and is likely to decay rather quickly. However, there is a third and the deepest level at which information can be processed. In order to ensure that the information is retained for a longer period, it is important that it gets analysed and understood in terms of its meaning. For instance, you may think of cat as an animal that has furs, has four legs, a tail, and is a mammal.
You can also invoke an image of a cat and connect that image with your experiences. To sum up, analysing information in terms of its structural and phonetic features amounts to shallower processing while encoding it in terms of the meaning it carries (the semantic encoding) is the deepest processing level that leads to memory that resists forgetting considerably. Understanding memory as an outcome of the manner in which information is encoded initially has an important implication for learning. This view of memory will help you realise that while you are learning a new lesson, you must focus on elaborating the meaning of its contents in as much detail as possible and must not depend on rote memorisation.
Attempt this and you will soon realise that understanding the meaning of information and reflecting on how it relates to other facts, concepts, and your life experiences is a sure way to long-term retention . T YPES OF L ONG - TERM M EMORY As you have read in Box . , the short-term memory is now seen as consisting of more than one component (working memory). In the same way it is suggested that long-term memory too is not unitary because it contains a wide variety of information.
In view of this, contemporary formulations envisage long- term memory as consisting of various types. For instance, one major classification within the LTM is that of Declarative and Procedural (sometimes called nondeclarative) memories. All information pertaining to facts, names, dates, such as a rickshaw has three wheels or that India became independent on August or a frog is an amphibian or you and your friend share the same name, are