Concise answer
Memory is three processes stacked on a stage model: information must be encoded, stored, and retrieved, and in the Atkinson-Shiffrin account it moves from sensory memory through short-term memory into long-term memory. Working memory reframes the short-term stage as an active multi-part system, interference explains much of retrieval failure in both directions, and the forgetting curve plus distributed practice tell you when review pays off most.
Definitions
- Encoding
- The process of getting information into the memory system — the first place a later recall failure can originate.
- Working memory
- Baddeley and Hitch's model of short-term storage as active subsystems (visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer, phonological loop) coordinated by a central executive.
- Proactive interference
- Old information hindering the recall of newly learned information — the old acts forward on the new.
- Retroactive interference
- Recently learned information hindering the recall of older information — the new acts backward on the old.
- Distributed practice
- Studying across time in short sessions rather than in one massed cramming block, giving memories time to consolidate.
Intuition
Encoding, storage, and retrieval are three doors a memory must pass through, and a blank on test day only tells you that at least one door was shut — the exam's favorite move is describing a failure and asking which door it was. Cues at retrieval only work if the matching links were built at encoding, which is why elaborative study beats rereading.
The two interference directions are easiest to keep straight by asking which memory is the victim: if the new memory suffers, the old one acted proactively (forward in time); if the old memory suffers, the new one acted retroactively (backward in time).
Concept walkthrough
Getting information in, keeping it, and getting it back out — encoding, storage, and retrieval — are the three processes every memory question presupposes. The Atkinson-Shiffrin model organizes storage into stages: environmental input registers briefly in sensory memory, a selected portion enters short-term memory, and rehearsed or deeply processed material moves into long-term memory. Baddeley and Hitch reworked the middle stage as working memory: not one passive box but a visuospatial sketchpad, a phonological loop, and an episodic buffer coordinated by a central executive that also moves information toward long-term storage.
Forgetting has structure. Ebbinghaus's self-experiments with relearning produced the forgetting curve: memory for new material drops steeply soon after learning and then levels out, which is why early review is disproportionately valuable. Interference explains failures where the memory is stored but inaccessible: proactive interference is old learning blocking new (reaching for your old phone number when asked for the new one), and retroactive interference is new learning blocking old (this week's material crowding out last week's).
The same literature yields the study prescriptions the exam expects you to know. Distributed practice — short sessions spread across time — outperforms cramming because consolidation takes time, and elaborative rehearsal that connects new material to what you already know builds the web of retrieval cues that recall depends on. These are also the mechanics behind the note-review schedule this site recommends: review early, review spaced, and review by self-testing rather than rereading.
After this page, you should be able to
- Name the three memory processes — encoding, storage, retrieval — and locate a described failure at the right process.
- Trace information through the Atkinson-Shiffrin stages and contrast that account with the Baddeley-Hitch working memory model.
- Classify interference scenarios as proactive or retroactive from the timeline of what was learned when.
- Use the shape of the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve and distributed practice to schedule reviews where forgetting is steepest.
Formulas and assumptions
Memory process pipeline
input -> encoding -> storage -> retrieval; a recall failure can originate at any arrow
Variables
- encoding: getting information into the system
- storage: retaining information over time
- retrieval: getting stored information back out
Assumptions
- Schematic map of the three processes described in OpenStax Psychology 2e Section 8.1, not a quantitative formula.
- Exam scenarios typically describe a failure and ask which process it belongs to.
Atkinson-Shiffrin stage model
stimulus -> sensory memory -> short-term memory -> long-term memory
Variables
- sensory memory: brief registration of environmental input
- short-term memory: limited temporary store (recast as working memory by Baddeley and Hitch)
- long-term memory: durable storage reached via rehearsal and encoding
Assumptions
- Stages are passed in order in the Atkinson-Shiffrin account; the working memory model elaborates the middle stage.
Interference direction map
old blocks new = proactive; new blocks old = retroactive
Variables
- old: material learned earlier in time
- new: material learned more recently
Assumptions
- Direction is named after which material does the blocking, acting forward (pro-) or backward (retro-) in time.
Worked example
Naming the interference direction
A student who has spoken Spanish for years begins learning Italian. On an Italian vocabulary quiz, Spanish words keep surfacing instead of the Italian ones. A semester later, visiting relatives in Mexico, the student finds Italian words intruding when speaking Spanish. Identify the interference type in each situation.
- 1Fix the timeline first: Spanish is the older learning; Italian is the newer learning.
- 2Quiz situation: the old material (Spanish) is hindering recall of the newly learned material (Italian). Old blocking new is proactive interference — the old acts forward in time.
- 3Trip situation: the newer material (Italian) is hindering recall of the older material (Spanish). New blocking old is retroactive interference — the new acts backward in time.
- 4Check against the direction map: in each case, name the interference after the blocker, not the victim.
The quiz shows proactive interference (old Spanish blocks new Italian); the trip shows retroactive interference (new Italian blocks old Spanish).
Common traps
- Swapping proactive and retroactive interference — always identify which memory does the blocking and which direction in time it acts.
- Treating working memory as a synonym for short-term memory without recognizing that the Baddeley-Hitch model adds distinct subsystems and a central executive.
- Assuming forgetting proceeds evenly over time; the forgetting curve is steep immediately after learning and then flattens.
- Concluding a memory was never stored when a scenario actually describes a retrieval failure, such as interference making stored information inaccessible.
Related pages and practice
Question depth and domain coverage vary by exam. Practice answers are checked after submission.
Sources
- GRE Subject Test Content and Structure — ETS. Accessed 2026-07-06. Use as a cited source for exam facts; do not imply affiliation or reproduce protected test material.
- Psychology 2e, Section 8.1: How Memory Functions — OpenStax. Accessed 2026-08-03. OpenStax textbook content is CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; attribute and avoid verbatim reuse beyond short cited references.
- Psychology 2e, Section 8.3: Problems with Memory — OpenStax. Accessed 2026-08-03. OpenStax textbook content is CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; attribute and avoid verbatim reuse beyond short cited references.
- Psychology 2e, Section 8.4: Ways to Enhance Memory — OpenStax. Accessed 2026-08-03. OpenStax textbook content is CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; attribute and avoid verbatim reuse beyond short cited references.
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Recheck the ETS content-structure page and the OpenStax Psychology 2e memory chapter sections before each major GRE Psychology preparation cycle.