Psychology - Remembering and Forgetting - Essay Example

Remembering and Forgetting Memory is one of the few things we have that we generally feel cannot be taken away from us. Whether it refers to learning new things or making appropriate associations to the past, memory and its processes plays a significant role in the way we live our lives. Memory is how we learn and develop as people and it is what helps us become the individuals we are. It is how we get good grades in school and how we become successful business and community leaders as adults. However, memory can be taken from us in a variety of ways, sometimes even in ways that we control, and we can begin to lose a sense of who we are. There are a couple of different theories as to how memory works. One suggests that the brain actually stores all the information we have ever experienced and that the problems of forgetting and remembering have more to do with how we store and retrieve information. Another theory indicates the brain works more like old videotape – the older the memory is, the more likely it is to have broken down, lost details or become blurry to the point of nonexistence. Regardless of which theory is correct, if either, understanding the factors that contribute to remembering more and forgetting less can help us strengthen our ability to remember details quicker and perhaps greatly enrich our lives. There are several elements that contribute to forgetting. Forgetting is the term we use to discuss the loss of details about a particular event or memory that we once knew. It assumes that the information was once learned and stored in the brain but is now somehow irretrievable. At least five major theories have been explored to explain this event, all of which suggest what factors might be involved in the process. The decay theory suggests that forgetting occurs over time as unused information in the brain is simply lost because of its lack of importance in the face of other information (Frank, 2010). Information stored in the brain can also be distorted as a result of improper storage of information, allowing important details to be lost, or even through false memory in which wrong information has been stored. However, even memories that are retained correctly can be warped and shaped by the events that have occurred during the retention interval, another factor that contributes to forgetting. Interference refers to what happens “before, during, or after learning or memorizing. Activities done before a task may confuse the retention process or what psychologists call as proactive inhibition. The more previously learned tasks there are, the greater the forgetting of the new tasks or operation” (PsiTek, 2010). Motivated forgetting is a factor in which the individual has a specific motive or reason to actively try to forget something that has been learned. People are able to repress really bad memories in order to focus on the good ones. “Some people prefer to forget experiences that are sad or traumatic. This may be a wise move. If you spend less time recollecting your failures and disappointments in life, you’ll have better capacity to retain the positive and essential information in your mind” (PsiTek, 2010). Finally, forgetting can also be the result of the individual not having enough cues or guides to trigger a recollection – kind of like a signpost leading us back into the area of the brain where the memory is stored. The good news is that while there are many factors that contribute to forgetting, there are also many factors that can aid remembering. One of the easiest factors of remembering is realizing the information’s predictability. The more predictable the information is, the more likely it is that the individual will remember it (Baddeley, 1993). Another factor of remembering is the individual’s emotions regarding the memory being accessed. “Our recollection of events that triggered a bad memory are more likely to be accurate than memories from more uplifting times in our lives. This is because these trying times compel the brain to focus on a specific detail” (Soltis, 2008). The more emotionally involved we are at the time the memory is made, the more the event sticks in our minds and the more biased we are in recording the details (Baddeley, 1993). Other studies have shown that the more organized the information is when one is attempting to learn it the better it will be remembered later. There are several ways in which individuals can develop mental skills that will enable them to quickly and accurately organize information they are attempting to memorize. These include mnemonics in which a silly mental image is constructed using the objects or ideas of the things to be remembered or the objects or ideas to be remembered are mapped out across a mental landscape and association. The more the information being learned has personal meaning to the learner, the more likely they are to remember it. “Educated individuals often have more knowledge at their disposal. Studies show that the more you know, the easier it is to learn about related topics. And the degree-holding older crowd outperforms its less educated counterpart on mental-status tests” (Soltis, 2008). A final factor that can affect a person’s recall is their state of mind at the time of recollection. People who are not under pressure to remember and who have had enough rest are better at remembering things than those who must perform under stress and fatigued. While many factors to forgetting and remembering have been identified and several theories have been brought forward as to how memory works, it is clear that this field is not very well understood. Studies have been conducted for many decades and yet still there are not any hard and fast answers as to why we forget and how we remember. Despite this, many techniques have been developed to help us forget less and remember more. These include ensuring one is in an appropriate environment – physically, socially and emotionally – to learn so that the information going in is accurate and organized. The less time that occurs between learning the information, committing it to the mind, and recalling the information, the more likely it is that the information will be remembered with the least amount of loss. However, by ensuring that the information is personally meaningful in some way and linking it with one of several memorization techniques, even this recall can be strengthened. Other factors of forgetting such as age and injury are not so easily combated, but the brain, like much of the rest of the body, can be improved with exercise and practice. The more one uses the structures in place, the more they reinforce the synaptic connections through which this information passes and the more likely they are to remember what they want when the time comes. Works Cited Baddeley, Alan. Your Memory: A User’s Guide. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. PsiTek. “Overcoming Forgetfulness.” Powerful Ways to Sharpen Your Memory. (2010). March 26, 2010 Schmidt, Stephen R. Forgetting. Middle Tennessee State University, (2010). March 26, 2010 Soltis, Greg. “Five Things You Must Never Forget.” LiveScience. (September 14, 2008). March 26, 2010 Read More