The Three Memory Systems Sensory Long Term — страница 3

available to recall (Kellett, 1981, p.158). Freud proposed this theory that is also called motivated forgetting. The ‘events’ repressed are usually guilt or fear associated with sexual abuse. Freud believed motivated forgetting started in early childhood. This theory brings up a lot of controversy. Most psychologists do not accept this theory because repressed memories often turn into false memories. We often fit our memories into how we want to remember them rather then how they really were. This is known as distortion theory. The next theory is interference that proposes most forgetting is due to other learning. There are two types of interference; proactive inhibition and retroactive inhibition. Proactive inhibition refers to information one learns in the past, may

interfere with something learned recently. Retroactive inhibition is the opposite in which information learned recently is interfered with information learned in the past. This next theory attributes to failure in encoding. If one can not remember the information learned in the first place then it cannot be retrieved. This is called pseudo forgetting that means is based on a lack of attention. Lastly, we forget due to a failure in retrieval. People remember something that they could not earlier. An example of this is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon, which is when one cannot completely grasp something they are trying to recall. All of these theories work together to explain forgetting. Forgetting Diseases A disease that is becoming more common is Alzheimer’s disease, which is

not a condition of aging. The first stage symptom for the disease is memory loss, disorientation and inability to make good decisions. The first stage lasts two to four years. The second stage is called moderate Alzheimer’s which can last from two to ten years. Memory loss becomes more severe and the patient might have difficulty recognizing relatives. The third stage lasts from a year to three years. This patient cannot speak logical sentences and this stage may lead to death. It is unknown what causes Alzheimer’s disease but there are some ideas. Researchers found a low amount of neurotransmitters called acetylcholine in the brains’ of Alzheimer’s patients. Autopsies show tangles in part of the brain. This seemed to have greatly reduced the number of neurons and

possibly their ability to pass electrical and chemical signals, which is how neurons store and retrieve information (Kurland & Lupoff, 1999, p.81). This disease is not totally understood; therefore there are few treatments. There are drugs that slow down the disease. Another drug, tacrine, increases the amount of acetylcholine. It improves the mental functions of the patient but does not stop the progression of the drug. Amnesia is another common disease that involves forgetting. There are many types of amnesia; localized, selective, generalized and continuous. Localized amnesia involves forgetting specific features of a trauma. Selective is the failure to recall specific events, such as a death of a loved one. Generalized is the inability to recall one’s events up to

surrounding time of a traumatic experience. Continuous amnesia is the failure to recall events around the traumatic events and into the past. Generalize and continuous occur less frequently. Remembering Everyone can recall a childhood memory, whether it is falling off their first bike ride or even running around in their diapers. To remember these things we must correctly store them. Throughout my essay, I briefly discussed remembering. This part of our memory is essential towards our lives. The basic principles of memory are based on meaningfulness, organization, association, visualization and attention. The Five Principles of Remembering First, it depends on how meaningful the information we wish to remember. It makes learning the information much easier. Most of our childhood

memories hold some meaning to them. People often use rote memory learn information. Rote memory is when one repeats information over and over without making it meaningful. This does not guarantee learning. Words that refer to concrete objects of which the memorizer can form a visual image are on the whole more easily remembered than abstract word for which imagery is difficult (Baddeley, 1982, p.32). Meaningfulness goes hand in hand with association and visualization. If someone is familiar with the subject they are learning, it will be easier for them to learn it. There are also rhymes that we use to help us remember information. A common childhood rhyme is “i before e except after c”. Second, organization plays a big part in our memories. If someone is looking up a word in