Strategies For People With Memory Problems

In our day to day lives we encounter all kinds of different information. Simple visual images, auditory signals, tastes and smells, as well as more complex experiences like conversations, cooking a meal or navigating a route to a new location. Memory is the ability to store, hold on to, and retrieve the information that we experience. 

“Memory [is]... an array of interacting systems, each capable of encoding or registering information, storing it and making it available by retrieval. Without this capability for information storage, we could not perceive adequately, learn from our past, understand the present, or plan for the future” 

(Baddeley, 2013, p.18)

In cognitive science, theories of memory have made several important distinctions (Baddeley, 1997):

• The modality of input – visual, verbal/auditory, haptic, taste/smell and motoric.
• The duration of storage – sensory memory, short term memory / working memory, and long term memory.
• Coherent bodies of knowledge that are learnt or stored over a

• Client handout – use as a psychoeducation resource
• Discussion point – use to provoke a discussion and explore client beliefs
• Therapist learning tool – improve your familiarity with a psychological construct
• Teaching resource – use as a learning tool during training

• Baddeley, A. D. (1997). Human memory: Theory and practice. Psychology press.
• Baddeley, A. (2013). Essentials of human memory (classic edition). Psychology Press.
• Craik, F. I., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behavior, 11(6), 671-684.
• Dams-O’Connor, K., & Gordon, W. A. (2013). Integrating interventions after traumatic brain injury: A synergistic approach to neurorehabilitation. Brain Impairment, 14(1), 51-62.
• das Nair, R., Cogger, H., Worthington, E., & Lincoln, N. B. (2016). Cognitive rehabilitation for memory deficits after stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (9).
• DeLuca, J. (2005), Fatigue, Cognition and Mental Effort, Ch. 2 in: DeLuca, J. (ed.), Fatigue as a Window to the Brain, MIT Press, USA.
• Evans, F.A., Wong, D., Lawson, D.W., Withiel, T.D. & Stolwyk, R.J. (2020) What are the most common