1. Introduction “Memory is the process of maintaining information over time”. (Matlin, 2005) 'Memory is the means by which we draw on our past experiences to use this information in the present.' (Sternberg, 1999) These are the two most exact and widely used definitions of memory. Memory is the term given to the structures and processes involved in storing and retrieving information. Memory plays a very essential role in our life. Without the memory of the past we cannot operate in the present and think about the future. Without memory we couldn't know what we did yesterday, what we did today and what we will do tomorrow. Memory also plays a fundamental role in learning processes because if we had no memory we would not be able to learn new things and this would be fatal for the continuity of our lives. Memory is involved in processing large amounts of information and this takes many different forms, for example images, sounds or meanings. Can you remember what you did last night... what you had for breakfast this morning... what you watched on TV last night? Most people know the answers to these questions, but how can they? This is the main topic of this discussion; they and we all know them because of memory. So we cannot imagine our life without memory because, if we were unable to remember, life would be a series of fragmented and disconnected events. But what exactly is memory and how does it work? These are the main questions that will be answered in this article, obviously with the help of cognitive psychologists who deal directly with these topics. The two main types of memory which are short-term memory and long-term memory and the differences between them will also be discussed in this article. Memory allows us to learn from our past experiences and use the stored information in different situations. Memory is the way humans know themselves over time and build their identity, but things don't always go as they should. What I mean by this phrase is the fact that people sometimes deal with “memory distortions,” which refers to an account of memory that differs from what actually happened. Another topic of discussion in this article is the relationship of dreams to memory. “Dreams are a clear indication that the sleeping brain is working on memories on multiple levels, including ways that will directly improve performance.” This is the definition given by associate professors of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay2. Phases of memory For psychologists the term “memory” covers three important aspects of information processing:2.1. Coding and Memory When information arrives at our memory system (from sensory inputs), it must be transformed into a form that the system can handle, so that it can be stored later. For example, a word seen on the blackboard can be memorized if it is changed (encoded) into a sound or meaning (i.e. semantic processing). There are three main ways in which information can be encoded:1. VISUAL (image)2. ACOUSTICS (Sound)3. SEMANTICS (Meaning) To better explain these steps I would like to give an example. How can you remember a phone number if you look it up in the phone book? If you can see it means you are using visual coding, but if you repeat it to yourself many times to remember it, you are using acoustic coding which means sounds. The testsdemonstrate that the first principle of short-term memory (STM) is acoustic encoding. But the main coding system in long-term memory (LTM) appears to be semantic coding (for meaning). However, information in LTM can also be encoded both visually and acoustically.2.2. Storage and Memory Concerns the nature of memory stores, where they are stored, how long they last (duration), how much can be stored (capacity), and what type of information is stored. A lot of research has been done on the differences between STM and LTM and it has been concluded that in STM information can be stored for a very short period of time (0-30 seconds) but, in LTM information can be stored for a period of life.2.3. Retrieval and memory It refers, for example, to the retrieval of information from storage: if we cannot remember something it means that we are unable to retrieve it from the archive. When we are asked to recall a memory, the differences between STM and LTM become very clear. STM is stored and retrieved sequentially. For example, if a group of participants is given a list of words to remember and then asked to report the fourth word on that list, they will go through the list in the order they heard it to retrieve the information. LTM is stored and retrieved by association. So, we associate different things or events together to retrieve information. An important element that can help with information retrieval is the organization of information. If we organize the information in sequences (in alphabetical order, by size or by time) we can retrieve it easily. To generalize what has been explained so far, I would like to give a general example. In stage 1, when you tell your teacher your name, he or she transforms the sound of your name and encodes the representation into memory. In stage 2 your encoded name was stored in your teacher's memory until you met in the next class when, in stage 3, your teacher retrieved your name from memory and calls you by your name.3 . Short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) The characteristics of STM are:1. Limited information, only 7 items can be stored at a time.2. Limited shelf life, storage is very fragile.3. Coding (mainly acoustic, also translation of visual information into sounds.4. In STM "chunking" method is used which means combining small pieces of information. The characteristics of LTM are: 1. The capacity of LTM could be unlimited. 2. The duration can be for a few minutes or for a lifetime 3. The suggested coding modes are mainly semantic (meaning) and visual (pictorial), but can also be acoustic in different ways. The differences between them are: 1. STM can hold little information but LTM much more 2. STM has a limited capacity, but LTM does not, it can hold an unlimited amount of information and has a large capacity STM has a short duration, perhaps less than 30 seconds, but LTM has a long duration that can last a lifetime.Many studies have been conducted on STM and LTM and many researches in the field of psychology have come to some conclusions and proven their work on this.3.1 conducted at Jacobs in 1987 and these are the results of the research.1. Objective: understand the capacity of short-term memory.2. Procedures: Participants were presented with strings of letters or digits and asked to repeat them in the same order. The length of the rope was increased from three to four, five, etc., until the participant was able to repeat the sequence.3. Results: in,.