Reasons Why the Memory of a Healthy Person May Fail - Assignment Example

and discuss at least four reasons why the memory of a healthy person may fail.  Give an example of each to helpillustrate your points. As explained by experts, there are seven main reasons that contribute in our memory failure which he named “Seven Sins” of memory (Zimbardo et al, 209). Four of the seven sins are discussed as follows: 1. Absent-mindedness: According to this sin, failure to recall a particular incident or an object occurs when there are lapses of attention during retrieval or encoding processes. Most of us usually face the frustration of not being able to recall a very common phenomenon (such as where we placed our car keys) and also of being unable to remember special dates and days of our lives (such as anniversary or birthday). This happens because unknowingly we commit the sin of directing our attention elsewhere either while we are trying to recall something (retrieval failure) or we never gave it proper attention at the first place (encoding failure) i.e. while we should have made an effort not to forget it (Zimbardo et al, 198). 2. Blocking: A healthy person may also fail to recall information due to ‘blocking’ of it. This blocking may be attributed to the well-known exasperating TOT (tip of the tongue) phenomenon when a person knows that he/she know something but is unable to retrieve it. For instance, not being able to recall the name of your old class fellow with whom you had spent a good amount of time in past. Moreover, stress, distractions, and old age may also be other causes of blocking memory (Zimbardo et al, 198). 3. Misattribution: Misattribution is another reason that is responsible for our memory failure. This occurs when we mistakenly or unintentionally associate something with the wrong time, place, or person. This in turn makes us fail to recall it at the right context. For example, while writing a research paper or may be creating lyrics for your song, you write something that you read somewhere else but forgot about the source. This made you responsible for plagiarism even though you never meant to do so (Zimbardo et al, 199). 4. Suggestibility: This type of sin affects our memory due to the influence of external cues. The external cues are so powerful that they not only can distort but also can create new memories without our knowledge of it. For instance, during an experiment, Loftus (Zimbardo et al, 200) fabricated the details of the childhood events of the participants and asked them if they remember those events from their past, and as expected, suggestibility played its role and made the participants recall those events even though they had never happened in their past. 2.  Why are Thinking and Intelligence taught in the same chapter?  Be specific about your points, backing them up with research or findings presented in the text as much as possible. Thinking is defined as a mental process in which the brain uses information from senses, emotions, and memory to create and manipulate mental representations in something in meaningful, either complex or simple whereas Intelligence is a mental capacity to acquire knowledge, reason and solving problems. In simpler terms, intelligence is the art of utilizing thinking. Considering the definitions of ‘thinking’ and ‘intelligence’, both involve cognitive processes. The reason that both Thinking and Intelligence are taught together in the same chapter is that both the phenomenon are interlinked and go hand in hand. For instance, one commonality is the way of brain functioning. As neuroscientists have found that specific areas of the brain are responsible for specific cognitive processes (Zimbardo et al,214). The usage of thoughts in order to reach the solutions of a particular level of intelligence all are handled by different specific parts of our brain. Another evidence of the link between thinking and intelligence can be found in the abilities that good thinkers possess. One of these qualities is that of problem solving. The people who generally represent presence of good intelligence such as high achievers, artists, noble prize winners all are considered to be good at problem solving. Why because they use algorithms and heuristics to solve their problems and perform well. Thus, being a good thinker and possessing good intelligence both indicate the existence of good problem solving as well. Furthermore, if the cultural differences related to intelligence are considered, evidences of the bond between intelligence and thinking is also reflected by the belief of Buganda people in Uganda who associate intelligence with slow and thoughtful responses. 3.  Congratulations!  You have just received news that you will soon be a parent.  Select three pieces of research or statistical findings, from Chapter 7, that have shaped your approach to parenting.  Describe how each of the three has influenced your thoughts or attitudes. There are many things that need consideration of a parent-to-be couple. Generally, parents do not give attention to minor but significant features of their child’s development and later end up with a child who is either out of their control or is born with some mental or physical disability. Among the various significant things that should be taken care of, one is for the mothers to take special care of their diet during pregnancy. It is very important for the mothers to stop taking alcohol, nicotine, or any other substance during their pregnancy period. Studies show that even a small amount of alcohol and nicotine intake can lead children to develop major problems such as low IQ, retarded physical development, learning deficits, and ADHD, etc. these deficits are termed together as Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) which is literally defined as physical and mental problems in children due to excessive intake of alcohol by mothers during pregnancy (Zimbardo et al, 269). Another thing to consider is to keep a check on the achievement of your child’s developmental milestones. It is not a difficult task as there are many easily available developmental maturity timetables that parents can use to keep a check on how their baby is growing up and notice if he or she is lacking behind anywhere (Zimbardo et al, 272). Also, it has been found out that if special training and attention is provided to children, they can learn to walk and talk and do other activities earlier than the general expected ages. As Gardiner et al. found in several African cultures, with special training, children’s development of leg muscles and motor control speeded up (Zimbardo et al, 273). Thus, if parents would be keeping an eye of their baby’s developmental milestones, it would be easier for them to catch in which areas they need to provide special attention for the betterment of their child’s development. The process of acquiring and learning language in the early years also needs parental attention. Studies have shown that mothers tend to talk more with their young daughters as compared to the sons and parents who belong to low socio-economic status tend to read to their children many times lesser than those who belong middle-class. These differences are responsible for the more advanced verbal skills in girls and children who belong to middle-class as compared to the boys and low SES children. Furthermore, as the socialization process of the child largely depends on the parenting style. Researches show that children who are raised under authoritative parenting appear to be more confident, self-reliant, less troublesome and more successful people later in life. Thus, without any doubt, authoritative approach to parenting is the one that is to be adopted out of the four parenting styles for a child’s mentally healthy life. Works Cited Top of Form Zimbardo, Philip G, Robert L. Johnson, and Vivian McCann. Psychology: Core Concepts. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Print. 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