Typical Long-Term Memory Storage Processes at Different Grade Levels
Source: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
Topics: Middle Years (5-9), Preteen Years (9-13), Teen Years (13-19), Learning and Your Child's Brain, Cognitive Development
The specific cognitive processes a learner uses when trying to learn new information affect the learner's ability to remember and use the information later. The table below summarizes five processes that people use in storing declarative information in long-term memory.
| Process | Definition | Example | Effectiveness | Educational Implication |
| Rehearsal | Repeating information verbatim, either mentally or aloud | Repeating a word-for-word definition of inertia | Relatively ineffective: slow storage and difficult retrieval |
|
| Meaningful learning | Making connections between new information and prior knowledge | Putting a definition of inertia into one's own words or relating the concept to prior life experiences (e.g., how objects in a moving car continue to go forward when the driver slams on the brakes) | Effective if associations made with prior knowledge are appropriate |
|
| Organization | Making connections among various pieces of new information | Studying how one's lines in a school play relate to the play's overall story line | Effective if organizational structure is legitimate and consists of more than just a list of separate facts |
|
| Elaboration | Adding additional ideas to new information based on what on already knows | Thinking about possible reasons that historical figures made the decisions they did | Effective if associations and additions made are appropriate and productive |
|
| Visual imagery | Forming a mental picture of information | Imagining how various characters and events in a novel might have looked | Individual differences in effectiveness; especially beneficial when used in combination with meaningful learning, organization, or elaboration |
|
Excerpted From:
Excerpt from Educational Psychology Developing Learners , by J.E. Ormrod, 2008 edition, p. 205.
© 2008, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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