Week 8 Memory

Forgetting information or even simple tasks is a daily reoccurrence in the lives in children, teens, and adults alike. Forgetting can take place anywhere and in any situation. You can forget what to buy at the grocery store, you can forget to eat, you can forget to go to class, you might have even forget to do this assignment- hopefully not though. 

Encoding
For being such a complex organ it can seem somewhat offensive for the brain to forget. Is that not one of its main jobs? However, it may not be entirely the brain's fault. Psychology states that forgetting is due to the lack of encoding. Encoding allows the perceived item of use or interest to be converted into a construct that can be stored within the brain and recalled later from short-term or long-term memory. Encoding failure is a lack of paying attention to specific detail. For example, by not looking at your phone or computer keyboard, can you recall what letters are by the letters "T". This is something we see everyday but rarely anyone knows what the surround letters are. We can't remember this because our brain does not see it as essential due to the lack of encoding. 


Decay
Another reason brains forget is because memories fade and decay overtime. If a memory is not used frequently it is filtered out of the brain and, therefore, forgotten. The memory representation may disappear entirely or fade to the point where it can no longer be accessed.

Retrieval
Forgetting may also occur when a memory exists yet we temporarily cannot access it. This type of forgetting may occur when we lack the appropriate retrieval cues for bringing the memory to mind.  For example, remembering passwords. However, such things as hints or clue words can help jog your memory, ultimately helping your recall what you forgot. Names are powerful enough retrieval cues that they bring back the memories of the faces that went with them. The fact that the presence of the right retrieval cues is critical for remembering adds to the difficulty in proving that a memory is permanently forgotten as opposed to temporarily unavailable.

 

Interference
Forgetting can also occur because other memories are blocking or getting in the way of recalling the desired memory. This is referred to as interference. An example of this is remembering where you vacationed a few years ago. What might come to mind instead is other cities you visited on that vacation along with the remembrance of other vacation cities. Your brain has jumbled up the memory of all these cities so is requires more knowledge to decipher specifically where these memories took place.  



Purposefully Forgetting
Lastly, some memories can be forgotten intentionally. You choose to forget these memories due to personal opinion. However, over time, by actively trying not to remember an event, we can sometimes successfully keep the undesirable memory from being retrieved either by inhibiting the undesirable memory or generating diversionary thoughts. An example of this is the memories of embarrassing moments. If you tripped in front of your crush, it is likely this memory will be purposefully forgotten in order not to relive the embarrassment mentally. However, by trying so hard to forget it, it may be the first thing that pops to mind when you see them from now on. 



In conclusion, the brain is full of memories, but retrieving these memories successfully daily is the challenge. By better understanding the different ways people forget things helps us be a little more forgiving when forgetting. Although, frustrating, it is part of what makes us human. We can learn to better adapt to it and better prevent it with the new found knowledge mentioned in this blog.