 - - - - - -One memory ? or several … |
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Our different memories:
We will leave it to the experts to explain technical terms. For practical purposes let us make some clear distinctions :
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Short-term memory, for forgetting !
It might seem odd, a memory for forgetting. And yet this is so. The most frequently used memory is the one we call by various names: immediate, short-term, working memory. These names always refer more or less to the same aspect of memory. This memory is with us in most of our day-to-day activities. It is very specific and functions for a very short period.
You take your car. You change gears several times, brake, drive off again, stop at the traffic lights you come to. Your memory is working for you every instant to enable you to react appropriately :
to change gears at the right moment, stop at the lights, etc. But if you were asked on arrival how many times you had changed gears or how many times you stopped at a traffic light, you would probably be incapable of remembering.
Loss of memory ? Not at all. |
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You were simply using your short-term memory. This specific but very limited memory lasts only a fraction of a second. Once the appropriate action has been taken, you immediately forget what you have done. To pass from this short-term memory, used for forgetting, to normal memory, used for retaining, requires extra attention. It needs an Added Attention Level.
This explains those little problems we have in our every-day lives : the glasses we put down but that can’t be found, the house or car keys we seem to have lost, the document we need to take with us but which has disappeared… When we put the glasses or the keys down, mechanically, we were using our short-term memory. So we forgot a few seconds later. This is not due to a faulty memory, but to faulty use of a good memory.
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The memory of our senses
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“Parents and teachers, companions in sports or musical activities, open children’s eyes.” |
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Practically nothing reaches our brain that has not passed through one of our senses.
Senses are the gates, the constant suppliers of what our memory will register. So it is important to “open” them.
This is the role that our parents, our teachers and the media have played for each of us. Many children cannot “see” nature because they have never really encountered it : they do not know the names of trees or birds. Their memory is not faulty, it simply has not been awakened. If our ear has been stimulated, we can appreciate various kinds of music that we will not even perceive or will not recognise without this stimulation.
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But senses have their weaknesses. Our sight can fail and without our realising it our hearing can deteriorate. Much information will then become inaccessible, not through any lack of attention, but because of a loss of sensory perception. Our memory functions more slowly. Today it is possible to improve failing sight and hearing. Passing early examinations depends on this, as well as maintaining a good memory throughout life.
To awaken the senses, interest must be stimulated. Interest causes us to focus our attention, to taste different dishes, to be aware of smells. Even though we do not realise it, education, culture, interest are active factors in maintaining and developing memory. |
“Does a pleasant smell facilitate memory ?”
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Memory to record and recall.
When we have a memory lapse, most often it is because we have difficulty in retrieving information. So we complain of our memory.
In fact it is not the retrieval but the recording function that was inadequate. Let us try to remember when we recorded the information we are seeking : that date, that address, that name… Generally we find that we did not take the trouble to “commit it to memory”. We saw, heard, felt, but that perception is not yet fixed in our memory.
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Extra attention and repetition are needed for memorisation. There are also memories which are correctly recorded but are more distant and have never been refreshed. These memories refuse to surface when we call for them because they have lost their energy. Our memory takes longer to find them. To ensure that the memory is spontaneously ready to respond to our calls, we need to play games so as to keep our memories fresh. The best method is our life, friends, interests which constantly tap into this living memory.
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| “Forgotten memories, why not ?
Unrecorded memories, probably !
Unrefreshed memories, certainly”
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