Psychology Essay, Research Paper

Reflection Paper

Part 1: During the course of this class I have learned a lot of information over memory. Out of the things that were talked about in class I picked up on four main things that I will discuss throughout my paper. I have learned that there are four functions, three stages, there are seven steps that will help you remember, there are three types of memory.

Our memory allows us to recognize our family and our friends and to remember all the things that we might not be able to do. Our memory is always changing and we have no control over it. Our memory serves us four functions. The four functions are: they collect information, which is the intake of data. Then there is the organization of the information that has been collected. This is where the information of data is filed away. The memory also retains the information and stores it. Finally the memory serves us when we are able to retrieve the information that has been stored away. This is where we are able to recall the data with no trouble at all.

There are three stages when it comes to memory, they are encoding, storage, and retrieval. In order to remember any event that requires us to get the information into our brain. Encoding is the processing of information into the memory system, by extracting meaning. Then we need to be able to retain that information over time and this is storage, and later we need to get it back and this is the retrieval of information out of storage and this is retrieval.

There are three types of memory; sensory, short term and long term. In our sensory memory it is our immediate, initial recording of any type of information into the memory system. Short-term memory is the activated memory that holds a few items for a short time. For example it lets us remember phone numbers before the information is stored or forgotten. Then there is the long-term memory this is a limitless and permanent storehouse of information. It lets us remember things in the far future and not to forget them.

Then there are seven steps that will help us remember. 1) You have to think about what you want to remember. 2) Pay careful attention to what you want to remember. 3) Minimize the interference at the studying times. 4) Engage and distribute learning practice. 5) Use visual imagery. 6) Give extra retrieval cues. 7) Develop your own short hand codes.

Another thing that I learned about memory is that by using visual images that helps people to learn better. It causes people to picture things after they have seen them and by using this you can recall things when you are taking a test for example.

Part 2: When I reflect over this topic of memory I see what is the most intriguing to me. That would be the knowledge that we can remember. I can remember so many things and when I did research over the subject I found out that we could remember an endless amount of information and most of it goes into out long-term memory and we never will forget it. I like the fact that we are always learning new things and that we each have different types of memory storage areas.

Is the topic involved in my life? How? Yes the topic of memory is involved in my life right now because I am always remembering different things that are happening. I am also creating new memories that will involve my friends that are not coming back to Husson in the following years. That is a big part of my life right now. I also need to use memory to help me be able to study and recall the information that I am studying.

When have I used my own experience in this topic? Well I have had to recall upon my memory in many situations. I had to give a testimony and they had to go on what I remembered about the situation. I have used my memory when I have talked to friends and when I have been taking tests. Mostly it helps me remember the information that I studied for the test. This is how I have used my memory. Also I have used it for my personal use to remember certain times in my life and enjoy the moment again. I can use my memory at any time from when I want to remember my favorite song or when I need to learn something new. There is no end to the many ways I can use it everyday.

Part 3: The study of psychology is interesting to me because I like to learn how things work. I like to be able to understand things about people and the way they work I also like to look into the minds of people and help them to understand themselves. Psychology is the study of behavior and mental process and I have a great interest in that. So yes I would say that I am interested in the field of psychology.