Long Term Memory

Check some related posts:

• Short Term Memory
• How information is stored in brain

Long-Term Memory (LTM)


The knowledge we store in LTM affects our perceptions of the world, and influences what information in the environment we attend to. LTM gives the framework and we develop with more knowledge. It takes the priority over the STM and other memories, that is where people make their decisions. The limit of LTM is not known.

Schemas are mental models of the world. Information in LTM is stored in interrelated networks of these schemas. These, in turn, form intricate knowledge structures. Related schemas are linked together and loading one schema retrieves all the related schemas. This is how we recall relevant knowledge when similar information is presented. These schemas guide us by diverting our attention to relevant information and allow us to ignore the rest.

Since LTM storage is organized into schemas, instructional designers activate existing schemas and present it in a structured and interesting manner. This can be done in a many ways, including graphic organizers, movies, etc.


LTM also has a strong influence on perception through top-down processing - our prior knowledge affects how we perceive sensory information. We interpret an experience by the expectations and satisfaction attained. We develop bias from this. Also, most optical illusions take advantage of this fact.
An important factor for retention of learned information in LTM is rehearsal that provides transfer of learning.



Tags:Brain, Long term memory, short term memory, how brain store information,