The Psychology of Your Memory
Memory is a record of experience that guides future action
First – what are normal Memory Events
The following are examples of perfectly normal memory events that we all experience, these are nothing to worry about; they do not mean you’re losing your mind or are developing Alzheimer’s.
· Forgetting where your phone is.
· Forgetting where your keys are.
· Forgetting why you walked into a room.
· Forgetting to take your grocery list.
· Forgetting to buy something.
· Forgetting a ‘word’ or a ‘name’, having something on the tip of your tongue.
· Can’t remember the name of an actor or a movie.
· Didn’t remember to take out the rubbish.
Most of what we have done today we will forget by tomorrow. To create new memories that last longer than the present moment requires the addition of ‘Attention’. When you are trying to remember something (that you know, you know), relax and stop thinking about it and it will come to you a bit later.
I am fascinated by memory – especially as, as far as I understand it, I have a photographic memory (I can recall most things that I have read and I can also replay in my mind most movies that I have seen) which I thought was common to everyone, but apparently not. Or is it
I also believe that everything we have seen and read, and I mean everything – is stored in our memory a bit like a lifelong video. (This does not apply to hearing, as that, at least in my case, I cannot recall what I have heard. That is, I cannot recall a conversation in terms of replaying it and hearing it again.) What most of us lack however is the capacity to tap into these memories.
Test your Memory.
You can test my theory that we remember everything, like this. Think of an early childhood memory. Now think about what time of day it occurred, not where but when. If you can roughly recall the time of day, next think about what happened before or after this memory. Continue with this trying to piece together the remainder of the events of the day. You may only recall snippets, like where you were and who was with you. The way to do this is not to try to relax your mind and let other memories pop up. I can recall almost entire days when I was a child using this method, or what I did at a business meeting. I call this type of memory ‘Trivia Memory’ which is buried away in our subconscious and only our subconscious can access it because it is something that we do not regularly recall, but it is stored away. You can also test your memory by watching Game Shows.
Example of Trivia Memory.
Watch a Game Show (like The Chase) where contestants are presented with multiple choice answers to questions. The people who win most are those who go with their gut feeling, saying things like "B just stands out to me" or "C just came to mind". Then you will hear losers often say, "Oh – I thought it was A, that's the first thing I thought of". But they selected D instead, not going with their gut. In game shows, those contestants that go with their gut are right 99% of the time, even though they often say they know nothing about the question. Their gut reactions are driven by Trivia Memory – your memory knows what it knows. It is a perfect example of a pattern of information in long-term memory known to the subconscious but not the conscious mind.
Memory encompasses the facts and experiential details that we consciously call to mind as well as ingrained knowledge that surfaces without effort or even awareness. It is both a short-term cache of information and the more permanent record of what one has learned. The types of memory described by scientists include episodic, semantic, procedural, working, sensory and prospective memory. So, you can see that memory is complex.
Each kind of memory has distinct uses—from the vivid recollections of episodic memory to the functional know-how of procedural memory. Yet there are commonalities in how memory works overall, and key brain structures, such as the hippocampus, that are integral to different kinds of memory. In addition to memory’s role in allowing people to understand, navigate, and make predictions about the world, personal memories provide the foundation for a rich sense of oneself and one’s life—and give rise to experiences such as nostalgia.
To learn more, see Types of Memory, How Memory Works, and Personal Memories and Nostalgia.
How Memory Works
Memory is a continually unfolding process. Initial details of an experience take shape in memory; the brain’s representation of that information then changes over time. With subsequent reactivations, the memory grows stronger or fainter and takes on different characteristics. Memories reflect real-world experience, but with varying levels of fidelity to that original experience. The degree to which the memories we form are accurate or easily recalled depends on a variety of factors, from the psychological conditions in which information is first translated into memory to the manner in which we seek—or are unwittingly prompted—to conjure details from the past.
How Memories Are Made
The creation of memory requires a conversion of a select amount of the information one perceives into a more permanent form. A subset of that memory will be secured in long-term storage, accessible for future use. Many factors during and after the creation of a memory influence what (and how much) gets preserved.
Why do we Create Memories?
Memory serves many purposes, from allowing us to revisit and learn from past experiences to storing knowledge about the world and how things work. More broadly, a major function of memory in humans and other animals is to help ensure that our behaviour fits the present situation and that we can adjust it based on experience.
How Memories Are Stored in the Brain
While memories are usually described in terms of mental concepts, such as single packages of personal experience or specific facts, they are ultimately reducible to the workings and characteristics of the ever-firing cells of the brain. Scientists have narrowed down regions of the brain that are key to memory and developed an increasingly detailed understanding of the material form of these mental phenomena.
How We Recall Memories.
After memories are stored in the brain, they must be retrieved to be useful. While we may or may not be consciously aware that information is being summoned from storage at any given moment, this stage of memory is constantly unfolding—and the very act of remembering changes how memories are subsequently filed away.
What is retrieval?
Retrieval is the stage of memory in which the information saved in memory is recalled, whether consciously or unconsciously. It follows the stages of encoding and storage. Retrieval includes both intentional remembering, as when one thinks back to a previous experience or tries to put a name to a face, and more passive recall, as when the meanings of well-known words or the notes of a song come effortlessly to mind.
What is a retrieval cue?
A retrieval cue is a stimulus that initiates remembering. Retrieval cues can be external, such as an image, text, a scent, or some other stimulus that relates to the memory. They can also be internal, such as a thought or sensation that is relevant to the memory. Cues can be encountered inadvertently or deliberately sought in the process of deliberately trying to remember something.
Forgetting and Problems with Memory
Memory loss is the unavoidable flipside of the human capacity to remember. Forgetting, of course, is normal and happens every day. And with advancing age, some decline in memory ability is typical. There are strategies for coping with such loss—adopting memory aids such as calendars and reminder notes, for example, or routinizing the placement of objects at risk of getting lost.
In more severe cases, however, memory can be permanently damaged by dementia and other disorders of memory. Dementia is a loss of cognitive function that can have various underlying causes, the most prominent being Alzheimer’s disease. People with dementia experience a progressive loss of function, such that memory loss may begin with minor forgetfulness (about having recently shared a story, for example) and gradually progress to difficulty with retaining new information, recognizing familiar individuals, and other important memory functions. A professional assessment can help determine whether an individual’s mild memory loss is a function of normal aging or a sign of a serious condition.
Memory disorders also include multiple types of amnesia that result not from diseases such as Alzheimer’s, but from brain injury or other causes. People with amnesia lose the ability to recall past information, to retain new information, or both. In some cases, the memory loss is permanent, but there are also temporary forms of amnesia that resolve on their own.
Building Better Memory
Though memory naturally declines with age, many people are able to stay mentally sharp. How do they do it? Genes play a role, but preventative measures including regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, and getting plenty of sleep—as well as keeping the brain active and challenged—can help stave off memory loss. The science of memory also highlights ways anyone can improve their memory whether the goal is sharpening memory ability for the long term or just passing exams this semester. Short-term memory tricks include mnemonic devices (such as acronyms and categorization), spacing apart study time, and self-testing for the sake of recalling information.
To learn more, see How to Improve Memory and Extraordinary Memory Abilities.
Memory’s Role in Mental Health
Memory is a key element in certain mental health conditions. Abnormal memory function can contribute to distress, or it can coincide with an underlying disorder. Forgetfulness is associated with depression connections in memory, such as those involving feared situations or drug-related cues, are an integral part of anxiety and substance use disorders; and post-traumatic symptoms are entwined with the memory of traumatic experiences.
In fact, experiences such as distressing memories and flashbacks are among the core symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. For someone with PTSD, a range of cues—including situations, people, or other stimuli related to a traumatic experience in some way—can trigger highly distressing memories, and the person may seek to avoid such reminders.
False and Distorted Memories.
Memories have to be reconstructed in order to be used, and the piecing-together of details leaves plenty of room for inaccuracies—and even outright falsehoods—to contaminate the record. These errors reflect a memory system that is built to craft a useful account of past experience, not a perfect one. (For more, see False Memories.)
Memories may be rendered less accurate based on conditions when they are first formed, such as how much attention is paid during the experience. And the malleability of memories over time means internal and external factors can introduce errors. These may include a person’s knowledge and expectations about the world (used to fill in the blanks of memory) and misleading suggestions by other people about what occurred.
How to Improve your Memory
It doesn’t take an extraordinary brain to get smarter about remembering. From techniques used by memory champions to fundamentals like securing enough sleep and maintaining healthy behaviours, just about anyone who wants to learn more efficiently has a variety of tools at their disposal.
Memory Tricks
While simply revisiting a newly learned fact, the definition of a word or some other information can help reinforce someone’s memory for it, additional tools and processes can help make the effort to retain those details more powerful.
Mnemonic devices are ways of enhancing memory that can involve elaboration—connecting what one is trying to remember to other information in memory—organizing to-be-remembered details more efficiently in memory and making use of mental visualization. For example:
Forming a series of words into an acronym (such as ROY G BIV, for the colours of the rainbow) or a series of letters into an acrostic (Elephants And Donkeys Got Big Ears, for the notes of each string on a guitar, E-A-D-G-B)
Grouping to-be-remembered items together into categories (such as several types of food, when remembering what to buy at the grocery store)
Visualizing a series of objects, events, or other things appearing in a familiar physical space (such as a room at home), where each one represents something to be remembered.
Paying closer attention to details in the moment can make it easier to remember them later. People can learn to focus better; mindfulness techniques may help.
Can Depression make you Forgetful?
Depression is associated with multiple kinds of cognitive impairment, including forgetfulness— though memory difficulties often resolve after a depressive episode is successfully treated. A depressed person may also show other memory differences including relatively weak memory for positive events, stronger memory for negative ones, and relatively general (rather than specific) recollections about personal experiences.
The Role of Stress
Research shows that moderate, short-lived stress can improve alertness and performance and boost memory. Manageable stress increases alertness and performance. Moderate and short-lived stress—like an upcoming exam or preparing to deliver a speech in public—improves cognitive performance and memory. Short-lived stress—like an upcoming exam or preparing to deliver a speech in public—improves cognitive performance and memory.