Mitchell Guido

Miller-Processing Memory

George Millers information processing is especially important for

educators, as a teacher should understand how the brain processes
memory in order to educate as effectively as possible. Millers theory
details how memorythe processes that are utilized to acquire, retain
and retrieve informationworks in the human brain.
The first portion of Millers theory outlines the process of how
memory enters and is managed by the brain. Humans use their five
senses to collect data for a very brief period of time. If the person pays
attention to this data, it will be moved to short-term (or working)
memory. While this may sound obvious, it is easy to forget how much
information people ignore by not paying attention. All the loud sounds
and bright lights of the city become mundane and stop grabbing a
constant commuters attention. Thus, they wont remember much
about the atmosphere of their commute.
The working memory is where information from the senses is
briefly stored; about fifteen to twenty seconds. Organization and
repetition are the two main ways that data is stored in short-term
memory. When people try to remember a phone number, they often
will repeat it to themselves over and over again until they dial it. While
this verbal repetition will probably not help much with long-term
memoryas the numbers have been assigned no useful meaning or

arrangementit will keep the numbers in the persons short-term

memory just long enough to complete the task of dialing the number.
By using meaningful filling, a person can move information from their
short-term memory to their long-term memory. There are five methods
of meaningful filling that Miller discusses.
Chunking is taking the information from the working memory and
breaking it down into easier to manage parts. Sticking with the phone
number example, to memorize a number permanently people will
separate it into parts. Most commonly the number is divided into the
area code, the first three digits and the last four digits. These smaller
chunks make it easier to remember, as opposed to one long string of
numbers.
Elaboration is committing something from working memory to
long-term memory by making a connection with something already in
the long-term memory. If a child has already learned what a square is
(and it is firmly implanted in their long-term memory), they might
remember what a rectangle is by comparing it to a square. Thus, they
can use their long-term hold on a square to help them learn a new
shape and commit it to memory.
Encoding is exactly what it sounds like: changing the incoming
data into something that is easier to remember. ROY G BIV is an
acronym that is used to teach the light spectrum in beginner science

classes. Instead of having to remember Red, Orange, Yellow, Green,

Blue, Indigo and Violet, the students can remember one name.
Classifying is one of the easiest forms of meaningful filling. When
presented with new information, it is generally a childs first instinct to
try to group the information in some way based on certain
characteristics. While this is similar to chunking, classification creates
groups based on actual traits (color, size, etc.). Chunking, on the other
hand, is just dividing up data to make it easier to understand: not
necessarily dividing the data based on any sort of criteria.
Finally, connecting is literally just creating a connection between
the new information and old information. This differs from elaboration
in that connection does not need to have an obvious correlation
between the old and new information. Its not necessarily sequential or
something new that builds on something old, it could just be that the
new information reminds the person of old information for no particular
reason.
Once the information reaches long-term memory, it lays dormant
there until it is needed. The capacity of a persons long-term memory
is theoretically infinite, while the duration is only limited by physiology.
In other words, the brain can store an infinite amount of information,
but it may not be able to recall all of the information.
There are two types of long-term memory: declarative and
procedural memory. Declarative memory is information that you can

verbalize. There are two types: semantic and episodic. Semantic

memory is reserved for facts, while episodic memory is used for a
sequence of events that occur over time (how to ride a bike).
Procedural memory is reserved for skilled movements, such as playing
an instrument or driving.
The end result of all this memory is retrieval. Assuming that the
information was learned correctly, the person will be able to retrieve
the information from their long-term memory when they require it.
Teaching scales is an example of utilizing the Miller processing
theory in music education. A scale is a specific series of note intervals
(the space between notes). Generally, scales are taught to any
beginning student on any instrument (except for drums). When a scale
first given to the student, the process it by using their sense of sound
and their sense of touch. However, after they play the scale they will
quickly forget it. In order to move the scale into their long-term
memory, a student must practice the scale frequently (at least once a
day). This will give the students procedural memory, as their fingers
will learn where to go. While it is important that the student have
declarative memory of a scale (to be able to recite the note names in
order), it is generally more important that the student can play the
scale.
While the scale is used to help students become familiar with the
instrument, it will also be useful when performing a new piece of

music. The intervals that create a scale are the basis for how all
western music functions. Thus, these patterns are prevalent in music
and the student will be able to sight-read new music easier if they are
familiar with these patterns. Whenever the student encounters a scale
pattern in music, they will use retrieval from their long-term memory to
tell their fingers what to do.
As a teacher, you can help students to move the sensory
information of a scale from the short-term memory to long-term
memory in multiple ways. First, the teacher should have the student
repeat the scale many times. A second way to help the student learn a
scale is to have them sing the scale. If the student can remember what
the intervals of a scale are without playing the instrument, they will be
able to figure out the scale when they pick up the instrument. This will
work better, because then the student will be elaborating on their aural
knowledge of the scale by adding the physical aspect of playing it.
Teaching simple arithmetic to students is an example of how
Millers information processing theory can be used in math education.
First, the students learn addition and subtraction. Assuming that the
students already know this, the next step is multiplication. On its own,
multiplication would be a scary operation to students, as it is
completely new and combines numbers in an unfamiliar way. Just
giving students multiplication and having them memorize it by
repeating basic arithmetic problems is not an efficient way to teach.

Not only does pure repetition take an exceedingly long time to be

effective, but even when a student does learn the procedure they will
be more likely to have trouble retrieving it. Using a method of
meaningful filling will give the students a better grasp on the subject.
One way that a teacher can aid this transition to more complex
operations is by linking the new operations to the old operations. By
explaining to students that multiplication is just compound addition,
this will help move this new information from the working memory to
long-term memory. Now the student can work out a multiplication
problem using episodic memory (2x3 = 2+2+2 = 6). This is an
example of elaboration. Teachers can also use classification to teach
mathematics. Each operation will have their own category in the
students memory. In addition to this, though, the teacher can explain
the basic times tables for each number in sequence. For example: 2x3,
2x4, 2x5, 2x6, then 3x2, 3x3, 3x4, etc. This way, the students will
remember the times tables for each number in some sort of order that
makes sense, rather than randomly. At some point along the line, the
students will memorize the times tables through a combination of
repetition and the meaningful learning explained above.