What Are the Types of Memory and Their Characteristics?

At the moment, Human beings have different sources of support to remember relevant information. The personal agenda is a clear example of this. However, it is advisable to nurture and cultivate the different types of memory in adulthood.

The main types of memory

1. Short-term memory: main characteristics and examples

It reveals the ability to retain specific information for a short period of time. It is especially practical in everyday routine. It allows you to review some of the recent tasks you have carried out. It also allows you to incorporate new data for a practical purpose. For example, imagine that you have read the title of a movie that has recently been released in theaters.

And you go to the rooms that are very close to your home to see if that proposal is on the billboard. It should be noted that the capacity of this type of memory is not unlimited. However, the person receives large doses of information in his interaction with the environment. He perceives new sensations through sight, hearing, smell, touch or taste.

2. Traits and characteristics of long-term memory

Some of the data that was previously part of short-term memory becomes definitively integrated. Others, on the contrary, may fall into oblivion. The memory that connects directly with the learning acquired through experience is very valuable in facing each new day. Human beings cannot retain all the details of the most recent hours since, as we have indicated, short-term memory does not have an unlimited capacity. However, each new dawn does not mean starting completely from scratch. The subject has large doses of information that he has incorporated into his long-term memory.

Some experiences from childhood, adolescence or youth last for a long period of time. Likewise, many of the learnings acquired in the academic field are integrated in the long term.

3. Visual memory: main examples

The memory can connect with the information acquired through a specific sense. Visual memory is integrated into the study and review of a text through the use of the following techniques: the outline, the summary, the underlining, the brainstorming or the concept map. But visual memory also connects with other sources of information, beyond the study routine: photography, video, computer graphics or illustration. It is a memory that you can feed through the practice of observation or mindfulness.

4. What is auditory memory

Contact and interaction with reality are not reduced to the power of the image. Sounds acquire a special meaning in human existence as shown by the auditory memory that is so present in different processes. For example, reading aloud fuels the memorization of different data. It is also common to remember the intonation and the main phrases of the chorus of a song.

5. What is semantic memory: concrete examples

The ability to remember information acquires different perspectives in daily routine. Semantic memory develops over the long term. It refers to the ability to understand and understand concepts, terms and meanings. In short, it influences the level of understanding and knowledge that human beings acquire about the environment.

In this type of memory, for example, the names of rivers, cities and mountains are integrated. Also, the names of people you have known throughout your life. As well as the concepts and terms that you have learned about different science and literature subjects.

6. What is episodic memory and how it manifests itself

There is another type of memory that connects with some of the most significant events in personal biography. While some anecdotes and experiences are no longer remembered after the passage of time, it is possible to connect with events from the past that have left their mark in the long term. Some of these memories are consciously shared in conversations with friends, family or work contacts.

Consequently, it is a type of memory that allows you to contextualize in detail a specific situation that took place in a time and place. It is possible to remember very specific aspects or, on the contrary, have a general vision of a personal experience. It is an explicit memory, since these episodes can be relived intentionally. In short, there are several types of memory that, on the other hand, complement each other.