Involves the association of active information in short-term memory with other information recalled from long-term memory.

MEANINGFUL ENCODING involves the association of active information in short-term memory with other information that is recalled from long-term memory.

Encoding is the crucial first step to creating a new memory. It allows the perceived item of interest to be converted into a construct that can be stored within the brain, and then recalled later from short-term or long-term memory.