Why We Forget
Why We Forget
Why We Forget
As you are frantically searching for your missing car keys, it may seem that that
the information about where you left them is permanently gone from your
memory. However, forgetting is generally not about actually losing or erasing
this information from your long-term memory. Forgetting typically involves a
failure in memory retrieval. While the information is somewhere in your long-
term memory, you are not able to actually retrieve and remember it.
In order to test for new information, Ebbinghaus tested his memory for periods
of time ranging from 20 minutes to 31 days. He then published his findings in
1885 in Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology.
The forgetting curve also showed that forgetting does not continue to decline
until all of the information is lost. At a certain point, the amount of forgetting
levels off. What exactly does this mean? It indicates that information stored
in long-term memory is surprisingly stable.
So how do we know when something has been forgotten? There are a few
different ways to measure this:
What did you have for dinner Tuesday night of last week? Is that difficult to
recall? If someone had asked you that question Wednesday morning you
probably would have had no problem recalling what you had for dinner the night
before. But as intervening days pass, the memories of all the other meals you
have eaten since then start to interfere with your memory of that one particular
meal. This is a good example of what psychologists refer to as the interference
theory of forgetting.
Eliminating interference altogether is impossible, but there are a few things you
can do to minimize its effects. One of the best things you can do is rehearse new
information in order to better commit it to memory. In fact, many experts
recommend overlearningimportant information, which involves rehearsing the
material over and over again until it can be reproduced perfectly with no errors.
According to the trace theory of memory, the formation of new memories results
in physical and chemical changes in the brain that result in a memory 'trace.'
Information in short-term memory lasts approximately 15 to 30 seconds and if it
is not rehearsed, the neurochemical memory trace quickly fades.
According to the trace decay theory of forgetting, the events that happen
between the formation of a memory and the recall of the memory have no
impact on recall. Instead, trace theory proposes that is the length of time
between the memory and recalling that information determines whether the
information will be retained or forgotten. If the time interval is short, more
information will be recalled. If a longer period of time passes, more information
will be forgotten and memory will be poorer.
The idea that memories fade over time is hardly new. The Greek philosopher
Plato suggested such a thing more than 2,500 years ago. Later, experimental
research by psychologists such as Ebbinghaus bolstered this theory.
One of the problems with this theory is that it is difficult to demonstrate that
time alone is responsible for declines in recall. In real-world situations, many
things are bound to happen between the formation of a memory and the recall
of that information. A student who learns something in class, for example, might
have hundreds of unique and individual experiences between learning that
information and having to recall it on an exam. Was forgetting the date that the
American Revolutionary War began due to the length of time between learning
the date in your American History class and being tested on it, or did the
multitude of information acquired during that interval of time play a role?
Testing this can be exceedingly difficult, since it is nearly impossible to eliminate
all the information that might have an influence between the creation of the
memory and the recall of the memory.
Another problem with decay theory is it does not account for why some
memories fade so quickly while others linger. Novelty is one factor that plays a
role in why some things are remembered while others are forgotten. For
example, you are more likely to remember your very first day of college than all
of the intervening days between it and graduation. That first day was new and
exciting, but all the following days probably seem quite similar to each other.
Sometimes the memories are there, we just can't seem to access them. Two of
the basic reasons for this failure in memory retrieval are related to encoding
failures and lack of retrieval cues. A common reason why we don't remember
information is because it never made it into long term memory in the first place.
Try this well-known demonstration first used by researchers Nickerson and
Adams. From memory, try to draw the back side of a penny. Once you are done,
compare your drawing to an actual penny.
Are you surprised by how poorly you recalled what the back of a penny looks
like? While you probably had a good idea about the overall shape and color, the
actual details were probably pretty fuzzy. Why? Since you don't actually need to
know what the back of a penny looks like to differentiate it from other coins, you
only really focus on the information you do need - the overall size, shape, and
color of the coin. You aren't able to recall what the back of a penny really looks
like because that information was never really encoded into memory in the first
place.
Final Thoughts
Numerous theories exist to explain how and why we forget. In many situations,
several of these explanations might account for why we cannot remember. The
passage of time can make memories more difficult to access (decay theory),
while the abundance of information vying for our attention can create
competition between old and new memories (interference theory). While
forgetting is simply a part of life, there are a number of things that we can do to
improve our memories and become better at recalling information. Next, take a
closer look at some of the different things you can do now to improve your
memory.