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Acoustic encoding is the encoding of auditory impulses. According to Baddeley, processing of auditory information is aided by the concept of the phonological loop, which allows input within our echoic memory to be sub vocally rehearsed in order to facilitate remembering.<ref name="text"/>
When we hear any word, we do so by hearing individual sounds, one at a time. Hence the memory of the beginning of a new word is stored in our echoic memory until the whole sound has been perceived and recognized as a word.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carlson and Heth(2010)|title=Psychology the Science of Behaviour 4e|publisher=Pearson Education Canada|___location=Chapter 8|page=233}}</ref>
Studies indicate that lexical, semantic and phonological factors interact in verbal working memory. The phonological similarity effect (PSE), is modified by word concreteness. This emphasizes that verbal working memory performance cannot exclusively be attributed to phonological or acoustic representation but also includes an interaction of linguistic representation.<ref name="Acheson">Acheson, D.J., MacDonald, M.C., & Postle, B.R. (2010). The Interaction of Concreteness and Phonological Similarity in Verbal Working Memory. Journal of Experimental Psychogy: Learning, Memory and Cognition; 36:1, 17-36.</ref> What remains to be seen is whether linguistic representation is expressed at the time of recall or whether the representational methods used (such as recordings, videos, symbols, etc.) participate in a more fundamental role in encoding and preservation of information in memory.<ref name="Acheson"/> The brain relies primarily on acoustic, rather than semantic, encoding for use in short term storage.<ref>{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Hughes|firstfirst1=Robert W.|last2=Chamberland|first2=Cindy|last3=Tremblay|first3=Sébastien|last4=Jones|first4=Dylan M.|date=October 2016|title=Perceptual-motor determinants of auditory-verbal serial short-term memory|journal=Journal of Memory and Language|language=en|volume=90|pages=126–146|doi=10.1016/j.jml.2016.04.006|doi-access=free}}</ref>
===Other Senses===
[[File:Rainbow-diagram-ROYGBIV.svg|thumb|alt= Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet|The mnemonic "Roy G. Biv" can be used to remember the colors of the rainbow]]
When memorizing simple material such as lists of words, mnemonics may be the best strategy, while "material already in long-term store [will be] unaffected".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=SVxyXuG73wwC&oi=fnd&pg=PA89&dq=%22Simple+material%22+memory+milner+1966&ots=CzOasBMRev&sig=K0or0Iqwj0VDA3Xk5dzUxapRUpQ#v=onepage&q=%22Simple%20material%22%20memory%20milner%201966&f=false|title=Psychology of Learning and Motivation|date=1968|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-08-086353-5|language=en}}</ref> Mnemonic Strategies are an example of how finding organization within a set of items helps these items to be remembered. In the absence of any apparent organization within a group organization can be imposed with the same memory enhancing results. An example of a mnemonic strategy that imposes organization is the ''[[Mnemonic peg system|peg-word system]]'' which associates the to-be-remembered items with a list of easily remembered items. Another example of a mnemonic device commonly used is the first letter of every word system or [[acronyms]]. When learning the colours in a [[rainbow]] most students learn the first letter of every color and impose their own meaning by associating it with a name such as Roy. G. Biv which stands for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. In this way mnemonic devices not only help the encoding of specific items but also their sequence. For more complex concepts, understanding is the key to remembering. In a study done by Wiseman and Neisser in 1974 they presented participants with a picture (the picture was of a Dalmatian in the style of [[pointillism]] making it difficult to see the image).<ref>Wiseman, S., & Neisser, U. (1974). Perceptual organization as a determinant of visual recognition memory. American Journal of Psychology, 87(4), 675-681.</ref> They found that memory for the picture was better if the participants understood what was depicted.
===Chunking===
{{main|Generation effect}}
Another principle that may have the potential to aid encoding is the generation effect. The generation effect implies that learning is enhanced when individuals generate information or items themselves rather than reading the content.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|lastlast1=McDaniel|firstfirst1=Mark A|last2=Waddill|first2=Paula J|last3=Einstein|first3=Gilles O|date=1988|title=A contextual account of the generation effect: A three-factor theory|journal=Journal of Memory and Language|volume=27|issue=5|pages=521–536|doi=10.1016/0749-596x(88)90023-x|issn=0749-596X}}</ref> The key to properly apply the generation effect is to generate information, rather than passively selecting from information already available like in selecting an answer from a multiple-choice question<ref>{{Cite book|lastlast1=Brown|firstfirst1=Peter C.|title=Make It Stick|last2=Roediger|first2=Henry L.|last3=McDaniel|first3=Mark A.|date=2014-01-31|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-41937-7|___location=Cambridge, MA and London, England|doi=10.4159/9780674419377}}</ref> In 1978, researchers Slameka and Graf conducted an experiment to better understand this effect.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Goldstein, E. Bruce, 1941-|title=Cognitive psychology : connecting mind, research and everyday experience|date=2015|publisher=Cengage learning|isbn=978-1-285-76388-0|edition=4th|___location=New york|oclc=885178247}}</ref> In this experiment, the participants were assigned to one of two groups, the ''read group'' or the ''generate group''.<ref name=":1" /> The participants assigned to the ''read'' ''group'' were asked to simply read a list of paired words that were related, for example, horse-saddle.<ref name=":1" /> The participants assigned to the ''generate'' ''group'' were asked to fill in the blank letters of one of the related words in the pair.<ref name=":1" /> In other words, if the participant was given the word ''horse,'' they would need to fill in the last four letters of the word ''saddle''.The researchers discovered that the group that was asked to fill in the blanks had better recall for these word pairs than the group that was asked to simply remember the word pairs.<ref name=":0" />
=== Self-Reference Effect ===
{{main|Self-reference effect}}
Research illustrates that the self-reference effect aids encoding.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Klein|first=Stanley B.|date=2012-01-30|title=Self, Memory, and the Self-Reference Effect: An Examination of Conceptual and Methodological Issues|journal=Personality and Social Psychology Review|language=en|volume=16|issue=3|pages=283–300|doi=10.1177/1088868311434214|pmid=22291045|issn=1088-8683}}</ref> The [[self-reference effect]] is the idea that individuals will encode information more effectively if they can personally relate to the information.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Kesebir|firstfirst1=Selin|last2=Oishi|first2=Shigehiro|date=2010-09-20|title=A Spontaneous Self-Reference Effect in Memory: Why Some Birthdays Are Harder to Remember Than Others|journal=Psychological Science|language=en|volume=21|issue=10|pages=1525–1531|doi=10.1177/0956797610383436|pmid=20855903|issn=0956-7976}}</ref> For example, some people may claim that some birth dates of family members and friends are easier to remember than others. Some researchers claim this may be due to the self-reference effect.<ref name=":2" /> For example, some birth dates are easier for individuals to [[Recall (memory)|recall]] if the date is close to their own birth date or any other dates they deem important, such as anniversary dates.<ref name=":2" />
Research has shown that after being encoded, self-reference effect is more effective when it comes to recalling memory than semantic encoding.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Klein|firstfirst1=Stanley B.|last2=Kihlstrom|first2=John F.|date=1986|title=Elaboration, organization, and the self-reference effect in memory.|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.115.1.26|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: General|volume=115|issue=1|pages=26–38|doi=10.1037/0096-3445.115.1.26|issn=1939-2222}}</ref> Researchers have found that the self-reference effect goes more hand and hand with elaborative rehearsal.<ref name=":8" /> Elaborative rehearsal is more often than not, found to have a positive correlation with the improvement of retrieving information from memories.<ref name=":7" /> Self-reference effect has shown to be more effective when retrieving information after it has been encoded when being compared to other methods such as semantic encoding.<ref name=":8" /> Also, it is important to know that studies have concluded that self-reference effect can be used to encode information among all ages.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Gutchess|firstfirst1=Angela H.|last2=Kensinger|first2=Elizabeth A.|last3=Yoon|first3=Carolyn|last4=Schacter|first4=Daniel L.|date=November 2007|title=Ageing and the self-reference effect in memory|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658210701701394|journal=Memory|volume=15|issue=8|pages=822–837|doi=10.1080/09658210701701394|pmid=18033620|issn=0965-8211}}</ref> However, they have determined that older adults are more limited in their use of the self-reference effect when being tested with younger adults.<ref name=":9" />
=== Salience ===
{{main|Salience (language)|Salience (neuroscience)}}
When an item or idea is considered "salient", it means the item or idea appears to noticeably stand out.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com|title=Definition of Salient|last=|first=|date=|website=|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref> When information is salient, it may be encoded in memory more efficiently than if the information did not stand out to the learner.<ref>{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Krauel|firstfirst1=Kerstin|last2=Duzel|first2=Emrah|last3=Hinrichs|first3=Hermann|last4=Santel|first4=Stephanie|last5=Rellum|first5=Thomas|last6=Baving|first6=Lioba|date=2007-06-15|title=Impact of Emotional Salience on Episodic Memory in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study|journal=Biological Psychiatry|language=en|volume=61|issue=12|pages=1370–1379|doi=10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.08.051|pmid=17210138}}</ref> In reference to encoding, any event involving survival may be considered salient. Research has shown that survival may be related to the self-reference effect due to evolutionary mechanisms.<ref>{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Cunningham|firstfirst1=Sheila J.|last2=Brady-Van den Bos|first2=Mirjam|last3=Gill|first3=Lucy|last4=Turk|first4=David J.|date=2013-03-01|title=Survival of the selfish: Contrasting self-referential and survival-based encoding|journal=Consciousness and Cognition|language=en|volume=22|issue=1|pages=237–244|doi=10.1016/j.concog.2012.12.005|pmid=23357241|url=https://rke.abertay.ac.uk/en/publications/1a5cf356-4dda-40e1-b1f9-b1764e7971ab}}</ref> Researchers have discovered that even words that are high in survival value are encoded better than words that are ranked lower in survival value.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Nairne|firstfirst1=James S.|last2=Thompson|first2=Sarah R.|last3=Pandeirada|first3=Josefa N. S.|date=2007|title=Adaptive memory: Survival processing enhances retention.|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition|language=en|volume=33|issue=2|pages=263–273|doi=10.1037/0278-7393.33.2.263|pmid=17352610|issn=1939-1285}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Weinstein|firstfirst1=Y.|last2=Bugg|first2=J. M.|last3=Roediger|first3=H. L.|date=2008-07-01|title=Can the survival recall advantage be explained by basic memory processes?|journal=Memory & Cognition|language=en|volume=36|issue=5|pages=913–919|doi=10.3758/MC.36.5.913|pmid=18630198|issn=0090-502X|doi-access=free}}</ref> Some research supports evolution, claiming that the human species remembers content associated with survival.<ref name=":4" /> Some researchers wanted to see for themselves whether or not the findings of other research was accurate.<ref name=":5" /> The researchers decided to replicate an experiment with results that supported the idea that survival content is encoded better than other content.<ref name=":5" /> The findings of the experiment further suggested that survival content has a higher advantage of being encoded than other content.<ref name=":5" />
==Computational Models of Memory Encoding==
===Cued Recall===
In [[Recall (memory)#Cued recall|cued recall]], an individual is presented with a stimulus, such as a list of words and then asked to remember as many of those words as possible. They are then given cues, such as categories, to help them remember what the stimuli were.<ref name=":6" /> An example of this would be to give a subject words such as meteor, star, space ship, and alien to memorize. Then providing them with the cue of “outer space” to remind them of the list of words given. Giving the subject cues, even when never originally mentioned, helped them recall the stimulus much better. These cues help guide the subjects to recall the stimuli they could not remember for themselves prior to being given a cue.<ref name=":6" /> Cues can essentially be anything that will help a memory that is deemed forgotten to resurface. An experiment conducted by Tulvig suggests that when subjects were given cues, they were able to recall the previously presented stimuli.<ref>{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Tulving|firstfirst1=Endel|last2=Pearlstone|first2=Zena|date=August 1966|title=Availability versus accessibility of information in memory for words|journal=Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior|language=en|volume=5|issue=4|pages=381–391|doi=10.1016/S0022-5371(66)80048-8}}</ref>
Cued recall can be explained by extending the attribute-similarity model used for item recognition. Because in cued recall, a wrong response can be given for a probe item, the model has to be extended accordingly to account for that. This can be achieved by adding noise to the item vectors when they are stored in the memory matrix. Furthermore, cued recall can be modeled in a probabilistic manner such that for every item stored in the memory matrix, the more similar it is to the probe item, the more likely it is to be recalled. Because the items in the memory matrix contain noise in their values, this model can account for incorrect recalls, such as mistakenly calling a person by the wrong name.
SAM explains both primacy and recency effects. Probabilistically, items at the beginning of the list are more likely to remain in STS, and thus have more opportunities to strengthen their links to other items. As a result, items at the beginning of the list are made more likely to be recalled in a free-recall task (primacy effect). Because of the assumption that items in STS are always available for immediate recall, given that there were no significant distractors between learning and recall, items at the end of the list can be recalled excellently (recency effect).
Studies have shown that free recall is one of the most effective methods of studying and transferring information from short term memory to long term memory compared to item recognition and cued recall as greater relational processing is involved.<ref>{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Rawson|firstfirst1=Katherine A.|last2=Zamary|first2=Amanda|date=2019-04-01|title=Why is free recall practice more effective than recognition practice for enhancing memory? Evaluating the relational processing hypothesis|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749596X19300026|journal=Journal of Memory and Language|language=en|volume=105|pages=141–152|doi=10.1016/j.jml.2019.01.002|issn=0749-596X}}</ref>
Incidentally, the idea of STS and LTS was motivated by the architecture of computers, which contain short-term and long-term storage.
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