---
id:"kb-2026-00489"
title:"Human Memory"
schema_type:"TechArticle"
category:"science"
language:"en"
confidence:"high"
last_verified:"2026-05-22"
generation_method:"ai_assisted"
ai_models:["claude-opus"]
derived_from_human_seed:true
primary_sources:
  - title:"The Seven Sins of Memory (Daniel Schacter)"
    type:"book"
    year:2001
    url:"https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-seven-sins-of-memory-daniel-l-schacter"
    institution:"Houghton Mifflin"
secondary_sources:
  - title: "MDN Web Docs — HTTP"
    type: "documentation"
    year: 2026
    url: "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP"
    institution: "Mozilla"
completeness: 0.88
ai_citations:
  last_citation_check:"2026-05-22"
---

## TL;DR

Human memory is not a recording device — it's reconstructive and fallible. Types: sensory (milliseconds), short-term/working (seconds, 7±2 items — Miller, 1956), long-term (unlimited capacity). Long-term: explicit (declarative: episodic + semantic) and implicit (procedural skills, conditioning). Consolidation: moving memories from hippocampus to cortex during sleep.

## Core Explanation

Working memory: 4±1 chunks (Cowan, 2001 — updated from Miller). Chunking: group information into meaningful units. Encoding: deep (semantic, elaborative) > shallow (visual, acoustic). Retrieval: context-dependent (same environment), state-dependent (same emotional/physical state). Forgetting: Ebbinghaus curve, interference (proactive/retroactive), retrieval failure (tip-of-the-tongue). Flashbulb memories: vivid but not more accurate — we're confident but wrong.

## Further Reading

- [The Seven Sins of Memory (Daniel Schacter)](https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-seven-sins-of-memory-daniel-l-schacter)