Learning and Memory: Twin-Engines of Human Achievement
Exploring how learning and memory propel the acquisition of cognitive and motor abilities in humans
Perhaps I should start with a health warning. This post begins down a rabbit hole. I recognise that Greek mythology isn’t every reader’s cognitive cappuccino. But, unless we appreciate the marvel of memory, we won’t understand how learning happens. So, if you’ll bear with me for the next 231 words, the remaining paragraphs will be better for it…
I was already a long way down the rabbit hole when I stumbled on the Aeschylus quote at the start of Make It Stick (Brown, McDaniel, and Roediger III). Neatly translated into English, the quote reads:
“Memory is the mother of all wisdom.”
Aeschylus
(Prometheus Bound)
Profound and repeatable. Only, I couldn’t find this particular quote in Prometheus Bound. In its place I found this curious lyric:
“And memory, Muse-mother, doer of all things…”
Aeschylus
(Prometheus Bound, line 461, as translated by Henry David Thoreau)
Hmm…
The past couple of weeks I’ve started tracing the origins of contemporary thought on the marvel of memory. My search had taken a detour into the world of Greek mythology and the work of Hesiod the Poet, circa 700 BCE. Like I said, a rabbit hole!
Hesiod created a play called Theogony, in which he laid bare the otherworldly origin story of the gods in the Greek pantheon. In one section of his heroic song, Hesiod introduced the world to Mnemosyne.
The goddess of memory, Mnemosyne was mother of the nine muses who inspired preternatural creativity and artistic expression among mere mortals.
To Hesiod, memory represented a divine force. Not only was memory the mother of creative inspiration, she was also a way to beat back the relentless, crushing decay of time. Or, as Aeschylus put it centuries later, memory is “...doer of all things…”
These musings on memory bring us to the first port in our exploration of learning: the interplay between the twin-engines of learning and memory.
To be transparent from the start, we will not cover all there is to know about learning and memory. We’ll merely scratch the surface. The aim of The Learning Show is not that we learn everything there is to know about learning. Rather, we embark on this journey to get a handle on the most important, high-impact ideas. With that said, we begin with a question…
What is learning?
As our Greek godfathers recognised, memory is powerful, almost mystical. Our memory systems enable us to pull into the present the residue of past experiences. Our complex cognitive architecture fuels creativity and powers capability on both present problems and future fascinations. Mental time-travel if you like. I’m not surprised Hesiod invoked the divine.
If not the work of Mnemosyne, what’s really going on in our heads when we learn something new?
Let’s start with what we know.
The memory structures in the brain play a central role in the learning process. Here are a couple of helpful definitions that call out this link between learning and memory.
Learning: “acquiring knowledge and skills and having them readily available from memory so you can make sense of future problems and opportunities.”
Henry Roediger III, Mark McDaniel, and Peter Brown
(Make It Stick, p2)1
and
Learning: “a change in behaviour or capability as a result of memory.”
Nick Shackleton-Jones
(How People Learn, 2nd Edition, p49)2
Learning brings about a change in behaviour or capability as a result of memory. How exactly does this change occur? How does learning tap into memory in a way that changes us? To attempt an answer to these questions, we gingerly dip our toes into the domain of neuroscience.
Consider this description of learning from a neurobiological perspective, which gives some insight into the finer goings on in our grey matter when we learn.
Learning: “connecting, strengthening, and extending sets of neural links in long-term memory...”
Barbara Oakley, Beth Rogowsky, and Terrence Sejnowski
(Uncommon Sense Teaching, p14)3
Perhaps you’ve heard of the concept of neuroplasticity? In a nutshell, “neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change and adapt due to experience” (Kendra Cherry via Very Well Mind). It’s how the brain changes, reorganises, or grows neural networks in response to new information and experiences.
Of course, this is a gross oversimplification of 6 decades of neuroscience research, but remember, we’re only scratching the surface.
Encode, store, retrieve
More recently, in the last 30 years of so, what we know about learning has been gathered (from various disciplines) into the relatively new field of the learning sciences.
The current understanding within the learning sciences is that learning and memory interact in a three-part process of encoding, storage, and retrieval.
Encoding:
Encoding is the initial experience of perceiving and responding to learning events. It’s what happens as you focus your attention on learning a new concept or capability. Developing the motor skills required to play violin or field hockey, for example, involves the encoding of skilled movement.
Encoding is the mysterious process of “converting sensory perceptions into meaningful representations in the brain” (Make It Stick, p72), moving information from working memory into long-term storage.
Storage (also called Consolidation):
Storage is what happens when new learning is replayed in the mind and connected with past learning experiences already stored in long-term memory.
It’s a process of reorganisation and consolidation. Sets of neural links are connected, strengthened and extended. Over time, the more you learn about a concept or skill, the more advanced that specific cognitive schema becomes.
Retrieval:
Retrieval is the process of accessing stored knowledge and drawing on existing capabilities. It’s about applying a new concept or capability by actively remembering it and practising it in a variety of different contexts.
Retrieving something from your memory strengthens the neural connections holding it there, making future retrieval of the same learning more successful.
Encode, store, retrieve. Repeating this three-part process paves the road to mastery.
It’s tempting to slice and dice encoding, storage, and retrieval into distinct, neatly packaged pieces. In reality, the three parts of this process are intertwined in an elaborate, unpredictable dance that turns learning into memory.
There’s so much more we could talk about! I feel a bit like R.E.M front man Michael Stipe at this point, crooning away:
“Oh no, I've said too much;
I haven't said enough…”
Isn’t it amazing how quickly the lyrics of a song I’ve not heard in years come to mind? Thanks Mnemosyne!
Takeaways from this episode
Being curious about learning and memory is a means to an end. Learning how we learn and how memory works is the start of designing great learning.
“Memory is a means to an end.”
Carmen Simon
(Impossible to Ignore, p1)4
Let’s replay a few of the ideas we’ve covered here so that we can call on them when the time comes.
Memory is made of networks of neural links in the brain.
Memory is at the core of how we do anything (“…doer of all things” as Prometheus would say).
Learning is complex and unpredictable.
Learning and memory interact in an elaborate three-part process of encoding, storage, and retrieval.
The three-part process of encoding, storage, and retrieval is how we develop our various cognitive and motor abilities.
Learning and memory are twin-engines of human achievement.
Where do we go from here? Well, in the next two posts, we’ll look at the mental model that changed my brain and reorganised my thinking about learning. We’ll also explore our frustrating ability to forget things, and what we can do to limit our learning losses. Here’s hoping the high-impact ideas are unforgettable!
See you in the next episode.
Brown, P. C., Roediger III, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. Belknap Press.
Shackleton-Jones, N. (2023). How People Learn (2nd Edition): A New Model of Learning and Cognition to Improve Performance and Education. Kogan Page.
Oakley, B., Rogowsky, B. A., & Sejnowski, T. J. (2021). Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical insights in brain science to help students learn. TarcherPerigee.
Simon, C. (2016). Impossible to Ignore: Creating memorable content to influence decisions. McGraw-Hill Education.
Great Post dave, looking forward to more!
Wow - now I know why I haven't learnt more in the last 69 years !