What are the factors that allow us to effectively encode information into our memory system?
● Automatic processing is the unconscious process of encoding certain information without effort. Effortful processing is encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.
● The serial position effect is the tendency to recall the first and last items on a list more easily. Distributed rehearsal works better than massed rehearsal.
● Semantic encoding is the process of making material meaningful. Visual images are often automatically encoded and remembered well. Mnemonic devices are memory tricks like the method of loci and the peg-word system. Chunking and organizing information into a hierarchy are effective encoding techniques.
