Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success : A Self-management Approach

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UNDERSTANDING LEARNING AND MEMORY 37

Information enters the LTM through the WM. Although informa-

tion must be repeated or rehearsed to stay in working memory, it must

be classified, organized, connected, and stored with information

already in LTM if it is to be easily retrieved at a later time. It takes

time and effort to move information into long-term storage.

LTM can be compared to an office with filing cabinets. Each cab-

inet is labeled, and there are dividers within each drawer. Memories

are placed in specific folders, in specific sections, and in specific draw-

ers. Unless the material is carefully classified and placed in the cor-

rect file, it can easily be misfiled. Once material is misfiled, or poorly

classified and filed, it is difficult to retrieve. It is believed that the

human mind stores information in a similar manner. Therefore, the

better we classify and organize information when we learn it, the bet-

ter able we are to retrieve it when it is needed (Ormrod, 1998). Here

is how one student made the connection between how information is

stored in LTM and retrieval:

I view long-term memory like a well-organized closet where

there is a place for shirts, sweaters, jackets, pants, and so

on. When I need something, my categorization and organi-

zation help me to find it quickly. If I just threw clothes into

my closet, I would spend more time trying to recall what

items I had and spend more time locating them. When I fail

to organize and make sense of content in a course, I always

have difficulty retrieving the information on exams.

You now have some idea as to how information flows in the IPS.

Beginning with the environment, information flows to the STSS. The

information that is attended to proceeds to the WM, where it may be

modified and stored permanently in the LTM. Information then flows

back from the LTM to the WM to direct behavior.

In some courses, students bring a great deal of prior knowledge to class

because they may have already taken a course in the subject or have done

some reading in the area. In other courses, students may have little or no

prior knowledge of the subject matter. As might be expected, prior knowl-

edge plays an important role in learning. For example, compare the ease

or difficulty of taking lecture notes when you read prior to the lecture

with another time when you did not read the material prior to the lec-

ture. The more information you know before you attend a lecture, the

easier it is to take notes and understand the material. This is why instruc-

tors ask you to complete reading assignments before lectures.

I can read textbooks in education and psychology with a great deal

of understanding because I have a good background in the content

presented in these texts. Yet, I know junior high students who can

read an article in Car Audio & Electronics more rapidly and with