There are actually three types of memory: working memory, sensory memory, and long-term memory. This is according to Multimodal Learning Through Media: What the Research Says.
Three Types of Memory
Working Memory
Thinking happens in working mem, which is dual coded. It has a buffer to store verbal/text elements and a second buffer to store visual/spatial elements. Working memory is short-term. Visual/spatial memory simultaneously stores approximately four objects. Verbal short-term memory simultaneously stores approximately seven objects. [Keep in mind that these ‘objects’ could be very large and complex schemas.]
If the person shifts attention when those buffers are full, working memory may take in new elements. This causes other elements to disappear from thought/consciousness. This is called an attention blink!
The More We Involve the Senses, the Easier Memory Retrieval
As trainers, we know that the more we engage the senses, the more likely learning retention will occur. We work to engage as many senses as possible through:
- vivid stories or visualizations,
- meaningful metaphors, and
- participatory learning activities.
Neurological research now explains that if a number of senses provide input to working memory at the same time, this convergence will have a positive effect on memory retrieval. It creates linked memories. As result, triggering any aspect of the experience will bring the entire memory to consciousness, often with context.
Sensory Memory
Sensory memory occurs when we experience any aspect of the world through our senses. Long-term memory involuntarily stores a sensory experience as episodic knowledge. We need to pay attention to sensory memory episodes for them to go into working memory. Once the experience is in working memory, we can consciously hold it in memory and think about it in context.
Long-Term Memory
It is estimated that long-term memory in humans stores the equivalent of 50,000 times the text in the U.S. Library of Congress. The brain has two types of long-term memory, episodic and semantic:
Episodic Memory
Episodic memory comes directly from sensory input and is involuntary.
Semantic Memory
Semantic memory stores the thinking accomplished in working memory, such as ideas, thoughts, schema, and processes. The processing in working memory automatically triggers storage in long-term memory.
How the brain works has direct implications for effective training design.
Next week, we will conclude our discussion of multimodal learning with a look at three key principles that should be considered when designing learning.
