Long Term Memory

Do you remember studying for an upcoming school test? You may have tried all the tricks from spaced repetition (gradually increasing the interval between repetitions of learned material) to the advice of your mom that you need sleep to process and properly organize those memories. When users approach interfaces, a lot of long-term memory kicks in by recognizing familiar elements—how these work, what the next step would be, etc.

Semantic memory is about the memory of concepts and meanings. It's not the story of when you first learned how to use the checkbox form element, but rather a specific piece of knowledge on how it works and how it is distinctive from other form elements.

Procedural memory is our memory of the steps involved in the execution of tasks. This allows us to tie our shoe and allows seasoned Drupalistas to setup a module without much thinking. It's often when we break with these learned processes that user confusion occurs.