Memory is a process that takes place in human psyche, thanks to which the accumulation, saving and display of material is carried out. Memory in psychology is the definition of the ability of the brain to perform the functions of remembering, storing and recreating experience. Also, this mental process allows a person to recall the experiences and events of the past, consciously thinking about its value in one's own history and comprehending the feelings and emotions that are associated with it. This process contributes to the fact that a person can expand his cognitive abilities. Also, this property has a complex structure, consisting of some functions and processes that provide the perception of information from the surrounding reality and fixing it in past experience. Internal memory is a complex process in which information is perceived, accumulated, stored, systematized and reproduced very quickly.
Memory in psychology
Memory in psychology is the definition of a person's ability to remember, store, reproduce and forget information from their own experience. This property helps a person to move in space and time. There are different psychological theories, which have their own view on this concept.
In association theory, the key concept is association. In memory, it combines parts of the perceived material. When a person remembers something, he begins to look for a connection between these materials and those that need to be reproduced. The formation of associations has patterns: similarity, adjacency and contrast. The similarity is manifested in the fact that the material that is remembered is then reproduced through a connection with similar material. Adjacency occurs when incoming material is remembered in relation to previous material. The contrast is expressed in the fact that the material that should be remembered is different from the one that is stored.
According to behavioral theory, memorization of material is facilitated by special exercises. Such exercises help to better and faster fix attention on objects, episodes. Several factors influence high-quality memorization: age, individual characteristics, the interval between exercises, the volume of material, and others.
In cognitive theory, this process is characterized as a set of blocks and processes of transformation information material. Some blocks provide recognition of the expressive features of the material, others create a cognitive orienting map of information, with the help of the third, information is retained, the fourth block transforms the material into a specific form.
The activity theory considers this process as an active component of the connection between man and the world. This happens through the processes of analysis, synthesis, grouping, repetition and selection of signs, with their help a mnemonic image is also created, a kind of material form that contains a person's personal attitude. Memory is also influenced by external stimulus signs, which later become internal and a person, guided by them, controls this process.
Types of memory
This process, multilevel and multifunctional, such complexity implies the distinction of several of its types.
Inner memory displays the biological processes of remembering information by a person.
External memory is fixed on external means (paper, voice recorder). Distinguishing other types is based on the nature of mental activity, the characteristics of representations, the nature of the connection with the target activity, the duration of storage of images and the goals of the study. The simplest division of this process into internal and external. Division into types according to the nature of mental activity: figurative, motor, verbal-logical and emotional.
Figurative memory is the process of remembering images that were formed on the basis of the material of sensory systems. As a result, in the figurative process there are also types of memory, depending on the main analyzer system: visual (fixation of images of objects or people with whom contact often occurred); auditory (the image of sounds that a person once heard); taste (tastes that a person once felt); olfactory (the image of smells with which a person can associate some kind of memory); tactile (images of touch sensations that remind of objects or people).
motor memory- this is a kind by which people learn to ride a bicycle, memorize a dance, play games, swim, and also do any work activity and various expedient movements.
emotional memory- this is the ability to remember feelings, experiences or, remember emotions and their relativity to a particular situation at that moment. If a person would not have this mental process, then he would be “emotionally stupid” - this is the definition of a person’s state in which he looks unattractive, uninteresting to others, such a robot-like object. The ability to express your emotions is the key to mental health.
Verbal-logical memory divided into words, judgments and thoughts. It is also divided into mechanistic and logical. Mechanistic, includes the memorization of material due to its constant repetition, when there is no awareness of the meaning of information. Logical - makes semantic connections in memorized objects. According to the level of awareness of the memorized material, memory is of two types: implicit and explicit.
Implicit - memory for information that is not realized by a person. Memorization occurs in a closed manner, independently of consciousness and inaccessible to direct observation. Such a process is carried out with the need to find a solution in some situation, but even then the knowledge that a person has is not comprehensible. An example of such a process is that a person in the process of his socialization perceives the norms of society, and is guided by them in his behavior, not realizing the basic theoretical principles.
Explicit memory occurs when the acquired knowledge is used absolutely consciously. They are retrieved, recalled when there is a need to solve some problem using this knowledge. This process can be: involuntary and arbitrary. In an involuntary process, there are traces of images that have arisen unconsciously, automatically. Such memorization is more developed in childhood, it weakens with age.
Arbitrary memory is purposeful memorization of the image.
According to the duration in time, memory is divided into instantaneous, short-term, operational, long-term.
instant memory, it is also called sensory, is displayed in the retention of information perceived by sensory analyzers. It, in turn, is divided into iconic and echoic.
Iconic is a kind of sensory registrar of visual stimuli. With its help, information is recorded in a holistic form. Man never distinguishes between iconic memory and objects environment. When iconic information is replaced by other information, the visual sensation becomes more receptive. If the visual material arrives too quickly, then there is a layering of one information over the other, which is still held in memory, and has passed into long-term memory. This is called the reverse masking effect.
echoic memory- post-figurative, it stores images for no more than 2-3 seconds, when there was an influence of an auditory stimulus.
short term memory contributes to the memorization of images by a person after a single, short-term perception and instant reproduction. In such a process, the number of stimuli that are perceived, their physical nature matters, and their information load is not taken into account.
Short-term memory has a certain formula, which determines the number of memorized objects. It sounds like "seven plus or minus two." When a person is presented with stimulus material, which depicts a certain number of objects, he can remember 5 or 9 objects from them for up to 30 seconds.
RAM- saves a trace of the image, which is necessary to perform the current action.
long term memory can store traces of images for a very long time and allows them to be used later in future activities. Thanks to such memorization, a person is able to accumulate knowledge, which he can then extract or own will, or with external intervention in the brain (with the help).
Depending on the target research activity, there are special types of this mental process: biological, episodic, associative, reproductive, reconstructive, autobiographical.
Biological, or it is also called genetic, is determined by the mechanism of heredity. It involves a person's possession of such patterns of behavior that were characteristic of people in more early periods evolution, it is expressed in reflexes, instincts.
Episodic is a repository of fragments of material that are tied to a specific situation.
Reproductive consists in repeating the reproduction of information, recalling original look saved object.
Reconstructive helps to restore the disturbed sequence of stimuli to the original form.
Associative memory forms functional links, that is, associations, between objects that are remembered.
Autobiographical memory helps a person to remember the events of his own life.
Memory training
Training happens when people don't even notice it. Memorizing the list of products needed in the store, the names of new acquaintances, dates of birth - all this is training for a person. But there are more specific exercises for development, they contribute to much better memorization, concentration on the specific development of these abilities. If memory develops, then other mental processes (thinking, attention) develop simultaneously.
There are exercises to develop this process, the most common will be briefly described below.
Memory development in adults exercises are very different. A very popular exercise is the Schulte tables. They contribute to the development of peripheral vision, attention, observation, speed reading and visual memory. Looking for consecutive numbers, vision fixes only a few cells, so the place of the desired cell and cells of other numbers is remembered.
Exercise for the development of photographic memory according to the method of Aivazovsky. Its essence is to look at the object for five minutes. After, close your eyes and restore the image of this object in your head, as clearly as possible. You can also draw these images, this will help improve the effectiveness of the exercise. It must be performed periodically so that visual memory develops well.
Match game exercise helps to train visual memory. To do this, you need to put five matches on the table and look at their location, then turn away, take five more matches and try on another surface to recreate the location of the matches that were remembered.
Roman room exercise contributes to the development of the ability to structure stored information, but it also trains visual memory. It is necessary to memorize the sequence of objects, their details, color, shapes. As a result, more information is remembered and visual memory is trained.
There are also exercises for training auditory memory.
The development of memory in adults exercises must obey certain rules. The first exercise is reading aloud. When a person voices memorized material, he develops his vocabulary, improves diction, intonation, improves the ability to give emotional coloring and brightness to your speech. The auditory components of what is read are also better remembered. You need to read easily, take your time, read as you speak. There are some rules: to clearly pronounce the words, with an appropriate spacing, expressively pronouncing each word, not to “eat up” the ending, to pronounce the text as if it were a speech of a diplomat or speaker, laying out his own thoughts on some serious issue. If you read at least ten or fifteen minutes every day, adhering to all the rules, you can notice results in oratory and auditory memory in a month.
Studying poems regularly is a good and easy way to practice memorization. When studying a verse, it is necessary to understand its meaning, to highlight the techniques used by the author. Divide it into semantic components, highlight main idea. It is important, when learning a verse, to repeat it all the time, saying it out loud, apply intonation, convey the mood of the author, thus developing more diction. You need to repeat many times, and over time, the number of repetitions will decrease. During the pronunciation of the verse in the mind or aloud, the articulatory apparatus is activated. The study of a poem is used for long-term memorization of abstract information. Such memorization occurs, for example, in the study of the multiplication table, or memorizing the number Pi.
Auditory memory develops through eavesdropping. Being among people, in transport or on the street, on a bench, you need to focus on the conversation of other people among themselves, comprehend the information, try to remember it. Then, having come home, speak the heard conversations with the appropriate intonation and remember the expression on people's faces at the time of the conversation. By practicing this very often, a person will be able to learn to fluently perceive the text by ear, will become much more attentive and sensitive to intonation and tone.
An effective method is the development of memory according to the methods of special services. This is a training program that is based on the methods used in the special services. The effectiveness of such a program has been tested by intelligence officers and counterintelligence officers. This method is presented in the book of the author Denis Bukin, which is called "Development of memory according to the methods of special services."
V modern world almost everyone is accustomed to the fact that they always have a phone, a tablet, an organizer at hand, which stores the necessary information and which you can always peep there. Routine work, overloading the memorization process with unnecessary information, inability to systematize this information leads to a weakening of mnemonic processes. The book describes a profession in which a well-developed memory is the key to success, more precisely, it is vital - this is a scout. He cannot save an operation plan, a map on his phone, he does not have time to scroll through a notebook. All important information should be stored only in the head, all the details in order to clearly reproduce them at the right time. Each chapter of the book describes each stage of a scout's career. Each stage contains methods, exercises and instructions for them.
Memory development
Developed memory is a very big plus of a person's personality, both in everyday life and at work. In most professions, a developed memory is highly valued, it is a great advantage that helps to achieve great achievements at work and take on great responsibility. There are certain ways to develop this process. To remember something, you need to focus on the process, on the material itself. You need to comprehend the information, look for parallels in it in relation to your experience. The more likely there is to establish such a connection, the better the memorization will be.
If you need to remember some element, for example, a name, phone number, you don’t need to immediately rush to a notebook or the Internet for an answer. Within a couple of minutes, you need to abstract from everything external, look into the depths of your brain and try to remember yourself.
If you need to remember something very important, you need to create in your head some kind of image, an association, very bright. The brain is much easier to remember something original, in connection with which it will be easier to remember the right thing. To easily memorize numbers, you need to break them into groups, or, as in the previous method, create associations.
Very effective method memory development there is a simulator for the development of cognitive abilities, called the Wikium project.
In order to remember something well, you need to say it immediately after perceiving the information, then retell it to someone else, so it will be easier to remember and better understand the meaning of the material.
A very simple method that can be applied everywhere is to solve the simplest arithmetic problems in your head.
Also, the simplest way to develop memorization is to scroll through the events of the day in your head. It is better to do this at the end of each day before going to bed, recreating all the details and episodes, feelings, experiences, emotions that this day was filled with. You also need to evaluate your actions and actions committed on this day.
Reading books contributes to the development of memorization, the brain concentrates, the text is perceived, and the details are deposited in the memory.
Effective memorization involves understanding the meaning of the text. Memorizing material mechanically without retelling it in your own words is very unprofitable. Such a process will stop at the level of RAM and will not go into long-term memory.
In order to develop memory, you need to accustom yourself to repeat information, at first, multiple repetition will be required for memorization, after such frequent repetition, the brain will be developed enough to memorize information faster.
Mechanical movements of the hands help in the development of memory. When a person does some kind of long-term action with his hands, the structures of the brain are activated.
Study of foreign languages also a good memory booster.
A significant role will be played by the emotional state of a person. When a person is calm and happy, he will be able to quickly and easily remember information and reproduce it than a person in a state of anger or anxiety.
To develop memory, you need to work on it, focused and purposeful. Laziness will contribute to the degradation of the human psyche, and a good memory will obviously not feature such a person. A developed memory opens up great prospects for a person; thanks to memory, high results can be achieved both at work and in communication.
With the help of neurobics, it is also possible to develop and maintain this mental process. There is relevant literature, which describes the mass of methods for the development of this process.
In the ways described above, you need to load your memory, without regular training it will weaken, fail and accelerate the aging of thinking.
There are a few more rules to follow effective development this process. In order for the memory to be good, it is necessary that the brain be efficient, for this it must be saturated with oxygen, which enters the blood. To do this, you need to be in the air often, take breaks in mental work for a few minutes, do exercises, exercises, which contribute to the flow of blood to the brain.
If a person smokes and does not train his memory, he prescribes for himself a rapid deterioration of mental processes. If a person smokes and trains his memory, such processes begin a little later, but still faster than completely non-smoking people.
Good sleep contributes to the development of this process, ensures brain activity. If a person does not get enough sleep, his memory at the biological level is not able to work properly. Because the brain depends on the biological rhythms of day and night, therefore only at night the brain cells are restored and the next morning, after sleeping for seven or eight hours, a person will be ready for a productive working day.
To maintain the flexibility of the mind, you need to give up alcohol. The more a person uses, the more he harms his brain. Some people have the experience of not remembering half of what happened after drinking alcohol. Especially when you need to learn some material, then before that you need to avoid even drinking wine and beer, not to mention stronger drinks. For a well-developed memory, you need to eat right, especially foods that contain phosphoric acid and calcium salts.
All of the above methods, rules, if applied in combination, guarantee the development and preservation of memory for many years.
Memory development in children
From early childhood, the development of memory is realized in several directions. The first path assumes that mechanical memory gradually begins to change, is supplemented, and then completely replaced by logical memory. The second direction involves the direct memorization of information, gradually turning into an indirect one, which is used in memorizing and reflecting various mnemonic means. The third way is involuntary memorization, which dominates in childhood but becomes voluntary with age.
Creation internal ways memorization depends on the development of speech. Memorization, which switches from externally mediated to internal, associated with the metamorphoses of speech from external to internal.
Memory development in children preschool age , in particular, the process of direct memorization goes a little faster than the formation of mediated memorization. And along with this, the gap in the performance of these types of memorization in favor of the first becomes larger.
The development of memory in children of primary school age is expressed by the simultaneous development of direct memorization and indirect, but the rapid development of mediated memory. Developing at a fast pace, mediated memorization is catching up with direct memorization in terms of productivity.
The development of this process in preschool children is expressed by the gradual transition of involuntary memorization to arbitrary. In children of the middle preschool period, by about the age of four, memorization and reproduction, which have not yet been taught by mnemonic functions and under natural conditions of development, are involuntary.
Older preschoolers under the same conditions are characterized by a gradual transition from involuntary to voluntary memorization of material. At the same time, in the corresponding processes, practically independent process the development of special perceptual actions, the development of mediating mnemonic processes aimed at improving the memorization and display of materials.
Not all these processes develop in the same way in all children with age, some tend to be ahead of others. Thus, voluntary reproduction develops faster than voluntary memorization and overtakes it in development. The development of memory depends on the interest and motivation of the child in the activities he performs.
The development of memory in preschool children is characterized by the predominance of involuntary, visual-emotional memory. In the younger - middle preschool period, well-developed mechanical memory and direct.
The development of memory in children of primary school age proceeds quite well, especially with regard to rote memorization and its progression over a period of three to four years of study, which is carried out very quickly. Logical and mediated memory lags behind a little in development, but this is a normal process. Children in their learning, work, play and communication have enough mechanical memory. But special training in mnemonic techniques for children from their first years of study significantly improves the productivity of logical memory. Failure to use these techniques, or inept application of them in practice, may be the reason for the poor development of children's arbitrary memory. early age. good development This process of children is facilitated by the use of special mnemonic tasks, they are placed before the children in accordance with their activities.
Memory is the most important component of our personality. It is the link between our past, present and future. Without the ability to remember, evolution would probably stand still. For the modern man in the century big flow information, it is extremely important to have a good memory in order to keep up with the development race. The load on our natural "hard drive" is growing every day.
What is human memory?
Language and memory are closely related. The ability to remember is not innate in humans. It develops as we learn to describe the world. We have practically no memories of the first years of life, precisely because we could not speak. Then, by the age of 3-5, the child begins to speak in sentences and describes events from life, thereby fixing them in memory.
V adolescence a person comes to self-awareness. He answers himself to the question "who am I?" And the memories of these years are the strongest and brightest. Whereas recent life events can be very difficult to remember. Why is this happening?
There is a theory that 15-25 years is the last period of formation. At this time, we turn our attention to other things besides the family. Hormonal changes take place, the brain is formed, new neural connections are formed, many of them work effectively in the frontal frontal lobe. This part of the brain is responsible for self-awareness. And also in these areas information is accumulated, which becomes memories. Maybe this is the reason that we remember the teenage period of our lives very well, even in adulthood.
Types of memory according to the method of memorization.
Human memory can be divided into several types. rice.
So, in order:
1 block. The subject of memory.
* figurative memory. Information that is stored by creating certain images based on data received by our senses. Everything that we see, hear, touch, feel with taste buds and smell, is converted into images and remains in memory in this form.
* verbal memory is all that we get with the help of words and logic. Only humans have this kind. All information received verbally is consciously analyzed and classified for further use.
* emotional memory. Feelings experienced by a person are imprinted in this “department”. All positive or negative emotions remain, and in the future, remembering these moments of life, a person can experience the same sensations again.
* Motor (motor) memory. Everything that is connected with movement is remembered by motor memory. Riding a bike, the ability to swim, everything that we do "on the machine", having learned it once, is stored in our muscle memory.
2 block. Memorization method.
* Arbitrary memory. With this method, a person remembers the necessary information on purpose, by an effort of will. For example, through repetition.
* involuntary memory. In the process of life, we remember not only what we need, but also other processes. Especially if these data correspond to our interests and preferences. For example, after New Year's corporate party someone will remember the outfits of employees, someone will remember delicious dishes, while others will keep competitive games in their memory. Everyone will involuntarily carry away in his memory what was most interesting to him personally.
3 block. Memory time.
* short term memory. It is used to solve problems "on the agenda". With its help, a person processes a huge amount of information, but very quickly forgets it. Immediately, as soon as it is no longer needed. The natural “fuse” is triggered so that the brain does not “explode”.
* long term memory. This type is determined by the long period of information storage. All accumulated knowledge is structured, grouped and used for months, years or a lifetime.
* Intermediate memory. It is something between long-term and short-term. During the day, the brain collects everything it has learned, and during the night's sleep it sorts - something is cut off, and something is put into a long-term "safe".
* RAM needed to perform a specific action.
* sensory memory the shortest. Stores information received from the senses for fractions of seconds. For example, after closing the eyes, the last picture seen does not immediately disappear. It is probably due to this type of memory that we do not notice the blinking of our eyes.
Success in almost all areas of life depends on whether we can remember the right information at a certain time. So the human memory and attempts to improve it are in the center of attention of all the globe for hundreds of years already.
Human memory provides the continuity of experience and the basis for the development of personality. All our impressions leave a trace and, when we need to, they are updated, recalled. If it were not for memory, everything would become a moment, because only preservation and the possibility of reproduction organizes a person's idea of himself as a subject that exists up to the present moment.
Meaning and history
Memory as a mental process is associated with all mental functions, its connection with emotions, motor functions and cognitive processes is especially strong. Bartlett emphasizes that memories are not lifeless and fixed once and for all layers of experience.
Remembrance is creation, construction, the basis of which is our attitude to the past. That is, every time we remember, we create – the parts of the brain, in which in the past there was an excitation to an event, become active again when we remember, creating it.
All other creatures, except for humans, have genetic and mechanical memory. The genetic is responsible for the transfer through the genes of those properties that are necessary for the creature to survive. Mechanical - the result of learning for a short period of life. Both are incapable of the kind of organization of experience that human memory makes possible.
The concept of memory has long been under the jurisdiction of philosophy, as it is one of the foundations of human knowledge. Plato represented it in the form of an imprint, however, without endowing it with activity. Aristotle singled out the role of associations when referring to it in the process of thinking.
From the middle of the 19th century, an era of memory research in psychology opens. At this time, an experimental approach to the development of concepts related to the mental life of the individual is being laid. Thanks to the successes that psychology has achieved, it has become clear what memory is - a property of the nervous system, which consists in saving, reproducing and changing information, but so far no consensus has been reached on a huge number of side issues.
general information
Memory is a condition for learning, the formation of skills, the acquisition of knowledge. The main functions of memory: recognition, reproduction, memorization, preservation.
Because of the abundance of grounds for classification, there are many different groups within which it is subdivided into specific species. For example, on the basis of difference from other creatures, the following types of memory in humans can be distinguished:
- Arbitrary. Responsible for purposeful memorization.
- Logical. The inclusion of the memorized in logical connections.
- mediated. The use of memory aids.
On the other hand, the storage time of the material in memory plays an important role. And its types for the duration of storage are different:
1. Instant memory
Instantaneous, it can also be called sensory, is a direct reflection of what the senses have perceived. It retains information for about 0.1-0.5 seconds. It represents an impression.
Short-term - responsible for storing the most essential elements of the image for 20 seconds, if the material is not repeated. This memory belongs to the realm of the actual consciousness of a person, it contains only that which corresponds to the individual portrait of the personality, that which the person paid attention to.
3. RAM
Or, as it is also called, a person's working memory can store information for up to several days, depending on the task. The stored information is needed precisely to solve the problem facing the person. The operational one can be increased, which will lead to the development of a mobile one.
4. Long-term memory
It contains the most fundamental and significant memories and knowledge. Stores information indefinitely. Repetition reinforces stored experience.
5. Genetic memory
Information in the genotype that is inherited. It is on her that we cannot influence.
The quality of memory depends on individual characteristics the person himself. The individual features of the processes of memorization and reproduction in humans add up to types of memory. Among them are: figurative, verbal-logical. Thus, the figurative type is distinguished by the fact that whole “pieces” of the image are preserved. In the semantic type, the elements of the perceived are built into a system, the emphasis is on the meaning, and not on the form.
Structure
William James was the first to propose the division of memory into short-term and long-term on the basis that we irretrievably lose some of the information that we receive, and remember the other for many years. Ebbinghaus introduced his forgetting curve around the same time. Ebbinghaus' law states that we forget more than half of what we have learned in an hour, and by the end of the week less than 1/5 of what we have learned is left.
Thanks to experiments and observations on people with brain damage, we already know that the parts of the brain responsible for short-term and long-term memory are different. There are still different theories about the volumes of the short-term.
One of them, which is perhaps the most popular, is that the maximum number of storage units in it is 7. It does not matter what we consider a unit of information - a letter or a word. If you give a set of letters, then a person will remember about 7, the same thing will happen with words, although words seem to be more informative and complex units of information.
Thus, the ability to remember 7 units of information, in fact, does not limit us too much. It is enough to correctly organize disparate elements into groups so that there are no more than 7 of these groups, then it will be possible to remember huge pieces of information. Under proper organization refers to the process of combining groups with information from long-term memory. The effectiveness of this technique has been proven in the experiments of Bauer and Springston.
Some scientists (Baddeley and others) advocate that the amount of information that can be stored in short-term memory is limited only by the speed with which we repeat information. In this way, crucial remains with time. The more information we can fit into a small amount of time, the better we can potentially remember it.
We are always in the short-term, it is directly given to us. Our knowledge, memories and everything else that gives meaning to life and allows us to perceive new experience are in the long-term. She, apparently, can store an unlimited amount of information for any period of time.
On the one hand, memory is everywhere in the brain, on the other hand, some areas clearly perform the functions necessary for the interaction of its different types. How does memory and memorization work? Hebb's theory provides an original answer to this:
- Due to the short-term, a coil of nervous activity begins.
- Enough a large number of repetition leads to a chemical or structural change.
- If there was a combination of information with past memories, a meaningful inclusion, then the information is transferred to permanent storage.
Mnemonics - the art of remembering
There are a huge number of sources talking about how to develop memory. It is best to turn directly to cognitive psychology, which has been conducting experiments for years and studying the mental processes of a person and the development of memory itself. Features of memory not only improve the memorization of information, but make it possible to intensively develop the intellectual level of a person.
Organization can occur with the help of familiar ideas, things, objects. Associations of a stranger with a friend allow you to quickly access information. Connecting the imagination, crossing the new and unfamiliar with it, or creating scenes from objects, allows you to remember the material much faster and for a longer period.
The second fact that is needed for the development of memory is that vivid emotions associated with some information make it possible to memorize this information easily and for a long time.
Third: repetitions at short intervals have a better effect on memorizing the material than “shock” classes with long breaks.
And the last thing: an increase in blood glucose levels immediately after memorizing information leads to the fact that it is easier for a person to reproduce it in the future.
Memory training will help people who want to develop analytical skills. Working memory exercises improve logical thinking, as well as the ability to concentrate, which are almost the basis of any successful learning and work. It turns out that when we develop memory, we develop in general. How to train this type of memory:
- A person is presented with visual or sound images one after another.
- The task of a person is to indicate whether the image that he perceives now was already presented before at an n-step ago.
2. Method of places
Improving memory allows you to remember absolutely everything, but for this you will first have to develop concentration. The method of places, which has been known since 500 BC, is the arrangement of objects of thought in places in a certain room that is well known to you.
Poor memory complicates the learning process, prevents the manifestation of the full potential of the individual, therefore, a person’s memory must be developed from childhood and throughout life. Author: Ekaterina Volkova
All living beings have memory, but it has reached the highest level of development in humans. Memory connects the past with the present. It is memory that allows a person to be aware of his "I", to act in the world around him, to be who he is. Human memory is a form of mental reflection, which consists in the accumulation, consolidation, preservation and subsequent reproduction by the individual of his experience. Ours is a functional education that does its job through the interaction of three main processes: memorization, storage and reproduction of information. These processes not only interact, there is a mutual conditionality between them. After all, you can save only what you remember, and reproduce - what you have saved.
Memorization. Human memory begins with the memorization of information: words, images, impressions. The main task of the memorization process is to remember accurately, quickly and a lot. Distinguish between involuntary and voluntary memory. Arbitrary memorization turns on when the goal is to remember not only what is itself imprinted in his memory, but also what is necessary. Arbitrary memorization is active, purposeful, and has a volitional beginning.
What is personally significant, connected with the activities of a person and his interests, is in the nature of involuntary memorization. With involuntary memorization, a person is passive. Involuntary memorization clearly demonstrates such a property of memory as selectivity. If you ask various people, what they remember most at the same wedding, then some will easily tell about who and what gifts presented the newlyweds, others - what they ate and drank, others - what music they danced to, etc. However, at the same time, neither the first, nor the second, nor the third set themselves a clear goal of remembering something specific. Memory selectivity worked.
It is worth mentioning the “Zeigarnik effect” (it was first described in 1927 by the Soviet psychologist Bluma Vulfovna Zeigarnik (1900-1988): a person involuntarily remembers unfinished actions much better, situations that have not received a natural resolution.
If we were unable to finish something, finish eating, get what we wanted, while being close to the goal, then this is remembered thoroughly and for a long time, and successfully completed is forgotten quickly and easily. The reason is that an unfinished action is a source of strong negative ones, which are much more powerful than positive ones in terms of their impact.
Many scientists have studied memory techniques. In particular, German psychologist G. Ebbinghaus formulated a number of patterns of memorization. He believed that repetition (indirect or direct) is the only relative guarantee of the reliability of memorization. Moreover, the result of memorization is in a certain dependence on the number of repetitions. Ebbinghaus' law states that the number of repeated presentations needed to memorize the entire series grows much faster than the object of the presented series. If the subject memorizes 8 digits from one presentation (display), then to memorize 9 digits he will need 3-4 presentations. The scientist also emphasizes the importance of the volitional factor. The higher the concentration of attention on any information, the faster memorization will occur.
However, it has been found that rote repetition is less effective than meaningful memorization. The direction of modern psychology - mnemonics - is developing numerous memorization techniques based on the principle of associative communication: the translation of information into images, graphics, pictures, diagrams.
Allocate four types of human memory in accordance with the type of memorized material.
1. Motor memory, i.e. the ability to memorize and reproduce a system of motor operations (driving a car, weaving a braid, tying a tie, etc.).
2. Figurative memory - the ability to save and further use the data of our perception. It can be (depending on the receiving analyzer) auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory and gustatory.
3. Emotional memory captures the feelings we experienced, the peculiarity of emotional states and affects. The child who was frightened big dog, most likely, even as an adult, he will still feel dislike for these animals for a long time (memory of fear).
4. Verbal memory (verbal-logical, semantic) - the highest type of memory, inherent only to man. With its help, most of the mental actions and operations (counting, reading, etc.) are carried out, the information base of the human is formed.
Different people have a more developed type of memory: athletes have a motor memory, artists have a figurative one, and so on.
Saving information. The main requirement for human memory is to store information reliably, for a long time and without loss. There are several levels of memory, differing in how long each of them can store information.
1. Sensory (immediate) type of memory. The systems of this memory hold accurate and complete data about how the world is perceived by our senses at the level of receptors. Data is stored within 0.1-0.5 seconds. The mechanism of action of sensory memory is easy to detect: close your eyes, then open them for a second and then close them again. The clear picture you see lasts for a while, and then slowly disappears.
2. Short-term memory allows you to process a huge amount of information without overloading the brain, due to the fact that it filters out everything unnecessary and leaves the useful, necessary for solving urgent (momentary) problems.
3. Long-term memory provides long-term storage and use of information. The capacity and duration of information storage in long-term memory can be unlimited. There are two types of long-term memory. The first is at the level of consciousness. A person in his own way can remember, extract the necessary information. The second type is closed long-term memory, in which information is stored at the subconscious level. Under normal conditions, a person does not have access to this information, only with the help of psychoanalytic procedures, in particular hypnosis, as well as irritations of various parts of the brain, one can access it and update images, thoughts, experiences in all details.
4. Intermediate memory is between short-term and long-term memory. It provides information storage for several hours. In the waking state during the day, a person accumulates information. So that the brain is not overloaded, it is necessary to free it from unnecessary information. The information accumulated over the past day is cleared, categorized and stored in long-term memory during a night's sleep. Scientists have found that this requires at least three hours of sleep a night.
5. Working memory is a type of human memory that manifests itself in the course of performing a certain activity and serving this one.
Playback. The requirements for the process of memory reproduction are accuracy and timeliness. In psychology, four forms of reproduction are distinguished:
1) recognition - occurs when the perception of objects and phenomena is repeated;
2) memory - is carried out in the real absence of perceived objects. Usually, memories are made through associations that provide automatic, involuntary reproduction;
3) recall - is carried out in the absence of a perceived object and is associated with active volitional activity to update information;
4) reminiscence - delayed reproduction of previously perceived and seemingly forgotten. With this form of memory reproduction, older events are remembered more easily and more accurately than those that occurred in the recent past.
Forgetting is the flip side of memory conservation. This is a process that leads to a loss of clarity and a decrease in the amount of data that can be updated in . Mostly forgetting is not an anomaly of memory, it is a natural process, which is due to a number of factors.
1. Time - in less than an hour a person forgets half of the information just received mechanically.
2. Active use available information - first of all, what is not constantly needed is forgotten. However, childhood impressions and motor skills such as skating, playing a musical instrument, and being able to swim remain quite stable for many years without any exercise. It remains at the subconscious level, as if forgotten that disturbs the psychological balance, causes negative tension (traumatic impressions).
Information in our memory is not stored unchanged, like documents in an archive. In memory, the material undergoes change and qualitative reconstruction.
Human memory disorders. Various memory impairments are very common, although most people do not notice them in themselves or notice them too late. The very concept of "normal memory" is rather vague. Hyperfunction of memory is associated, as a rule, with strong excitement, feverish excitement, taking certain medications or hypnotic influence. A form of obsessive memories is called a violation of emotional balance, feelings of insecurity and anxiety, creating a thematic orientation of memory hyperfunction. So, for example, we constantly remember our extremely unpleasant, unseemly actions. It is almost impossible to expel such memories: they haunt us, cause a feeling of shame and pangs of conscience.
In practice, there is a weakening of the memory function, a partial loss of storing or reproducing the available information. The weakening of selective reduction, difficulties in reproducing the material needed at the moment (names, dates, names, terms, etc.) are among the earliest manifestations of memory impairment. Then the weakening of memory can take the form of progressive amnesia, the causes of which are alcoholism, trauma, age-related and negative personality changes, sclerosis, diseases.
In modern psychology, the facts of memory deceptions are known, which take the form of extremely one-sided selectivity of memories, false memories and distortions of memory. Usually they are caused by strong desires, passions, unsatisfied needs. For example, when a child is given a sweet, he quickly eats it, and then "forgets" about it and sincerely proves that he did not receive anything.
Memory distortion is often associated with a weakening of the ability to distinguish between one's own and someone else's, what a person experienced in reality, and what he heard, saw in a movie or read. In the case of multiple repetitions of such memories, their complete personification occurs, i.e. a person begins to consider other people's thoughts as his own. The presence of facts of deception of memory indicates how closely it is connected with the fantasy of a person.
What is memory
What we feel and perceive does not disappear without a trace, everything is remembered to one degree or another. Excitations going to the brain from external and internal stimuli leave “traces” in it that can persist for many years. These "traces" (combinations of nerve cells) create the possibility of excitation even when the stimulus that caused it is absent. Based on this, a person can remember and save, and subsequently reproduce his feelings, perceptions of any objects, thought, speech, actions.
Just like sensation and perception, memory is a process of reflection, and not only that which acts directly on the senses is reflected, but also that which took place in the past.
Memory- this is the memorization, preservation and subsequent reproduction of what we previously perceived, experienced or did. In other words, memory is a reflection of a person's experience by remembering, preserving and reproducing it.
Memory is an amazing property of human consciousness, it is the renewal in our minds of the past, images of what once made an impression on us.
In my old age I live again, The past passes before me. How long has it been rushing full of events, Waving like a sea-ocean?
Now it is silent and calm, Not many faces have been preserved by my memory, Few words reach me, And the rest has perished irrevocably...
A.S. Pushkin."Boris Godunov"
No other mental function can be carried out without the participation of memory. And memory itself is unthinkable outside of other mental processes. THEM. Sechenov noted that without memory, our sensations and perceptions, "disappearing without a trace as they arise, would leave a person forever in the position of a newborn."
Imagine a person who has lost his memory. The student was awakened in the morning, told to have breakfast and go to class. Most likely, he would not have come to the institute, and even if he had, he would not have known what to do there, he would have forgotten who he is, what his name is, where he lives, etc., he would have forgotten his native language and could not say a word . The past would no longer exist for him, the present would be unpromising, since he can remember nothing, cannot learn anything.
Remembering any images, thoughts, words, feelings, movements, we always remember them in a certain connection with each other. Without the establishment of certain connections, neither memorization, nor recognition, nor reproduction is possible. What does it mean to memorize a poem? This means memorizing a series of words in a certain connection, sequence. What does it mean to memorize some foreign word, such as the French "la table"? It means to establish a connection between this word and the subject that it denotes, or the Russian word "table". The connections that underlie the activity of memory are called associations. Association is the connection between separate submissions, in which one of these representations calls the other.
Objects or phenomena connected in reality are connected in the memory of a person. To remember something means to connect what is remembered with something, to weave what needs to be remembered into a network of already existing connections, to form associations.
There are several types of associations:
- by adjacency: the perception or thought of one object or phenomenon entails the recall of other objects and phenomena adjacent to the first in space or time (this is how a sequence of actions is remembered, for example);
- similarity: images of objects, phenomena or their thoughts evoke a memory of something similar to them. These associations underlie poetic metaphors, for example, the sound of the waves is likened to the speech of people;
- by contrast: sharply different phenomena are associated - noise and silence, high and low, good and evil, white and black, etc.
Various associations are involved in the process of memorization and reproduction. For example, we recall the surname of a familiar person, a) passing near the house in which he lives, b) meeting someone who looks like him, c) naming another surname derived from a word that is opposite in meaning to that from which the surname comes an acquaintance, for example, Belov - Chernov.
In the process of memorization and reproduction, semantic connections play an exceptionally important role: cause - effect, the whole - its part, the general - the particular.
Memory connects a person's past with his present, ensures the unity of the individual. A person needs to know a lot and remember a lot, more and more every year of life. Books, records, tape recorders, cards in libraries, computers help a person to remember, but the main thing is his own memory.
V Greek mythology there is the goddess of memory Mnemosyne (or Mnemosyne, from the Greek word for "remembrance"). By the name of its goddess, memory in psychology is often called mnemonic activity.
V scientific psychology the problem of memory is "the twin of psychology as a science" (P.P. Blonsky). Memory is the most complex mental process, therefore, despite its numerous studies, a unified theory of memory mechanisms has not yet been created. New scientific evidence shows that memory processes are associated with complex electrical and chemical changes in the nerve cells of the brain.
Types of memory
The forms of manifestation of memory are very diverse, since it is associated with various spheres of human life, with its characteristics.
All types of memory can be divided into three groups:
1) what a person remembers (objects and phenomena, thoughts, movements, feelings).
Accordingly, they distinguish: motor, emotional, verbal-logical and aboutdifferent memory;
2) how a person remembers (accidentally or intentionally). Here allocate arbitrary and involuntary memory;
3) how long memorized is preserved.
This short term, long term and operational memory.
Motor (or motor) memory allows you to memorize skills, skills, various movements and actions. If this type of memory did not exist, then every time a person would have to re-learn how to walk, write, and perform various activities.
emotional memory helps to remember the feelings, emotions, experiences that we experienced in certain situations. Here is how A.S. Pushkin:
I thought my heart had forgotten The ability to suffer easily, I said: what was, Can't be! Not to be! Gone are raptures and sorrows, And gullible dreams...
But here again they trembled Before the powerful power of beauty.
K.S. Stanislavsky wrote about emotional memory: “Since you are able to turn pale, blush at the mere recollection of what you have experienced, since you are afraid to think about a long-experienced misfortune, you have a memory for feelings, or emotional memory.”
Emotional memory is of great importance in the formation of a person's personality, being the most important condition for his spiritual development.
Semantic, or verbal-logical memory is expressed in the memorization, preservation and reproduction of thoughts, concepts, reflections, verbal formulations. The form of thought reproduction depends on the level of speech development of a person. The less developed speech, the more difficult it is to express the meaning in your own words.
Image memory.
This type of memory is associated with our sense organs, thanks to which a person perceives the world around us. According to our senses, there are 5 types of figurative memory: auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile. These types of figurative memory are unevenly developed in humans, one of them is always predominant.
Arbitrary memory presupposes the presence of a special goal to remember, which a person sets and applies appropriate techniques for this, makes strong-willed efforts.
involuntary memory does not imply a special purpose to remember or recall this or that material, event, phenomenon, they are remembered as if by themselves, without the use of special techniques, without willpower efforts. Involuntary memory is an inexhaustible source of knowledge. In the development of memory involuntary memorization precedes arbitrary. It is very important to understand that a person involuntarily remembers not everything, but what is connected with his personality and activities. First of all, we involuntarily remember what we like, what we accidentally paid attention to, what we actively and enthusiastically work on.
Therefore, involuntary memory also has an active character. Animals already have involuntary memory. However, “the animal remembers, but the animal does not remember. In man, we clearly distinguish both these phenomena of memory” (K. Ushinsky). The best way remember and keep in memory for a long time - apply knowledge in practice. In addition, memory does not want to keep in mind that which is contrary to the attitudes of the individual.
Short-term and long-term memory.
These two types of memory differ in the duration of the preservation of what a person remembers. Short-term memory has a relatively short duration - a few seconds or minutes. It is sufficient for the exact reproduction of the events that have just occurred, the objects and phenomena that have just been perceived. After a short time, the impressions disappear, and the person usually finds himself unable to remember anything from what he has perceived. Long-term memory provides long-term storage of material. What is important here is the setting to remember for a long time, the need for this information for the future, their personal significance for a person.
Allocate more operational memory, which is understood as the memorization of some information for the time necessary to perform an operation, a separate act of activity. For example, in the process of solving any problem, it is necessary to keep in memory the initial data and intermediate operations until the result is obtained, which can be forgotten in the future.
In the process of human development, the relative sequence of the formation of types of memory looks something like this:
All types of memory are necessary and valuable in themselves; in the process of life and maturation of a person, they do not disappear, but enrich, interact with each other.
Memory processes
The main processes of memory are memorization, reproduction, preservation, recognition, forgetting. By the nature of reproduction, the quality of the entire memory apparatus is judged.
Memory begins with remembering. memorization- this is a memory process that ensures the preservation of material in memory as the most important condition for its subsequent reproduction.
Memorization can be unintentional or intentional. At unintentional memorization a person does not set a goal to remember and does not make any efforts for this. Memorization happens by itself. This is how one remembers mainly what a person is keenly interested in or causes a strong and deep feeling in him: “I will never forget this!” But any activity requires a person to remember many things that cannot be remembered by themselves. Then comes into effect intentional, conscious memorization, i.e. the goal is to remember the material.
Memorization can be mechanical and semantic. Rote is based mainly on the consolidation of individual connections, associations. Semantic memorization associated with thought processes. To remember new material, a person must understand it, comprehend it, i.e. find deep and meaningful relationships between this new material and the knowledge he already has.
If the main condition for mechanical memorization is repetition, then the condition for semantic memorization is understanding.
Both mechanical and semantic memorization are of great importance in the mental life of a person. When memorizing the proofs of a geometric theorem or analyzing historical events, a literary work, semantic memorization comes to the fore. In other cases, remember the number of the house, telephone, etc. - the main role belongs to mechanical memorization. In most cases, memory must rely on both comprehension and repetition. This is especially evident in academic work. For example, when memorizing a poem or any rule, understanding alone cannot be enough, just as mechanical repetition cannot be enough.
If memorization has the character of a specially organized work associated with the use of certain techniques for the best assimilation of knowledge, it is called memorization.
memorization depends:
a) on the nature of the activity, on the processes of goal-setting: arbitrary memorization, based on a consciously set goal - to remember, is more effective than involuntary;
b) from the installation - remember for a long time or remember for a short time.
We often start to memorize some material, knowing that in all probability we will use it only on a certain day or until a certain date, and that then it will not matter. Indeed, after this period, we forget what we have learned by heart.
It is better to memorize emotionally colored material, to which a person treats with an interest that is personally significant for him. Such a memory is motivated.
This is very convincingly shown in the story of K. Paustovsky "Glory to Boatswain Mironov":
“... And then an unusual story happened to the boatswain Mironov in the editorial office of Mayak ...
I don't remember who - the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs or Vneshtorg - asked the editors to provide all the information about Russian ships taken abroad. You need to know that the entire merchant fleet was taken away in order to understand how difficult it was.
And when we sat through the hot Odessa days over the ship's lists, when the editorial office was sweating from stress and recalling the old captains, when exhaustion from the confusion of new shipping names, flags, tons and deadweights reached its highest tension, Mironov appeared in the editorial office.
Drop it, he said. - So you won't get a damn thing.
I will speak and you write. Write! The Jerusalem steamer is now sailing under the French flag from Marseille to Madagascar, chartered by the French company Paquet, French crew, captain Borisov, all our boatswains, the underwater part has not been cleaned since 1917. Keep writing. Steamship "Muravyov-Apostol", now renamed "Anatole". Sailing under the English flag, hauling bread from Montreal to Liverpool and London, chartered by Royal Mail Canada. last time I saw him last year in autumn in Newo Port-Nyos.
This went on for three days. For three days from morning to evening, smoking cigarettes, he dictated a list of all the ships of the Russian merchant fleet, called their new names, the names of the captains, flights, the state of the boilers, the composition of the crew, cargo. The captains just shook their heads. Marine Odessa was agitated. The rumor about the monstrous memory of the boatswain Mironov spread with lightning speed ... "
An active attitude to the process of memorization is very important, which is impossible without intense attention. For memorization, it is more useful to read the text 2 times with full concentration than to reread it inattentively 10 times. Therefore, attempts to memorize something in a state of severe fatigue, drowsiness, when it is not possible to focus attention properly, is a waste of time. The worst and most wasteful way of memorizing is to mechanically reread the text in anticipation of it being memorized. Reasonable and economical memorization is active work on the text, which involves the use of a number of techniques for better memorization.
V.D. Shadrikov, for example, offers the following ways of arbitrary or organized memorization:
Grouping - dividing the material into groups for some reason (by meaning, associations, etc.), highlighting strong points (abstracts, titles, questions, examples, etc., in this sense, compiling cheat sheets is useful for remembering ), plan - a set of strong points; classification - the distribution of any objects, phenomena, concepts into classes, groups based on common features.
Structuring the material is the establishment of the mutual arrangement of the parts that make up the whole.
Schematic - a picture or description of something in general terms.
Analogy - the establishment of similarities, similarities between phenomena, objects, concepts, images.
Mnemic techniques are certain techniques or methods of memorization.
Recoding - verbalization or pronunciation, presentation of information in a figurative form.
Completing the memorized material, introducing something new into memorization (using words or intermediary images, situational signs, etc. For example, M.Yu. Lermontov was born in 1814, died in 1841).
Associations establishing relationships by similarity, adjacencies or opposites.
Repetition consciously controlled and not controlled processes of material reproduction. It is necessary to start trying to reproduce the text as early as possible, since internal activity mobilizes attention to the strongest degree and makes memorization successful. Memorization is carried out faster and is more durable when repetitions do not follow one another directly, but are separated by more or less significant intervals of time.
Playback is an essential component of memory. Reproduction can proceed at three levels: recognition, reproduction itself (voluntary and involuntary), recall (in conditions of partial forgetting, requiring volitional effort).
Recognition- the most simple form playback. Recognition is the appearance of a feeling of familiarity when re-perceiving something.
Involuntarily, an unknown force draws me to these sad shores.
Everything here reminds me of the past...
A.S. Pushkin."Mermaid"
Playback- a more "blind" process, it is characterized by the fact that the images fixed in the memory arise without relying on the secondary perception of certain objects. It is easier to learn than to reproduce.
At unintentional reproduction thoughts, words, etc. are remembered by themselves, without any conscious intention on our part. The reason for unintentional playback may be associations. We say: "I remembered." Here thought follows association. At intentional reproduction we say, "I remember." Here the associations follow the thought.
If reproduction is difficult, we speak of recall.
Remembrance- the most active reproduction, it is associated with tension and requires certain volitional efforts. The success of recall depends on the understanding of the logical connection of the forgotten material with the rest of the material that is well preserved in the memory. It is important to evoke a chain of associations that indirectly help to recall the necessary. K.D. Ushinsky gave the following advice to teachers: do not impatiently prompt a student who is trying to remember the material, since the process of recall itself is useful - what the child himself managed to remember will be remembered well in the future.
Remembering, a person uses various techniques:
1) intentional use of associations - we reproduce in memory different kind circumstances directly related to what needs to be remembered, in the expectation that by association they will evoke the forgotten in the mind (for example, where did I put the key? did I turn off the iron when leaving the apartment?, etc.);
2) reliance on recognition (they forgot the exact patronymic of a person - Pyotr Andreevich, Pyotr Alekseevich, Pyotr Antonovich - we think that if we accidentally get to the correct patronymic, we will immediately recognize him, having experienced a feeling of familiarity.
Recall is a complex and very active process that requires perseverance and resourcefulness.
The main of all the qualities that determine the productivity of memory is its readiness - the ability to quickly extract from the stock of memorized information exactly what is needed at the moment. Psychologist K.K. Platonov drew attention to that. that there are l RODI, who know a LOT, but all their baggage lies in memory of the dead cargo. When you need to remember something, the necessary is always forgotten, and the unnecessary “gets into your head by itself.” For others, the luggage may be smaller, but everything is at hand in it, and exactly what is needed is always reproduced in memory.
K.K. Platonov gave useful tips for memorization. You can’t first learn something somehow at all, and then develop the readiness of memory. The readiness of memory itself is formed in the process of memorization, which must necessarily be semantic and during which links are immediately established between memorization and those cases when this information may be needed. Remembering something, you need to understand why we do it and in what cases certain information may be needed.
Saving and forgetting- these are two sides of a single process of long-term retention of perceived information. Preservation - is retention, and forgetting - it is a disappearance, a dropping out of the memory of the memorized.
V different ages, in different life circumstances, in various types activities various material forgotten, as well as remembered, in different ways. Forgetting isn't always so bad. How overloaded our memory would be if we remembered absolutely everything! Forgetting, like memorization, is a selective process that has its own patterns.
Remembering, people willingly resurrect the good and forget the bad in their lives (for example, remembering a campaign - difficulties are forgotten, but everything fun, good is remembered). First of all, what is forgotten is that which is not of vital importance for a person, does not arouse his interest, does not occupy a significant place in his activity. What excited us is remembered much better than that that left us indifferent, indifferent.
Thanks to forgetting, a person clears the place for new impressions and, freeing memory from a pile of unnecessary details, gives it a new opportunity to serve our thinking. This is well reflected in folk proverbs, for example: "Whoever needs someone, that one is remembered."
In the late 1920s, forgetting was studied by the German and Russian psychologists Kurt Lewin and B.V. Zeigarnik. They proved that interrupted actions are retained in memory more strongly than completed ones. An incomplete action leaves a subconscious tension in a person and it is difficult for him to focus on something else. At the same time, simple monotonous work like knitting cannot be interrupted, it can only be left. But when, for example, a person writes a letter and is interrupted in the middle, there is a violation of the tension system, which does not allow forgetting this unfinished action. This sensation of unfinished action is called the Zeigarnik effect.
But forgetting, of course, is not always good, so it is often fought with. One of the means of such struggle is repetition. Any knowledge that is not consolidated by repetition is gradually forgotten. But for better preservation, it is necessary to introduce variety into the very process of repetition.
Forgetting begins shortly after memorization and at first proceeds at a particularly rapid pace. In the first 5 days, more is forgotten after memorization than in the next 5 days. Therefore, what has been learned should be repeated not when it has already been forgotten, but while forgetting has not yet begun. A cursory repetition is enough to prevent forgetting, but a lot of work is needed to restore what has been forgotten.
But this is not always the case. Experiments show that it is not uncommon for reproduction to be most complete not immediately after memorization, but after a day, two or even three days. During this time, the learned material is not only not forgotten, but, on the contrary, is fixed in memory. This is observed mainly when memorizing extensive material. A practical conclusion follows from this: one should not think that the best answer in the exam is what is learned immediately before the exam, for example, on the same morning.
More favorable conditions for reproduction are created when the learned material “rests” for some time. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the subsequent activity, which is very similar to the previous one, can sometimes “erase” the results of the previous memorization. This sometimes happens if you study literature after history.
Forgetting can be the result of various disordersmemory:
1) senile, when an elderly person remembers early childhood, but does not remember all the upcoming events,
2) with concussion, the same phenomena are often observed as in old age,
3) split personality - after sleep, a person imagines himself to be different, forgets everything about himself.
It is often difficult for a person to remember something on purpose. To facilitate memorization, people have come up with different ways, they are called memorization techniques or mnemonics. Let's take a look at some of them.
1. Rhyme reception. Any person remembers poetry better than prose. Therefore, it will be difficult to forget the rules of behavior on the escalator in the subway, if you present them in the form of a playful quatrain:
Canes, umbrellas and suitcases You do not put on the steps, Do not lean on the railing, Stand on the right, go on the left.
Or, for example, in Russian there are eleven exception verbs that are not easy to remember. What if they rhyme?
See, hear and offend, Drive, endure and hate,
And twirl, watch, hold,
And depend and breathe
Look, -it, -at, -yat write.
Or, in order not to confuse the bisector and median in geometry:
A bisector is a rat that runs around the corners and divides the corner in half.
The median is such a monkey that jumps to the side and divides it equally.
Or, to memorize all the colors of the rainbow, memorize the jolly sentence: "How once Jacques the bell-ringer broke a lantern with his head." Here, every word and color starts with one letter - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
2. A number of mnemonic techniques are used when remembering dates of birth famous people or significant events. For example, I.S. Turgenev was born in 1818 (18-18), A.S. Pushkin was born one year before the 19th century (1799), M.Yu. Lermontov was born in 1814 and died in 1841 (14-41).
3. To remember what is the organ of daytime vision and what is night vision - rods or cones, you can remember the following: at night it is easier to walk with a stick, and in the laboratory they work with cones during the day.
The qualities of memory
What is good and bad memory?
Memory begins with memorization the information that our senses receive from the outside world. All images, words, impressions in general must be retained, remain in our memory. In psychology, this process is called - preservation. When needed, we reproducible previously seen, heard, experienced. It is by reproduction that the quality of the entire memory apparatus is judged.
A good memory is the ability to remember quickly and a lot, to reproduce accurately and on time.
However, one cannot attribute all the successes and failures of a person, his victories and losses, discoveries and mistakes to memory alone. No wonder the French thinker F. La Rochefoucauld wittily remarked: "Everyone complains about their memory, but no one complains about their mind."
So, the qualities of memory:
1) memorization speed. However, it acquires value only in combination with other qualities;
2) preservation strength;
3) memory accuracy - absence of distortions, essential omissions;
4) memory readiness- the ability to quickly extract from the memory reserves what is needed at the moment.
Not all people quickly memorize material, remember for a long time and accurately reproduce or recall exactly at the very moment when it is needed. Yes, and this manifests itself differently in relation to different material, depending on the interests of a person, his profession, personal characteristics. Someone remembers faces well, but remembers badly mathematical material, others have a good musical memory, but a poor one for literary texts, etc. In schoolchildren and students, poor memorization of material often depends not on poor memory, but on poor attention, on a lack of interest in this subject, etc.
Representation
One of the main manifestations of memory is reproduction of images. Images of objects and phenomena that we do not perceive at the moment are called representations. Representations arise as a result of the revival of previously formed temporary connections; they can be called up by the mechanism of associations, with the help of a word, a description.
Representations are different from concepts. The concept has a more generalized and abstract character, while the representation has a visual character. Representation is an image of an object, a concept is a thought about an object. Thinking about something and imagining something are not the same thing. For example, a thousand-square - there is a concept, but it is impossible to imagine. The source of representations are sensations and perceptions - visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, kinesthetic.
Representations are characterized by clarity, i.e. direct similarity with the corresponding objects and phenomena (we internally or mentally “see”, “hear”, “smell”, “feel” touches, etc.).
Weight I see Pavlovsk hilly. Round meadow, inanimate water, The most languid and the most shady, After all, it will never be forgotten.
A. Akhmatova
But representations are usually much poorer than perceptions. Representations never convey with the same brightness all the features and signs of objects, only individual features are clearly reproduced.
Representations are very unstable and changeable. The exception is people who have highly developed ideas related to their profession, for example, musicians - auditory, artists - visual, tasters - olfactory, etc.
Representations are the result of processing and generalization of past perceptions. Without perceptions, representations could not have been formed: the blind born have no ideas about colors and colors, the deaf from birth have no sound representations.
It is more accurate to call a representation a representation of memory, since it is connected with the work of figurative memory. The difference between representations and perceptions is that representations give a more generalized reflection of objects. Individual perceptions are generalized in representations, constant features of things and phenomena are emphasized, and random features that previously existed in individual perceptions are omitted. For example, we see a tree - an image of perception, we represent a tree - the image is dimmer, more indefinite and inaccurate.
Representation is a generalized reflection of the surrounding world. We say "river" and imagine it: two banks, flowing water. We have seen many different rivers, the presentation reflects visual signs characteristic of objects and phenomena. We can perceive only a specific river - the Volga, the Moskva River, the Kama, the Yenisei, the Oka, etc., the image of perception is accurate.
To imagine means to mentally see or mentally hear something, and not just to know. Representation is a higher stage of cognition than perception, they are a stage of transition from sensation to thought, it is a visual and at the same time a generalized image that reflects the characteristic features of an object.
We can imagine the whistle of a steamboat, the taste of lemon, the smell of gasoline, perfume, flowers, touching something, or a toothache. Of course, anyone who has never had a toothache cannot imagine this. Usually, when we say something, we ask: “Can you imagine?!”
Speech plays an important role in the formation of general ideas, naming a number of objects in one word.
Representations are formed in the process of human activity, therefore, depending on the profession, one type of representations mainly develops. But the division of representations by type is very conditional.