Difference Between Learning and Memory

Difference between Learning and Memory Not all learning is transformed into lasting memories. "Learning is how you acquire new information about the world, and memory is how you store that information over time," says Eric R. Kandel, M.D., vice chairman of The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives and recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine for his work on the molecular basis of memory. "There is no memory without learning, but there is learning without memory." For example, you may look up a telephone number and remember it just long enough to make your call. This is sometimes called "working memory." It requires learning—but not for the long haul.