Declarative memory is the basis or foundation of all cognitive learning. As you have examined the formation of declarative memory—encoding,storing, retrieving, and forgetting—you have discovered that memories may be easily forgotten.  Complex encoding and repetition combine to strengthen declarative memory and improve recall of facts and other information. 

While memory is important to learning, forgetting is important too.  To make room for all that you want and need to know, some things must be forgotten.   Learning skills and strategies work with the processing of memory, allowing the brain to retain memories that are important and release those that are not.

Take a few moments to review the things you learned in this lesson, and then complete your lesson quiz.