Helping to keep the Memories
What is memory and why being reminded will help to re connect and re install memories from your past to give you joy and happiness.
Think of your memory as having three distinct components:
Sensory Memory
This is an automatic memory process that allows you to quickly form perceptions. It is very brief, lasting only a fraction of a second.
Short Term Memory
Consensus holds that your short-term memory lasts on average between 20 to 30 seconds and has a capacity of between 5 to 9 items. Note: if you continue to review the information in your short-term memory it will last as long as the review process continues. Short term memory is why you can dial a phone number and forget it moments later.
Long Term Memory
Your long-term memory is virtually unlimited in capacity and relatively permanent. To reach long term memory information must pass through both sensory and short-term memories and be effectively encoded.
Retrieval (getting your memories out when you need them)
Have you ever experienced a tip-of-the-tongue episode when you know you have the answer but are unable to retrieve it from memory? Or times when you can’t recall the answer to a question but can pick it from a multiple choice list. These common occurrences illustrate the difference between storage and retrieval. The information is in memory but you are having difficulty retrieving it. Frequency - the more often we experience something or recall something from memory increases retrieval success.
Why We Forget
One of the interesting questions concerning memory is whether we forget because the information is gone from memory or whether we forget because the method of retrieval has been lost. There is good evidence to suggest that we retain more than what we can recall.
Dreams, hypnosis, electrical stimulation of the brain, near death experiences, and contextual stimulus have all been responsible for bringing forth memories long ‘forgotten’ by an individual.
Some things have been encoded so deeply into memory that you will never forget them. Your name and the names of family members, your face and those of the many people in your life, your birth date, the ABC’s, and the names of countless objects are just a few examples.
Then there are skills like talking, writing, tying your shoes, clapping your hands, and so forth. Literally thousands of pieces of information and skills that are permanently etched in your memory and that require no effort to instantly recall. So why are we unable to retrieve other things we have tried to commit to memory? As stated earlier one of the main reasons why you forget is because of ineffective initial encoding. Other influences can include memory decay and memory interference.It is also believed that new information can sometimes compete and interfere with old information and vice versa. It is generally accepted that memories fade over time. It could simply be that the means to recall the information is lost and that a very specific set of memory triggers based on the initial encoding are required to retrieve the information. When you listen to certain songs whilst seeing pictures and videos of recognisable people and places at the same time. We give our memories additional information that can trigger the retrieval of these memories. So the good news is that memories can be maintained. By recalling, reviewing, and if necessary re-learning information you will be reinforcing the material and slowing any decay process.