A lot of these examples show that even if you think you have forgotten something, it probably is still there. Some information is easily recalled while other information needs prompting and can be recognised. Memory is not all or none. Even if we think we have forgotten something there is often something left.

Over the past weeks we have been looking at the three types of remembering. We looked at recall which is what we usually think of when we think of remembering. This involves searching our memory and then using it. We also looked at recognition which involved being prompted by something to help us remember. The last type we will look at is relearning: one of the simplest forms of remembering.

Recognition is a type of remembering that involves seeing something familiar. It is used when we do multiple choice examples or name someone after seeing their photo. It is easier and last longer than recall. Later on we will look at how to use this to our advantage.

There are three ways that we can measure how someone ‘remembers’ something. These are recall, recognition and relearning. Recalling is searching you memory and then producing information with it. It is the type of memory used in those exams where you have to write answers to questions.

The short-term and long-term memory systems are very different but work together. The short-term memory has limited capacity, is easy to get information from and acts as a gateway to our long-term memory. Meanwhile our long-term memory is thought to have unlimited capacity but takes longer to get information from.