Science
The Science of Memory
Introductory Questions
The Science of Memory
Introductory Questions
- How do we store and retrieve memories?
- Welcome to the world of science, so get ready for some scientific terminology that might confuse your mind (no worries, it confused mine as well for a bit). Memories are stored as microscopic chemical changes within the connecting points between neurons (cells in your brain that transmit signals). But beneath the surface, there are much more steps to the storing of memory. The first of these is encoding, wherein the perceptive features of a memory (i.e the sight, sounds and even smells that were present) travel to the hippocampus (see Understanding Memory for definition) separately. Then they are all integrated as one complete experience. Now all humans do not need to remember every single moment of their living hours, so as soon as we experience something, it gets encoded in “short term memory”, which has a fairly limited capacity (7 items for no longer than 20 to 30 seconds at a time). Once it has entered here, the memories can either be forgotten or transferred to long-term memory. Your frontal cortex and hippocampus decide whether the experience is worth remembering. Long-term memory (LTM) has an unlimited capacity to retain information/experiences for large amounts of time. There are two different types of memories here: Unconscious and conscious memory. The former is the formation of memories without us being aware of it (such as learning to tie shoelaces or write an essay), these are slower to acquire but harder to lose. Whereas conscious memory usually includes facts, names and dates and can be lost just as quickly as it is obtained. So encoding and storage are the main steps for withholding memories within the brain, so what happens when we need to recall one?
- This is very simple, whenever you wish to recall a long-lost memory or event, all you need to do is contact the unconscious level of LTM storage and it will then be transferred to the conscious level (or your working memory).
- How do our memories and experiences shape who are are?
- Our memories and experiences can shape who we are by influencing our behaviour and interactions with pretty much everything. If for example, you have negative memories of being bullied in school, it is likely you will be more cautious interacting with others later on in life. On the other hand, if you have positive memories with a certain subject, you’ll probably show greater proficiency or likeness to it later on.
- What makes certain memories “stick” more than others?
- Whenever we say that something is “more memorable” than something else, we’re usually referring to how clearly how brain was able to perceive the event. So if we weren’t able to hear or smell certain details, then it’s likely the memory won’t stick as much as opposed to us getting the whole picture. In normal speak however, it’s whether the memory was truly extraordinary or just normal that allows us to remember it more clearly.
- How does memory relate to attachment—such as to other people, or even to inanimate objects, such as stuffed alpacas?
- This is fairly self-explanatory. If your memories of someone/something are positive and you can recall them easily, then it is highly likely you have or will develop an attachment to him/her/it. Even to inanimate objects this is true, if you remember your trusty Jerry sitting on your bedside table watching over you while you slept, then you’ll develop an attachment to the alpaca (no idea what genders scholars have given theirs).
- Are our memories always reliable? If not, when can they become unreliable?
- Humans are not computers, we are nowhere near as accurate or reliable as machines. Memory is no exception. Whenever we humans try to remember something after a long time, chances are there are specific details blurred out beyond our reach. So what do we do? We try to fill in the blanks with events and perceptions we THINK were present or right, but usually end up creating a completely different recollection than the actual memory. This is extremely frustrating when it comes to professions that rely on human recollection for progress, such as eyewitnesses, scientific investigations or even simple school assessments.
- Can our memories lead to distortions of judgment?
- Yes they can. Memory plays a big part in forming our judgement of a person or thing. If all we remember of something is negative and false, then it is highly likely we will judge them in that light for a long time. Even if they act positively, then our brain will simply discard the memory and not affect our judgement.
- Can we influence the way people remember us?
- “First impressions count” exists to answer this question. Whenever you first meet a person, your behaviour then will form the basis of their memories of you and from there they will base their judgement. The larger philosophical question is whether our actions can impact the way people remember us. We remember Hitler as a tyrant and monster for his actions, and Albert Einstein as a genius for his.
- Even without the help of technology, can we choose to edit our own memories – if so, how?
- We subconsciously choose to edit our own memories. Whenever your brain tries to recall a moment 5 years prior, chances are not every part of your memory is functioning properly. So what your brain does instead is edit the memory to what you want to remember.
- How reliable is your memory? What steps can you take to make it more reliable?
- My personal memory is fairly reliable, there are many people who come to me whenever they have trouble recalling moments in their lives (and I was present at the time). However like everyone on this world my memory is far from perfect. The main steps I like to take is to create a “mind archive” of sorts, where memories are filed in their appropriate subjects/topics. Any unnecessary memories are cast into the abyss and those who’ve outlived their usefulness are given their due treatment.
- What is the evolutionary value of memory? Does answering this question suggest anything about what memories we might be most likely to hold onto?
- Since the earliest days of nomadic hunter-gatherers and tribesmen, memory has served to help us learn survival techniques and ways to thrive in this world of ours. This might point to the memories we hold onto now as we usually hold survival techniques and any other necessary information to be on top in our modern society.
- The Basics of Memory
- What are the biological processes behind memory storage and retrieval?
- As discussed above: Memories are stored as microscopic chemical changes within the connecting points between neurons (cells in your brain that transmit signals). But beneath the surface, there are much more steps to the storing of memory. The first of these is encoding, wherein the perceptive features of a memory (i.e the sight, sounds and even smells that were present) travel to the hippocampus (see Understanding Memory for definition) separately. Then they are all integrated as one complete experience. Now all humans do not need to remember every single moment of their living hours, so as soon as we experience something, it gets encoded in “short term memory”, which has a fairly limited capacity (7 items for no longer than 20 to 30 seconds at a time). Once it has entered here, the memories can either be forgotten or transferred to long-term memory. Your frontal cortex and hippocampus decide whether the experience is worth remembering. Long-term memory (LTM) has an unlimited capacity to retain information/experiences for large amounts of time. There are two different types of memories here: Unconscious and conscious memory. The former is the formation of memories without us being aware of it (such as learning to tie shoelaces or write an essay), these are slower to acquire but harder to lose. Whereas conscious memory usually includes facts, names and dates and can be lost just as quickly as it is obtained. So encoding and storage are the main steps for withholding memories within the brain, so what happens when we need to recall one?
- This is very simple, whenever you wish to recall a long-lost memory or event, all you need to do is contact the unconscious level of LTM storage and it will then be transferred to the conscious level (or your working memory).
- What types of memory are there?: Firstly, there are two main types of memory. Long term memory and short term memory (discussed in greater detail above). Within long term memory there are several specific types. Please refer to the image below for further guidance:
- How do memories affect the way we view the world?
- Again, just like the way memories affect the way we view people and things, memories affect our judgement of the world.
- Why is memory considered an active reconstructive process?
- Human failure. Because human memory is far from perfect, memory is considered an active reconstructive process because everytime we recall a memory, there’s usually something we reconstruct. Be it a blurred detail lost to time or a complete figment of our imagination.
- What are the biological processes behind memory storage and retrieval?
- The Biology of Memory
- hippocampus | amygdala | cerebellum | acetylcholine
- Hippocampus: As discussed above, the hippocampus is the part of the brain associated with recalling memories. Humans and other vertebrates have them, with all mammals having one on either side of the brain. Located in the medial temporal lobe (structures that are key in memory recollection), the hippocampus is also key in spatial navigation and regulating emotions.
- Amygdala: Just like the hippocampus, the amygdala is part of the limbic system and is located at the end of the hippocampus. The amygdala works in tandem with the hippocampus in memorizing emotions, especially fear. That’s why you feel different emotions whenever you recall different memories to the surface.
- Cerebellum: Located in the lower area of the brain, the cerebellum is responsible in the balance and coordination of the body muscles. It allows one to perform everyday functions and helps you stay upright. It is key in the processing of procedural memory (how to perform certain skills).
- Acetylcholine: To help know what this is, here is an analogy. Consider memories passengers and the previous three brain components stations, acetylcholine is the train that allows memories to reach these stations. Specifically it is a neurotransmitter, one of many chemicals that neurons use to communicate with one another. So it is this fuel that allows us to store and recall memories. People with a lack of the chemical (such as those with Alzheimer’s) are unable to recall or store memories properly.
- localization of function | neuroplasticity | neurons | nervous system
- Localisation of function: A concept in psychology, localisation of function basically refers to the idea that different parts of the brain are responsible for certain functions or specific behaviours. So damage to the memory storage parts (such as the hippocampus and amygdala) might render one incapable to memorising things, even though their perception of such events are still perfect.
- Neuroplasticity: This is a much broader concept, neuroplasticity refers to the process in which your brain’s pathways and synapses become altered as a result of changes in environmental, behavioural and neural conditions. Neuroplasticity takes place throughout your entire lifetime and mainly aims to wire the programming of your brain for maximum efficiency. Neuroplasticity also works with synaptic pruning to ensure your brain only has what it needs to be efficient. Synaptic pruning essentially cuts off any unnecessary information or skills in favor of developing those that you need.
- Neurons: As discussed above in how your brain retrieves and stores memories, neurons are the cells that carry electrical impulses to and fro larger modules in your brain. The pathways that connect neurons are known as synapses, where they can pass the electrical or chemical signals to other neurons.
- Nervous system: This essentially is your lifeline. Without your nervous system your body would be a corpse, unable to move or do anything. The nervous system is a complex network of cells and nerves that carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord to various parts of the body. Within the more scientific terminology, the nervous system is made of Central nervous system (CNS) and the Peripheral nervous system. The CNS is made up of the brain and spinal cord while the PNS is made up of Somatic and Autonomic nervous systems (confusing?). Neurons are the basic units here, they receive and transmit the signals from the brain and spinal cord to where they need to go. The central nervous system essentially controls the activities of the body, from walking and talking to making up hand gestures during a WSC debate (always useful). The somatic nervous system picks up sensory inputs from limbs and other distant organs separate from the brain and carry them to the nervous system. For example, if your hand were to cut itself on a sharp object, the somatic nervous system would carry information about the cut to the brain, which would then send the signal back to the affected hand telling it to reel back immediately. The Autonomic nervous system however, is almost invisible to us. That’s because the autonomic nervous system controls the nerves and functions of the inner organs, on which we have no conscious control (these include breathing, digestion, heartbeats etc.).
- hippocampus | amygdala | cerebellum | acetylcholine
- An Introduction to Schemas
- What is schema theory?
- In layman's terms, schema theory is the concept that our brain categorizes and organizes information into groups that are defined by their types and relationships between them. It is theorized that children use schemas to help them better understand the world they’re growing in.
- How do schemas help structure our memories?
- People use schemas to organize current knowledge and build a framework for future perceiving and understanding of information. Examples of schemata include academic rubrics, social schemas, stereotypes, social roles, scripts, world views and archetypes.
- What functions do schemas perform – are they necessary?
- Schemas perform the function of preparing our mind and senses for new experiences by calling upon information from past ones. They tell us what to expect from the situation/experience. Any changes we find are usually met with surprise and resistance, the brain didn’t expect that job interview to be so short. From the new experience our brain can then add it to the existing schema or create a new one entirely.
- Are schemas always reliable, or can they lead to distortions? If the latter, when are distortions most likely?
- Schemas, just like the human memory, are not completely reliable. As discussed above, whenever something occurs that doesn’t fit with what the schema says will usually catch your mind and body off-guard. When this happens, you’d usually expect the brain to happily accept the change and correct it’s wrong information right away, instead the brain puts up resistance and does everything in its power to ensure the words of the schema are seen through.
- Studies and Researchers to Explore (Examples)
- J. Piaget | F. Bartlett | E.F. Loftus & J.C. Palmer
- J. Piaget: A Swiss psychologist and epistemologist, Jean Piaget is most well-known for his works in cognitive development and genetic epistemology. While studying at the Sorbonne university in Paris from 1919-1921, Piaget began laying the groundwork for his theses (that eventually led to Schema theory) by observing how schoolchildren developed their reasoning and perception of the world through the errors they made. Piaget saw the child as constantly creating and re-creating his own model of reality, achieving mental growth by integrating simpler concepts into higher-level concepts at each stage. He argued that nature was setting down the development of child’s ability to think by regulating the development of the brain. In his papers and books he outlined four main stages in that process of “genetic epistemology”. Within the first two years of life the child is in the sensorimotor stage, concerned with mastering their own physical movement and getting comfortable with pleasurable and comforting actions. described the child during the first two years. Within the same period, he claims the child becomes aware that they are a separate physical body and that the objects around them have a different existence. From two to seven years of age (give or a take a year at the end), the second stage is entered. This is known as the preoperational stage, where the child learns to manipulate their environment through inner representations or thoughts about the world around them. During this time period they learn to represent objects by words and to manipulate (describe) the objects by words (just as they manipulated the objects physically). From 7-12 years of age, the concrete operational stage, logic beings to develop in the child’s thought processes and they begin classifying/categorizing objects by similarities and differences. Time and number also begin to enter the mind, with the child grasping these concepts. The final stage is known as formal operations and will last from the age of 12 into adulthood. Consider this child now a Jedi knight whereas before they were a padawan (forgive the reference, I’m a Star Wars nerd). Here the child shows an ordered thinking method and a mastery of logical thought, unlocking the door for more flexible kinds of mental experimentation and research. Here they learn to manipulate abstract ideas, make hypotheses, and see the implications of their own thinking and that of others.
- F. Bartlett: A British psychologist from roughly the same time as Jean Piaget, Frederic Bartlett was a British psychologist and the first professor of experimental psychology at the University of Cambridge. His most notable work was a book detailing his findings on the War of Ghosts (see below) experiment. His main contribution to cognitive psychology was characterized most notably in that 1932 book. It was here that he demonstrated the constructive nature of memory and how it can be influenced by the schemata of the person trying to memorize. To avoid repetition of facts and lengthening of this page, please see the War of Ghosts below for further details regarding the contribution of Mr. Bartlett.
- E.F Loftus and J.C Palmer: The only woman and person on this list still alive at the age of 73, E.F Loftus (nothing on J.C Palmer) is an American psychologist whose contributions to the understanding of human memory is extensive. The majority of her research focused upon discovering the malleability of the human memory and how misinformation can shape our recollection of events. She also delved into the creation of false memories and eyewitness memory, crucial in many professions nowadays. It was her partnership with J.C Palmer that produced the Car Crash study below. So please read that for further details on her contribution to our understanding of memory.
- War of Ghosts | Car Crash Study | Weapons Effect
- War of Ghosts: We begin in 1932, the publishing of Frederic Bartlett’s Remembering book included this study that demonstrated how the constructive nature of memories and schematas can reveal flaws in our brain. In the experiment, Bartlett asked his Edwardian England subjects to read the Canadian Indian Folklore titled “War of the Ghosts”. At varying intervals the participants were told to recall as much of the story as they could. Bartlett noticed that as the time between reading the story and recalling it increased, the recollections were less accurate and much information was omitted from the story. Perhaps more important and interesting, parts of the story that didn’t fit with the schemata of the reader were either omitted from the recollection or transformed into more familiar forms. For example, the Edwardian English subjects whom Bartlett had used tended to say “boats” instead of “canoes” in their retellings as it better fitted with their culture and world that their schemata was familiar with.
- Car Crash Study: Carried out by Loftus and Palmer, the car crash study is interesting in that it highlights how such a minor change can mean a badly recollected memory. It consists of two experiments. The first was where 45 American students watched 7 films of varying lengths (5-30 seconds) and were asked to describe what happened as if though they were eyewitnesses to the crash. They were then asked a variety of questions, including the key “About how fast were the cars going when they (smashed/collided/bumped/hit/made contact) each other?”. Notice how the wording was different, these 5 verbs forming the basis on which the experiment would be concluded. It was found that those who were asked using the verb “smashed” gave the highest speed estimate of 40.8mph, followed by “collided” with 39.3mph, “bumped” at 38.1mph, “hit” at 34.1mph and finally “made contact” with 31.8mph. This showed that a simple verb could impact the perception of the participants. In the second experiment, 150 students were shown a one minute film of another car accident. Afterwards 50 of them were asked 'how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?', another 50 'how fast were the cars going when they smashed each other?', and the remaining 50 participants were not asked a question at all as the control group. One week later the dependent variable was measured they answered ten questions, one of which was a critical one randomly placed in the list: “Did you see any broken glass? Yes or no?" There was no broken glass on the original film. Participants who were asked how fast the cars were going when they smashed were more likely to report seeing broken glass. At the bottom is the actual data table. The main takeaway from this study was that questioning techniques and information acquired after the event can mingle with the original memory and cause an inaccurate recollection.
- Weapons Effect: Far simpler than the studies outlined above, the weapons effect is a phenomenon within social psychology that states that the mere presence of a weapon or picture of one leads to more aggressive behaviour within humans. The original study is somewhat interesting and dark. In 1967 Leonard Berkowitz and Anthony LePage gathered 100 male university students. Each was administered 1 shock or 7 based on random assigning and were told that these shocks came from a peer. After this, the researchers gave the subjects the opportunity to administer as many shocks to the peer as they saw fit. A third of these students were within close proximity to a revolver and rifle and half were told the weapons belonged to the peer, while the other half was told they were just there. Two-thirds had no weapons in close proximity or had 2 badminton rackets next to them. Regardless of whether the weapons belonged to the peer or not, students who were in their presence administered the most shocks. Thus the two psychologists concluded that an aroused person would act more aggressive in the presence of weapons.
- J. Piaget | F. Bartlett | E.F. Loftus & J.C. Palmer
- What is schema theory?
- Types of Memory
- long-term vs. short-term | explicit vs. implicit
- Long-term vs. short-term: As explained somewhere above (WSC resources sure are repetitive in terms of what you have to research aren’t they?!), long term and short term memory are the two main types of memory storage that your brain has. The first of these is short-term memory, which all memories will enter first before either being discarded or sent to long-term memory. Short term memory can only hold information for about a few minutes before you lose it. Though the information stored here is readily available for recollection and isn’t susceptible for manipulation. If your hippocampus and prefrontal cortex decide the information in a memory is worth holding, then it gets sent onwards to long-term memory. Long-term memory can hold an indefinite amount of information and experiences for a long period of time, though the process of recalling something from here is much longer (think of trying to find a single document in a hall of archives) and the memories are susceptible to manipulation either by yourself or from external sources.
- Explicit vs. implicit: Have I not already touched on this somewhere before? Oh well, guess I’ll reiterate it again. Explicit memory and implicit memory form the two major subdivisions of long-term memory. Explicit memories are those that you consciously search for to recall and tell about. Usually this includes experiences or information gained long ago that have some relation to the topic at hand. Implicit memory however, is the opposite. Often referred to as unconscious memory, it uses past experiences or knowledge to remember things without you thinking about them.
- declarative vs. procedural | semantic vs. episodic
- Declarative vs. procedural: Declarative memory falls directly under explicit memory in that it concerns experiences and information that are consciously recollected and includes facts, data and events. Procedural memory however, falls under implicit memory in that it is subconsciously called upon whenever you perform/develop a skill (for example, swimming or riding a bike).
- Semantic vs. episodic: Semantic memory is one of the two types of declarative memory (wow, this is getting confusing). Semantic memory refers to general world knowledge we’ve accumulated over the course of our lives, regardless of whether we’re involved in it or not (i.e memorising all the US presidents or naming capitals of all countries). Episodic memory is the opposite, memories categorised here are autobiographical ones (people, events, times, emotions etc.).
- eidetic | hyperthymesia | reconstructive
- Eidetic: A memory type where your brain is able to recall vivid images that are almost identical to the real thing. This memory type is considered extremely rare and is nonexistent in adults.
- Hyperthymesia: The professional term for a photographic memory, people with hyperthymesia (yes they do exist) are able to recall an abnormally large amount of their life experiences with a high degree of precision/accuracy.
- Reconstructive: Reconstructive memory works by assembling stored information and facts to compose a picture of what happened. This occurs when coherent or clear memory does not exist to assist you. An example is when a detective uses information from a witness to reconstruct the events at a crime scene.
- muscle | collective | genetic
- Muscle: Ever wonder why your fingers are so good at constantly typing the keyboard? Or why your legs are so attuned to a certain stroke of swimming? You’ve got muscle memory to thank for that. This form of procedural memory is where you consolidate a specific motor task into memory through repetition.
- Collective: The shared knowledge and information that 2 or more people within a social group have. Groups are more reliable than individuals at storing and recalling memories and thus these experiences are often more detailed in terms of recollection because more people can solidify existing information or add on new bits. For example, Americans remember 9/11, the British remember the British Empire and the Jews remember the Holocaust (along with many families worldwide).
- Genetic: Just like the name implies, genetic memories are those that we find present within a human at birth and exist in the absence of any sensory perception. This is essentially the idea that common experiences of a group are incorporated into the genetic code, to be passed on to their offsprings genomes in longer spans of times. Some argue that language falls into this category, since it is a property found in the nervous system at birth, but the perception of a languages’ phonemes (distinct units of sound) are integrated way before that (in the fertilization/egg stage of human reproduction). The most commonly considered genetic memories are traumas, phobias and neuropsychiatric disorders. In a study scientists found that mice trained to fear a specific smell passed that onto their children, even though they’d never encountered the smell before or been trained beforehand to fear it.
- long-term vs. short-term | explicit vs. implicit
- Flashbulb Memory
- What are flashbulb memories? How are they formed, and what differentiates them from other memories?
- Do you find it odd you can recall vivid memories about your entire doings and locations when something traumatic or emotionally arousing happened? That is a flashbulb memory. Much the way a flash from a camera vividly documents a specific moment, flashbulb memories are very detailed autobiographical recollections of events that were surprising or even arousing (i.e 9/11 or the Holocaust). When a person says they can remember a traumatic event like an assassination or a natural disaster, most of the time they mean they remember learning about the event after it happened. Flashbulb memories are memories of learning something so shocking or consequential that it creates a strong and accurate memory of learning about the event, but not necessarily the event itself. For example, a person in 1960s America might have a flashbulb memory about the Kennedy assassination; meaning that they vividly recall what they were doing, where they were and from whom they heard the news from. Though they may not recall all the exact details of the shooting.
- Flashbulb memories are different to other ones in that they they rely on elements of personal importance, consequences, emotion and surprise. Usually all these factors are more commonly found in flashbulb memories than normal autobiographical ones.
- Flashbulb memories are composed of six characterising features: place, ongoing activity, informant, own effect, other effect and aftermath. The first of these is where they were when they heard news of the event, the second what they were doing at the time, the third being who was the one who burdened them with that news. Own effect refers to your reaction of the news, while other effect refers to other reactions society had. Aftermath is the final one and this is where your brain recalls what happened to you and others as a result of the news.
- Why do we remember some memories more vividly than others?
- The main reason why flashbulb memories exist in the first place is mainly because of the amount of surprise, consequentiality and even emotional arousing it causes. You’re much more likely to remember a traumatic event than a normal everyday news story. It doesn’t even have to be related to you as an individual, though most events are usually directly connected to your life (i.e the sudden death of a healthy relative).
- Does rehearsing a memory make it more likely to be reliable?
- In the short-term yes. Whenever we WSC people study for the challenge we often find ourselves recalling facts more quickly and more reliably the more we study before a competition. In the long-term however, the weight of more memories and the influence of external factors can limit how long we hold these memories in such high reliability.
- Are we more likely to forget memories that we don’t share out loud with friends?
- Yes we are, when we share memories with friends it instantly turns into collective memory of sorts. Thus more people are able to help recall the same experience, allowing it to be more reliable when the time comes.
- Why are some cultures more likely to forget events as a whole?
- If those cultures deem the events too traumatic or they wish to forget it, then indeed they will forget those events completely on purpose. For example, because the Korean War was such a disaster for the US government and military, they chose to omit any reports of the war to the public. So much was the widespread disapproval of any memory of the Korean War that an entire generation never had any mention of it. It is to this day nicknamed the “forgotten war”.
- Terms and Researchers to Explore (Examples)
- overt vs. covert rehearsal | individualistic vs. collectivistic | emotional arousal
- Overt vs. covert rehearsal: Overt rehearsal is the term used when an individual tries to rehearse memories or skills out in the open, it is clear to anyone watching that they are memorising something. Covert rehearsal is the opposite, it usually involves the reciting of said memory quietly so no one watching thinks you’re actually rehearsing it. It really depends on the situation and the memory to which one you should use. If for example, it were the lyrics of a song you were trying to memorise, it would be best to sing them out loud (overt rehearsal). If however, it is a simple fact or recital of information, then a quiet and discreet covert rehearsal is probably better.
- Individualistic vs. collectivistic: These terms are actually less related to memory and instead refers to cultural styles. Individualistic cultures (such as those in Western nations like America) are those that encourage individual expression and creativity. Collectivistic cultures (such as those in China or Japan) are more focused around the community rather than the individual, valuing family, kinship and community over the individual thought.
- Emotional arousal: Scientifically speaking, emotional arousal is a heightened state of psychological activity, a sort of awakened state. It essentially regulates our experiences and how we react in response to everyday events. It also leads to how we label things based on the emotions that were felt as a result of them.
- Neisser & Harsch | Brown & Kulik | Wang & Aydin
- Neisser and Harsch: Returning to the flashbulb memory concept, Neisser and Harsch attempted to find out how reliable this type of memory actually was (since some were claiming it was far higher in terms of accuracy when recalling it). Less than 24 hours after the Challenger space shuttle disaster, 106 students were given a questionnaire that included 7 questions on where they were, what they were doing etc. After two and a half years 44 of the original students filled out the questionnaire again, this time though they were also asked to rate their confidence in the accuracy of their memory on a scale of 1 to 15. The participants were also asked if they’d filled out a questionnaire of the subject before. Then the two conducted a semi-structured interview about whether they could remember what they’d previously written. Finally they were shown their responses from 2 years ago. The results were surprising and truly showed how inaccurate even flashbulb memories can be after a long time. Only 1/4 of the participants recalled taking the initial questionnaire. The mean score of correctness of recall of the seven questions was 2.95 out of 7. For 11 participants the score was 0, and 22 scored 2 or less. The average level of confidence in accuracy for the questions was 4.17. Thus Neisser and Harsch concluded that flashbulb memories weren’t as accurate or long lasting as past theories had claimed.
- Brown & Kulik: A decade before Neisser and Harsch conducted their experiment, these two laid down the theory that Neisser and Harsch would question 10 years later. 80 people were given a questionnaire where they recalled circumstances when they’d learned of shocking events. As expected, the participants had vivid recollections of where they were, what they were doing and what they felt when news of a shocking event reached them. Shocking personal events, such as the death of a relative, were also found to cause flashbulb memories. From this, Brown and Kulik suggested that flashbulb memories were more likely for more unexpected and personal events, as well as that these memories were caused by psychological emotional arousal (namely heavy activity in the amygdala)
- Wang & Aydin: A study on how individualistic and collectivistic cultures impacted the reliability and accuracy of flashbulb memories within their societies. Wang and Aydin discovered that collectivistic cultures had lower levels of emotions, lower levels of mental ruminations (basically deep thoughts about consequences) and less social sharing of emotions. They also, more importantly perhaps, found that people in these cultures didn’t remember as many details about public events using flashbulb memory (i.e other effect and aftermath) than individualistic societies.
- overt vs. covert rehearsal | individualistic vs. collectivistic | emotional arousal
- What are flashbulb memories? How are they formed, and what differentiates them from other memories?
- Memory Aids to Explore (examples)
- elaborative encoding | spaced retrieval | mnemonics | mind palace
- Elaborative encoding: A type of memory storage system, elaborative encoding is where you help your brain by relating to-be-remembered information by using pre-existing memories and knowledge (i.e remembering that WSC regionals are in March by relating it to the fact that academic competitions are in March).
- Spaced retrieval: Just like the name sounds, spaced retrieval relies on your brain recalling information or knowledge at different intervals to help it quickly store and retrieve the memory without confusion. This technique is more commonly used with people who have neurological diseases that hinder their memory (such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson’s). The method is rather simple: identify a target piece of information you wish to reliably recall (i.e a room number or scheduled event). Have someone ask you the question, if you get it right the first time, then wait 15 seconds before asking the question again. If they get it wrong, repeat the process until they get it right, when they do get it right, double the time interval (so you wait 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 4 minutes etc.) until you can give the right answer every time.
- Mnemonics: Perhaps the most basic yet effective type of memorization tool we humans know, mnemonics is where we assign anything that symbolizes or reminds us of the information we’re meant to recall. For example, if I wanted to remember the first 100 digits of Pi, I could assign each digit a letter and make words using those letters that help me recall which digits come next.
- Mind palace: Following on from Mnemonics, a mind palace is the most complex yet most effective way to remember large quantities of information. The way it works is simple. First pick a place that you know pretty well, like your house or your school (this’ll be your “palace”). Then based on what you want to remember you assign objects to them. Then as you “retrace” your steps through your palace you see those objects around placed around in order of which you wanted to remember first. It is while hard to master, very rewarding if you manage to work it out. For a better visualization (trust me I tried with numbers, it was too hard and time-consuming), watch this video to see a real memory champion talk you through it.
- Simonides | Giordano Bruno | nootropics | transcranial magnetic stimulation
- Simonides: Simonides is widely regarded as the historical inventor of the loci method. Which is where you memorise large amounts of data can be remembered by placing images that represent the data into mental locations of a journey (essentially the mind palace technique). The story goes that Simonides of Ceos was dining at a nobleman’s house with a lot of other people when he was called outside by two young men. While he was outside (this gets dark really quickly), the roof of the hall where the banquet was being held collapsed and killed everyone underneath it. Burial parties were unable to identify the people due to their crushed and mutilated features, but Simonides was able to do so because he remembered where each person was sitting at the time of death. He would go on to suggest this practice of orderliness in memory recollection as an effective method.
- Giordano Bruno: Giordano Bruno was an Italian Dominican friar who furthered the field of mnemonics and memory techniques in several books, the most famous of them De Umbris Idearum: On the Shadows of Ideas. It was he who laid down a set of written guidelines for improving memory, along with terms such as subject (a scene or space in a memory palace) and adject (a memorable striking image placed within the subject). In his book he wrote a few ground rules about subjects and adjects, stating that the former be “organized according to the best methods of the student” so they could be “quick, confident and efficient with both visualization and recall”. As for adjects, Bruno mainly suggests the same rules as subjects and that adjects need to be placed with subjects when order is important. He even illustrated a mnemonic wheel (shown below) that follows the Person-Action-Object system (basically using a name, action and thing to remember numbers and words). It’s 5 layers of 30 letters can produce 24,300,000 adjects.
- Nootropics: Also known as smart drugs, or enhancers, nootropics are supplements that improve cognitive function. This includes motivation, memory or creativity. Only a few drugs are known to improve some aspect of cognition, with most of them being stimulants, such as caffeine. The main two types of nootropics are racetams (such as piracetam, oxiracetam and aniracetam) and central nervous system stimulants (such as caffeine, nicotine, amphetamine and eugeroics). Most of them are available over-the-counter at pharmaceutical stores, yet the actual extent of their effects on the brain and negative side effects are still being explored.
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation: Firstly, though this may sound very complex and scientific, it is actually fairly simple. In transcranial magnetic stimulation, a patient is subjected to a magnetic field in order to assess the damage from stroke, multiple sclerosis and other neurological and nervous-system related injuries. During the process, a magnetic field generator (otherwise known as a coil) is placed near the head of the patient, the coil is connected to a pulse generator that delivers a changing electric current to the coil. Recently however, several studies have shown that TMS might have applications in increasing the long-term memory of patients by boosting the brain using the magnetic field. A total of 16 volunteers took part in an experiment by scientists at the Northwestern University of Chicago. Some of them were given TMS for 20 minutes a day, 5 days straight; others were told they were being given TMS, but weren’t actually (placebo condition). At the start of the test, they were shown 20 photos of human faces while hearing words associated with those faces being read aloud. After their treatment, they were asked to remember which words went with which face. The results found that those who’d received TMS had higher scores than those who didn’t.
- elaborative encoding | spaced retrieval | mnemonics | mind palace
- Additional Terms to Know
- chunking | priming | interference | memory inhibition
- Chunking: Another technique for better holding and recalling memories, chunking is a process in which you take individual pieces of information and group them into larger “chunks”. By doing so, you improve the amount of information you remember by “hacking” your memory. By clumping individual slices of information into groups, you make them more meaningful and therefore more memorable to hold in your brain. The most commonly used example of chunking that you use (though you may not know it) is when you memorize a phone number. Instead of memorizing each individual digit (i.e 0-2-5-6-4-7-9-1-4-3), you’d clump them into groups (i.e 025-647-9143).
- Priming: An implicit memory effect where your brain takes exposure to a certain stimuli and uses it to influence response to a later stimuli. Priming can be positive and negative in the storage of memory. Positive priming is where you use sketches or words to help your brain recognise another word, phrase or other piece of information in the future. An example would be to introduce the color red to a person in order to help them recognise the word “strawberry”. This is done because the brain associates the word red to the word strawberry, the two are closely related. Negative priming however, occurs when various stimuli are exposed to you before ignoring those stimuli completely. The brain is believed to send a signal telling the hippocampus and other memory-dedicated modules to forget the stimuli. When the brain tries to recall the ignored information, a conflict occurs, it takes time to resolve and thus your memory recollection process slows.
- Interference: Interference theory is the belief that memory can be disrupted or interfered with when what we have previously learned and what we’re learning conflict with one another. The idea suggests that information stored in long-term memory can become disrupted or confused when it combines with incoming information during the encoding process. It also states that memories are forgotten because of these interferences, thus leading to us forgetting things we thought we’d solidified in long-term memory. There are two main ways in which this can happen: proactive interference and retroactive interference. The first of these happens when you cannot learn a new task because of an old task you’ve already learnt and your procedural memory has solidified. What we already know interferes with what we’re already learning, thus causing the disruption and complete loss of memory. Retroactive interference occurs when you forget a previously learned task because of one you’re learning currently. The key thing to remember is that proactive interference is where old memories destroy new ones, while retroactive memory is when new ones disrupt old ones.
- Memory Inhibition: Within the field of psychology, memory inhibition is the ability not to remember irrelevant information. According to many scientists, this feature is a critical component of a memory system. The ability to lose memories when they’re no longer useful is an adaptive trait, as it further hones in on efficient and rapid recollection. For example, if you’re trying to remember your flight number for a trip you’d only want to remember that flight number and not every single flight you’ve been on in your life. In order to remember something, it is compulsory that we inhibit irrelevant information while we activate the relevant ones.
- Working Memory Model | Multi-Store Model | Levels of Processing
- Working Memory Model: Essentially the Working Memory Model is the proposed theory in which short-term memory categorizes different types of information. The first of these is known as the Central Executive, the boss of working memory and sorts out which memories go to which subsystem. It also deals with cognitive tasks such as mental maths and problem solving. Your visuospatial sketchpad, otherwise known as the inner eye, deals with storing or retrieving information in visual form (i.e helping you remember where you are in relation to objects in your environment, navigation). The final module of the working memory model is known as the Phonological loop, this deals with spoken and written material and you’ve probably used it when trying to remember a phone number. The Phonological store within the loop is where your memory holds information in a speech-based form (such as spoken words) for 1-2 seconds. The Articulatory control process controls speech production and is used to store and rehearse verbal information from the phonological store.
- Multi-Store Model: This is essentially the system by which your entire memory functions. Proposed in 1968 by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin, this model says that the human memory is composed of 3 parts. The first is sensory register, where sensory information enters the memory. Short-term memory follows, where the inputs from sensory register and retrievals from long-term memory are held for recollection. The final stage is long-term memory, where information rehearsed in the short-term memory is held for indefinite periods of time.
- Levels of Processing: Proposed by Fergus I. M. Craik and Robert S. Lockhart in 1972, the level of processing effect is the direct opposite of the multi-store model. Craik and Lockhart proposed that the depth of mental processing affected the way in which the memory functioned. Thus memories that are deeply processed are longer-lasting memories while those that do not receive the same level of processing are easily lost. The main two categories here are Shallow and Deep processing. The first of these occurs in four ways: Structural (processing how an object looks), Phonemic (How something sounds), Graphemic (Letters within a word) and Orthographic (the shape of something). Deep processing occurs in three ways: How an object or situation relates to something else, when we grasp the meaning of something and when the importance is comprehended. Beyond this, there are three main factors that determine if a memory is retained for long periods: Maintenance Rehearsal (the process of repeating information), Elaborative Rehearsal (When the information is inspected to a greater extent) and Distinctiveness (when we are able to tell things apart).
- humor effect | generation effect | positivity effect
- Humor effect: Simply put, the humor effect states how memorizing something when some sort of humor is involved allows us to better retain it within our minds. A couple of experiments have been carried out about this, including one where a normal and dysphoric (dissatisfied) group watched humorous videos and were then able to recall more words from the clips. Scientists are still unsure as to what completely justifies this phenomenon, but some believe that the dopamine generated as a result of the happiness from the humour also stimulates the long-term memory.
- Generation effect: Yet another unexplained effect an event or trait has on the human memory. The generation effect basically states that information is better recalled if it comes from your own brain as opposed to reading it. There are several explanations as to why this occurs, though not one of them has been found to be the definite answer.
- Positivity effect: Within the fields of psychology and cognitive science, the positivity effect is the ability to analyze a situation where the desired results are not achieved, yet positive feedback is obtained in order to help us become better in the future. It also states that our memory helps us develop more when we are given positive feedback instead of negative feedback.
- chunking | priming | interference | memory inhibition
- What Memory?
- Would it ever be ethical to change or remove someone else’s memories?
- That depends on the situation. If the memory contains things you wouldn’t want them to be burdened with (i.e memories of a painful time or the loss of something dear to them). If however the loss or manipulation of said memory is only for our benefit, then it doesn’t make sense to erase it.
- Is there any way to know for sure whether our memories are accurate?
- At least now, no. Eventually science and technology will develop a machine or module that can be inserted into our brain in order to literally take photos of memories we wish to store. As for now however, we’ll have to make do with whatever our brain can afford us.
- How accurate is eyewitness testimony? Can it be misleading, and can it be improved?
- Eyewitness testimony is one of those things that’s like a catch-22 situation. How do you get better witnesses from a crime scene that has only those eyewitnesses? Eyewitnesses can be very misleading, the amount of time between the event and the questioning can often allow the memory to be manipulated or harder to retrieve. That’s why detectives immediately try to place this job first, so that the memory is still “fresh” in their brain. It can certainly be improved, by training people from birth to spot the smallest details and include them in their memories.
- Do people from different cultures and societies remember the same things differently in predictable ways?
- This is actually proven in several studies. People in individualistic cultures are more likely to remember the same things more vividly and accurately as opposed to those in collectivistic cultures.
- To what extent can we trust decisions made by those without sound memory?
- Not a lot honestly, especially if their decisions are crucial in deciding the result of something, say an investigation or a key choice that might change everything.
- Would it ever be ethical to change or remove someone else’s memories?
- On the Tip of the Tongue
- decay theory | motivated forgetting | gaslighting
- Decay Theory: You can probably infer what this theory proposes simply by the name. Decay Theory states that the simple passage of time causes our memories to fade. The more time that passes between the creation of the memory and when we need to recall it, the harder it will be for us to retrieve it.
- Motivated Forgetting: Another theorized behavior in the field of psychology in which people consciously or unconsciously choose to forget unwanted or unnecessary memories. Interestingly enough, this is classified as a defense mechanism, as the suppression of anxiety or other harmful emotions that may arise from these memories is an act of defense.
- Gaslighting: A form of manipulation, gaslighting seeks to plant doubt inside your brain. Questioning the accuracy of your memories, sanity and perception. Actions that fall under the category of gaslighting include denial, misdirection, lying and contradiction.
- amnesia | TBI | blackouts | nostalgia
- Amnesia: Amnesia occurs as a result of brain damage, disease or psychological trauma. Within amnesia there are two main types. Retrograde amnesia is where your brain is unable to recall any memories from before a certain date (in some this can be decades, in others it can be a few months). This date is often when a damaging event occurred, such as an accident or traumatic incident. Anterograde amnesia is the inability for a person to transfer short-term memories into long-term ones. Thus they have difficulty remembering anything for a long time. Both can occur simultaneously.
- TBI: This acronym stands for Traumatic Brain Injury, where an external force injures the brain. This injury can be permanent or recoverable, widespread or closed and penetrating. The consequences can be severe, from permanent disability to death. Within the field of memory however, TBI can cause damage to your long-term or short-term memory. If your amygdala or hippocampus is damaged severely enough, then it is possible amnesia will form and you’ll be unable to remember much about your life before the traumatic injury was delivered.
- Blackouts: Unlike the past conditions listed here, blackouts are only temporary and are instead caused by something far less mortifying: alcohol (insert sarcastic gasp here). Blackouts occur when your body’s blood alcohol content is high, usually above 14 percent (it can differ depending on age, weight and other biological factors). While your blood alcohol content is above this amount, you may not have any memory about the time that’s passed since it peaked that safety cap of 14 percent.
- Nostalgia: Ever had that feeling of wishing someone long gone was by your side, or that you were still back in that peaceful home? That’s when you’ve experienced nostalgia. Nostalgia is essentially when your brain yearns to return to a former time period or for someone to return to your life. Often triggered when lonely or by memory cues, it can bring a sense of close relationship and communal bonding.
- Alzheimer’s | dementia | Korsakoff’s syndrome
- Alzheimer’s: Now we’re getting into the more disease - oriented areas of memory. Alzheimer’s is probably the most well-known neurological condition there is and with good reason. It is a chronic disease, meaning that as time passes, the consequences worsen. The most common symptoms in alzheimer's are related to lack of memory storage or the inability to host memories. The most early symptoms include difficulties in remembering recent events (short-term memory). As the disease begins to develop, the severity of the conditions means that a patient with alzheimer’s is usually only going to live for at most 10 more years. The more severe conditions include language problems, disorientation, mood swings, loss of motivation, not managing self care and other behavioral issues. In the final stages of the development, the disease begins to cause your mind to lose knowledge of body functions, eventually leading to death. The reason why alzheimer’s is so infamous is because of how little we know about it. Doctors and psychologists aren’t even sure what causes is (the best guess is genetic mutation) and no treatment exists to stop or reverse the condition.
- Dementia: Directly linked to alzheimer's, dementia is not so much a specific condition but instead it refers to a wide range of symptoms linked with a decline in memory or a complete removal of thinking skills that might limit a person’s everyday functions. Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of causes.
- Korsakoff’s syndrome: Now here is a condition we have far more information about than alzheimer’s. Korsakoff’s syndrome is a chronic memory disorder caused by a lack of thiamine (otherwise known as Vitamin B-1). This essential nutrient helps brain cells to produce energy from sugars and a lack of it can cause brain cells to stop functioning, leading to problems with memory on all levels. Those problems include difficulties acquiring new skills, remembering recent events and long-term memory gaps. While you might be able to carry on a conversation with a person, you might forget just minutes after the conversation ends what it was about or who you talked to. Doctors recommend that those who are heavy drinkers (for alcohol misuse is a common cause of Korsakoff’s) to take an oral supplement of thiamine and other vitamins.
- flashback | PTSD | dissociation:
- Flashback: You’ve probably already heard of this one. A flashback occurs when an individual has a powerful re-experiencing of a past moment in their lives or elements of it. Unlike normal memory, flashbacks happen involuntarily and is so intense that the person is said to “relive” the experience.
- PTSD: Known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD is triggered when one has a terrifying event occur, either by experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms usually include flashbacks, nightmares and even severe anxiety. The people who receive PTSDs have usually gone through a lot in their lives, including refugees, soldiers and survivors of disasters. If PTSD goes untreated, it can often result in a severe drop in positivity of the person, they might not be the person you once knew.
- Dissociation: This is probably one of the more severe and harmful conditions on the list. Dissociation is essentially when you retreat from society, the real world and emotion itself. It is a disconnection from your thoughts, feelings, actions and sense of who you are. There are three main types of dissociative disorders: Dissociative Identity, Derealization/Depersonalization and Dissociative Amnesia. The first is what it says, you are not yourself, two or more different identities exist within you. The second is where you detach yourself from your own body and reality, you feel as if you are watching events happening around you. The final one is where you have trouble remembering things, from moments that recently occured to even entire years of your life.
- decay theory | motivated forgetting | gaslighting
- Biases and Fallacies
- Seven Sins of Memory | self-serving bias | rosy retrospection
- Seven Sins of Memory: Actually the title of a book by a former professor of psychology at Harvard, Daniel Schacter, the seven sins of memory are those sins that you should avoid committing in order to have better recollection and storage. The first of these is transience, where a memory deteriorates over time. While this is fairly normal as you age, decay or damage to the modules within the brain that are essential to memory (i.e the hippocampus) can cause extreme forms of it. The second sin is absent-mindedness, where attention and memory meet, errors of this category include forgetting where objects were kept or keeping timely appointments. Blocking constitutes the third sin, wherein your brain tries to store or retrieve information, but another memory comes in the way. This is the main cause of the Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon, where you are incapable of retrieving stored information temporarily. The fourth sin is misattribution, in which you are able to correctly recall information, yet not the source of it (i.e when you perfectly remember a certain piece of data but can’t quite tell which documentary you got it from). This sin is very problematic in legal procedures and professions that rely on eyewitnesses for better work. The fifth sin is called suggestibility, where you accept a false suggestion that alters a memory and your recollection. Remember the experiment where changing a single word impacted the speed viewers of a car crash suggested? That’s essentially suggestibility. The second last sin is simply called bias, similar to suggestibility where you generally consider an aspect of your life or a memory you have, not looking at the whole picture. For example, looking back on all the positive emotions experienced in your childhood without addressing the negative ones might cause you to generalize that your childhood was a very happy time. The final sin is persistence, a failure of your memory that occurs when your brain persistently recalls unwanted experiences or information that can lead to serious emotional consequences, such as phobias, PTSD and even suicide.
- Self-serving bias: I admittedly am guilty of this. Self-serving bias is the almost natural disturbance in a cognitive process where you perceive the need to maintain and enhance self-esteem, or glorify yourself. Essentially when you give yourself all the credit for a success but blame failure on any external factors (i.e the incompetence of your classmate if it were groupwork).
- Rosy retrospection: Nostalgia on steroids and hallucinatory substances (literally, it is only different in the fact that it is a cognitive bias). Rosy retrospection is a phenomenon where people judge their past (or the past in general) disproportionately more positively than the present. The romans once had a Latin phrase for this phenomenon: "memoria praeteritorum bonorum" (The past is always well remembered).
- confabulation | repression | memory implantation | the memory wars
- Confabulation: Very simple this term, confabulation refers to the disturbance of a memory, usually the recollection or production of fabricated, distorted or misinterpreted memories about yourself or the world. What sets this apart from other terms regarding false memories (and what prevents it from being a sin) is the fact you did not want this memory to be decieving and thus did not consciously alter it.
- Repression: Time to learn another language. Psychological repression, known in German as Verdrängung, is a psychological process undertaken consciously where you place uncomfortable thoughts, impulses and desires into the subconscious realm where they cannot be accessed. For example, when extremely unfortunate news has just reached you, you’ll probably want to push it away for later reference or never recall it again. Repressed memories however, do not disappear completely, rather they just slip off our mind’s radar until it is somehow triggered. Repressed memories can surface in your behavior, as anxiety or dysfunctional behavior. They are also able to be let out again in dreams or slips of the tongue (otherwise known as Freudian slips after Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis who discovered and coined most of these terms).
- Memory implantation: Actually a technique rather than a condition, memory implantation is used to investigate the human memory and involves the psychologists making you believe an event that never actually happened. False memories that have been successfully implanted are usually the more plausible ones that might have actually happened (examples of these successes include being lost in a mall as a child, taking a hot air balloon ride and putting slime on the primary teacher’s chair).
- The memory wars: Yet another book, The Memory Wars: Freud’s Legacy in Dispute, is a publication in 1995 about Sigmund Freud and recovered memory therapy by the critic Frederick Crews along with many contributors (too many to list here). Essentially this is where Frederick Crews responds to many letters, criticisms and reviews about his publications regarding the contributions of Sigmund Freud and the existence of Recovered Memory Therapy, wherein people claimed they were able to help people recover repressed painful childhood memories.
- memory conformity | telescoping effect | recall bias
- Memory conformity: Essentially this is the psychological version of bandwagon. Memory conformity is where your mind alters a recollection of an event because it hears another recollection by another group/person of the same event or experience. It is considered an error due to social influences and is extremely problematic for legal procedures, general daily recollections and detective work. Ever wonder why they only call in 1 eyewitness to be questioned? Now you know why. Even a small change can mean an badly done investigation or a criminal not brought to justice.
- Telescoping effect: Much the same way a telescope makes objects look closer or more distant than they actually are, your mind is able to temporally displaced when an event actually occurred. Backward telescoping (otherwise known as time expansion), is when your brain thinks a recent event occurred much earlier. When your brain does the opposite and thinks that a distant event occurred more recently, that’s known as forward telescoping.
- Recall bias: Many of the previous terms fall into this umbrella. Recall bias is a systematic error with the memory where a difference in accuracy or completeness of recollection happens. Although specifically used in medical fields to refer to a patient being unable to provide substantial or correct information to form a diagnosis, recall bias is also very common in our daily lives.
- Seven Sins of Memory | self-serving bias | rosy retrospection
- Can technologies help us to remember things?
- They already are. Remember when I discussed treatments like nootropics and transcranial magnetic stimulation? These are already technologies that enhance our brain’s ability to retain and recall information. As of now, there isn’t one definitive, proven technology that can allow us to store every detail of a memory and recall it perfectly after a long period of time. Yet I suppose it’s not illogical to say that in the near-future (if we ever last that long), such a technology will exist.
- Can they help us to forget them?
- While it is the work of many science-fiction authors and movie directors alike to explore brainwashing and memory erasal machines, a more basic one exists. Technology is, by being a database of virtually any information, easing the strain on our memory to hold that information. In a previous generation, if you saw a fact in a book, you’d probably need to cram your memory with that fact or risk having to search for the book and page all over again. Now, instead of having to memorize a fact, we simply pull up the nearest piece of technology and search it up on the internet.
- Elements of Memory in a Digital Age to Explore (Examples)
- Jacquard loom | punch card | stored-program computer | drum memory
- Jacquard loom: One of the very first examples of smart automation within a workplace, the Jacquard loom was a machine devised by Frenchmen Joseph-Marie Jacquard to allow looms to produce complex patterns on fabric. It was essentially a paired device, designed to use punch-cards (cards with holes punched in specific places that meant different things) that controlled the weaving of the cloth so a desired pattern could be created. See picture below for illustration. The mechanism of this machine would lay the groundwork (or should I say programming?) of English inventor Charles Babbage’s analytical engine and early computers.
- Punch card: As discussed briefly above, a punch card is a stiff piece of paper that can be used to contain digital information or instructions based on the absence or presence of holes in predetermined locations. While no longer in use, these cards were very common in early unit record machines and data processing machines (precursors of the computers) that used them for storage, input and output of data. Before this, punch cards were directly used to control automated machinery (a redundant sentence).
- Stored-program computer: First introduced in the 1940s by John Von Neumann, this was a concept that basically stated that a computer memory with stored instructions inside it could perform a variety of tasks in sequence or intermittently. Neumann proposed that a program could be electronically stored in a memory device using binary-number format. It allowed digital computers to become much more flexible and powerful and was successfully implemented in England through the Manchester Mark I, the first stored-program computer.
- Drum memory: Invented in Austria by a man called Gustav Tauschek, this was the precursor to the hard disk drive that now occupies most computers or laptops. The drum memory was a magnetic data storage device shaped like a drum barrel and was primarily used as the main working memory of computers from the 1950s to the 1960s. It should be noted that the first prototype of drum memory was only able to hold about 500,000 bits (62.5 kilobytes), whereas modern hard disk drives in pre-built desktops can hold 523,763,720 kilobytes (500 gigabytes)
- digitization | caching | crawler | metadata | emulation | RAM
- Digitization: The process of converting information into a digital (computer-readable) format by organizing it into bits. Objects, texts, photos and videos can be converted into a single binary code using this process.
- Caching: In computing, a cache is a hardware or software program that stores data so future recollections of said data can be made faster. The data stored in a cache might be the result of an earlier computation, or a duplicate of data stored elsewhere. When the data is found within a cache, it is known as a “cache hit”, while a “cache miss” is when the data requested cannot be found. Cache hits are a result of reading the data from the cache, which is much faster than recomputing the data or searching for it in other storage areas.
- Crawler: Otherwise known as a web-crawler or web spider, a crawler is an internet bot that systematically browses the World Wide Web for the purpose of categorizing web-pages and other sites into web indexes. Search engines such as Google, Firefox and Internet Explorer rely heavily on web-spidering as a way to provide as many search results as possible. Used to create a copy of the webpage for future reference by a search engine for even more indexing, crawlers are essentially the reason why you get so many results (or so few) when you search anything on a web browser or other search bar.
- Metadata: How confusing. Metadata is a whole other layer of data regarding the data itself. It essentially provides a description of a single piece of data or a collection of it for ease of searching and retrieval. For a text, this metadata might include the author, publishing date, title and number of pages. Generally, metadata can be automatically generated by programs or manually created using meta tags, descriptions and keywords to describe their content and help search engines locate them.
- Emulation: Gamers and printer enthusiasts (never thought I’d type that up) are probably familiar with this. Emulation is the process that an emulator undertakes. An emulator is a piece of software or a program that allows one computer system (known as the host) to act like another (known as the guest). Emulators allow the host system to run software or use peripheral devices designed for the guest system. Emulation refers to the ability of a computer program to emulate (or imitate) another device. There’s a reason why many printers are designed to emulate Hewlett-Packard LaserJet ones, because most software is written for them. Any software written for an HP printer can then be used by the emulated printer to produce equivalent results in printing. Video games also have this, with many enthusiasts using emulators to play games on different platforms than they were intended to (i.e OpenEmu allows one to play Nintendo, Gameboy, Sega and other console games on a Mac). Other emulators allow one to play much older games from the 80s or 90s that can’t be found anymore online.
- RAM: Standing for Random-access memory, RAM is a form of computer data storage that stores instructions and data currently being used. In comparison to other storage devices like hard-disk drives and drum memory, RAM allows data to be read or written in almost the same time regardless of where the data actually is within the memory.
- abandonware | digital dark age | obsolescence | link rot
- Abandonware: Eventually a piece of software has outlives it’s time or can no longer be used, instead of deleting the code completely, some manufacturers and owners simply leave it to decay in the dark abyss of computer software. No longer accessible due to a lack of support, the copyright infringements of such software generally no longer exist.
- Digital dark age: How ironic that mankind’s march forward into the future may also mean a step backward for historical progresses. Simply put, the digital dark age is the fear shared by many historians and archivists that we will lose records of the past because computers in the future will be unable read the data stored in our current ones. There is such a fear that many claim we may one day “know more about the 20th century than the early 21st century” because the lack of physical records allows many problems of recollection to arise.
- Obsolescence: A term very widely used and not just in computing. Obsolescence is a term used to describe any product, service or software that is no longer used even though it may be in perfect working order. Even though your new Iphone 8 might be working perfectly and is pretty much brand new, Apple will make sure that the Iphone X makes your smartphone obsolete (mostly due to purposeful software degrades). This is becoming a huge problem in businesses, where they purposefully plan obsolescence so that you have to go buy new products, thus generating more profit for them.
- Link Rot: Ever clicked on a link and experienced an Error 404? Well you have Link Rot to thank for that. Link rot is the term used to describe the process by which a hyperlink (such as this) point to resources or other web-pages that are unavailable. This can be due to several reasons, though the most common is that the web-page no longer exists and
- Jacquard loom | punch card | stored-program computer | drum memory