well-known information already stored in long-term memory. In the case of retention through associations, a person makes associations with what he knows and remembers well. Thanks to the established ties the information is retained with less effort and is better remembered.

3. Retention through finding the sense of information and putting it in the framework (schemes) of other senses already well known and important to a person is probably the most efficient method of voluntary retention. In this case, a person does not simply connects the new information to something already known (association) but makes it an integral and inalienable part of a whole information system (sense structure) so that the recollection of that particular system/structure leads to the recollection of every piece of information belonging to it. The success depends on how well the information system is structured and how appropriately the new information is built into the structure. This is most intellectual and logical method of retention requiring creative efforts that ensure the best quality of retention.

B. Involuntary retention.

Involuntary retention happens when a person retains something without conscious efforts to do so. It is the kind of retention that can be called “once and for always” because a person gets the information once and it becomes immediately stored in his/her long-term memory without him/her doing anything to achieve the memorization effect.

Involuntary retention is probably the most valuable form of retention, especially in learning, because of its 1) effortlessness and 2) high quality, simple access to the information in long-term memory and indefinitely long time of its being stored there before the information is forgotten.

For involuntary retention to happen:

1. the information to be remembered has to coincide with the principal goal of the activity in which that information is obtained;

2. the person is to feel strong personal need in that information, be unable to do without it (be unable to solve a personally important problem/task without having the information in question);

3. feel strong interest in that particular information.

As it can be seen from above, involuntary retention is inextricably bound to motivation and happens only if obtaining and retaining some information is strongly motivated. The motivation should have as its source the person’s activity that is of vital importance and interest to him/her while the information in question should be essential for achieving the goal of that activity.

In the process of teaching/learning all possible conditions should be created for ensuring opportunities for students to involuntarily retain the information to be learned. Creating such opportunities is the function of developing students’ motivation. The higher it is the more information will be retained involuntarily, thereby increasing the quality and efficiency of the learning process while facilitating it for learners.