Encoding is influenced by the degree of processing information is subject to. This in turn affects how well information is remembered. The most basic level of processing is carried out at the level of the sensory registers. These are basic holding buffers or stores for incoming sensory information which enable the sensory data to be “presented” to the information processing system in a more controlled manner. Eidetic memory is the visual sensory store and echoic memory the auditory store. They have a duration of about 200ms each.

Once presented to the information processing system, incoming information can be processed at different levels (see previous page). When processing verbal information, for instance, people engage in three progressively deeper levels of processing. Structural encoding is shallow analysis of the physical structure of the stimulus; e.g font size, type and spatial arrangement. Phonemic encoding analyzes the word’s phonemic (sound) structure, identifying the word. Semantic encoding analyses the meaning in the stimulus, taking into account not only the physical and phonetic structure of the stimulus, but also its contexts; in other words it uses extra-stimulus information, much of which is internally generated (past-experience, expectations, salience, etc.). These increasingly deeper levels of processing are associated with improved remembering.

There are other forms of encoding, including elaboration, imagery, and self-referent encoding which can al help improve remembering. Elaboration (“enrichment”) of data creatively interconnects new data to the meaning map of memory. Visual imagery can be linked to certain things, such as an anatomical drawing for the word “eye”. This may reflect a dual encoding in both linear and parallel systems. Self-referent encoding is to make data personally meaningful.

Summary: The more meaningful data is, the easier it will be to remember.