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edge effect

types of human memory

Memory is the ability of the brain to remember and store all the information that a person receives during his life. By information we mean everything heard, seen and done by the person himself. As a rule, memory is divided into two categories: long-term and short-term.

Short-term memory performs the function of an information filter, it analyzes all the data received at a particular moment, and transfers the most important to long-term memory. For example, a couple of minutes after watching a TV show, you will thoroughly remember all the statements of the host, as well as the participants in the program, and after a few hours, you may not even remember what the program was called.

Long-term memory includes huge amounts of information and stores it for many years, it is especially good if you often “clean up” this type of your memory by periodically recalling specific information from the past. There is also such a type of memory as operational, it performs a connecting function between short-term and long-term memory. Information is stored in RAM from one day to several months. To improve the quality of memorized information, it is worth training the very memory filter that stores information in the long term.

In psychology, there is such a thing as the edge effect, this concept indicates that low-emotional and monotonous information is best remembered by its beginning and end. And also, a greater percentage of remembering actions relates to incomplete processes, you remember much better on which days you were late for work than those days on which you arrived on time, a failed meeting is also better remembered than a successful date.

It is worth recalling the effect of reminiscence. Quite often, information is remembered better after its late reproduction. Suffice it to recall our school years: sometimes we could hardly learn and reproduce a poem given in foreign or Russian literature on the same evening when we first read it. Another thing is in the morning, before the lessons, when after waking up, we tried to repeat what we had learned the night before and realized that the results were much better. It is also very often poorly remembered information that our subconscious regards as unnecessary and irrelevant. Information that we do not pay due attention to is also poorly remembered. Remember how often this happened in transport, on the way to work you mechanically look at your watch in order to make sure that you are not late, literally in a moment someone asks you: "What time is it?", and you again have to look at your watch in order to give answer to the question. It happens like the first time you looked at the clock, your task was to find out if you had time or not, the exact time was already a secondary task, so you cannot immediately, after such simple actions, remember what time it was on the dial.

Deja vu. Many consider this effect to be a malfunction in the memory, listening to some information you are overcome by the feeling that it was familiar to you before (“I think I have already seen or heard this”, “it seems to have happened to me”, etc.). In this case, we are deceived by associations, since the information that seems familiar to you is only somewhat similar to the one that your brain has already received and reproduced.

Our memory has such a property as repression. Thanks to the repression effect, moments of our lives associated with strong emotions are remembered much better than those in which your emotional state was insignificant. Z. Freud argued that the repression function helps your memory to cross out moments associated with strong negative emotions, and vice versa, it is better to remember those associated with positive emotions. Therefore, remembering this or that moment of life, it is best to draw parallels with the emotional state that accompanied you at that time. This will help make memories more vivid and clear.

Answer to the questionwhat is human memory

It is difficult to imagine how we would live without memory. But what is memory? What processes are involved so that we can easily accumulate and reproduce information? Scientists have determined what properties memory has and how this complex associative mechanism works. We will talk about the laws, theories, psychology and physiology of this property.

What is memory

Memory is a complex of mental abilities to accumulate, store and reproduce information. Without these skills, it is difficult to imagine the existence of man. Academician Ivan Sechenov argued that without the ability to store sensations and information, we would forever remain in the developmental phase of a newborn. After all, how to satisfy basic needs if there is no single idea about this?

The title of flagship in the study of memory has been tacitly assigned to Hermann Ebbinghaus. The researcher, experimenting on himself, formulated the definition of memory, revealed the nature and mechanism of its action.

Today it is known that the level of its development depends on:

• work of the nervous system;
• formation of each of the memorization processes;
• upbringing, level of education;
• kind of activity.

In addition to personal characteristics, memory has an age framework. For example, preschoolers, primary school students, teenagers remember new things in different ways. Based on this, there are theories stating that before the age of 3, a child is able to learn several languages.

It is difficult to answer the question “what is normal memory”, since it is developed differently for everyone. But some deviations still occur. We can live with them all our lives without giving due importance.

The most common disorders are:

• hypomnesia- reduced ability to remember anything;
• hypermnesia- intrusive memories, feverish excitement;
• paramnesia- distortion of memories, their substitution or deformation.

Memory properties

• Capacity- the amount of material that can be remembered.
• Memorization speed- individual pace of assimilation of new things.
• Storage duration- the period from the appearance to the disappearance of the material.
• Reproducibility– the level of reliability of the initial facts.
• Playback speed- the rate of search for the necessary statements.
• Noise immunity- resistance to all kinds of obstacles.

Memory processes

memorization

We remember information both voluntarily and involuntarily. Personally significant facts are deposited in the mind usually by themselves, while we maintain a passive position. Memories in this case are fragmentary. We remember what bouquet of flowers we received on our first date, but we forgot what we were wearing ourselves. It's not that someone set a goal to remember the bouquet and considered its components for the whole evening. This is how selectivity works.

An interesting study was conducted by psychologist Blum Zeigarnik. She proved that unfinished actions are remembered better. For example, if we missed the train, did not achieve a promotion, did not get what we expected, then we will definitely fix this event firmly in our minds. As it turned out, situations with a positive resolution do not last long. This is the effect of negative emotions resulting from stress and disappointment.

Psychologists have determined how the memorization process works. It is based on repetition and meaningful perception. There is a special area of ​​psychology - mnemonics, within which the principles of associative memorization are studied. For example, the transfer of information through images, pictures, schematic images.

Depending on the type of memorization, there are 4 types of memory: motor, figurative, verbal and emotional. Each person is more developed one way or another.

Saving material

Depending on the level at which the material is recorded, there are sensory, short-term, long-term and operational types of memory. Each of them has its own characteristics.

Playback

There are four forms of information reproduction:

• Recognition- occurs when we repeatedly see an object.
• Memory- the object is missing, but with the help of associations, you can involuntarily reproduce the forgotten.
• Remembrance- to reproduce the material, you need to make an effort.
• R eminiscence- belated reproduction, that is, the recall of what seemed long forgotten.

Forgetting

This is the process of reducing the amount of stored data. This is a regular, natural action, which is only in rare cases an anomaly. Forgetting is due to the following factors:

• Time- already after 60 minutes, we tend to forget half of what we heard.
• Usage activity We forget what we don't use all the time. But the ability to swim, ride a bike or know a language is fixed on a subconscious level, so it is not forgotten.

Physiology and psychology of memory

Physiological aspect

Physiologists carefully study memory, the definition of which is due to studies of the nervous system. Thus, the volume of our “archive” depends on the number of nerve cells involved. It has also been proven that DCO, LEO, CaMKII proteins are necessary for memorization and active brain work. It is their lack that causes various diseases associated with amnesia.

The connection between memory and physiological activity is known. California scientists have found that physical activity increases the level of gamma-aminobutyric and glutamic acid in the brain. 20 minutes of active exercise is enough for the concentration of the necessary compounds to increase at a level sufficient for memorization.

Theories of memory in psychology

Memory in psychology is a property that helps a person navigate in space and time. Whole theories have developed about what processes occur to us during memorization.

• Associative- our brain is looking for a connection between objects, pulling up from the "archive" everything that is involved in this situation. The search goes beyond the categories of similarity or contrast.
• behavioral- to remember the material, you need to do exercises. So the material is securely stored.
• cognitive- information is processed using blocks. Some blocks recognize it, others create an oriental map, and others hold it.
• activity– a view of the process as the interaction of a person with the world.

How the laws of memory work

• Law of interest- interesting or unusual facts are remembered for a long time.
• Reflections- what we understand, realize, is perceived deeper.
• Settings- if there is a desire to remember something, then it will happen.
• Actions- when the theory is fixed in practice, the action is better remembered.
• attention- memory and attention are inseparable, since only concentration on an object helps to maintain an accurate idea of ​​it.
• context- facts fixed by associations are assimilated more reliably.
• Braking- if we study similar concepts, then one “overlaps” the other, neutralizing both.
• The edges- what is given at the beginning or end of the text is more clearly preserved.
• Repetition- if the material was repeated several times, it will be remembered better than the one that was said once.
• incompleteness- unsaid phrases or incomplete actions are remembered better
• gradualism- Portioned material is easier to remember.

Human memory has become the subject of many studies and theories. It is not surprising, because a person has a unique property to accumulate, store and reproduce information. We told what laws govern this process, revealed its psychological and physiological features. In order not to forget, use the article as a cheat sheet.

The mystery of human memory is one of the main scientific problems of the 21st century, and it will have to be solved by the joint efforts of chemists, physicists, biologists, physiologists, mathematicians and representatives of other scientific disciplines. And although we are still far from fully understanding what happens to us when we “remember”, “forget” and “remember again”, important discoveries of recent years point the right way.

One of the main problems of neurophysiology is the inability to conduct experiments on humans. However, even in primitive animals, the basic mechanisms of memory are similar to ours.

Pavel Balaban

Today, even the answer to the basic question - what is memory in time and space - can consist mainly of hypotheses and assumptions. If we talk about space, it is still not very clear how memory is organized and where exactly in the brain it is located. These sciences suggest that its elements are present everywhere, in each of the areas of our "gray matter". Moreover, seemingly the same information can be recorded in memory in different places.

For example, it has been found that spatial memory (when we remember a certain environment for the first time - a room, a street, a landscape) is associated with a region of the brain called the hippocampus. When we try to get this situation out of memory, say, ten years later, this memory will already be extracted from a completely different area. Yes, memory can move within the brain, and this thesis is best illustrated by an experiment once conducted with chickens. In the life of newly hatched chicks, imprinting plays a big role - instantaneous learning (and placement in memory is learning). For example, a chicken sees a large moving object and immediately “imprints” in the brain: this is a chicken mother, you need to follow her. But if, after five days, the part of the brain responsible for imprinting is removed from the chicken, it turns out that ... the memorized skill has not gone away. He moved to another area, and this proves that there is one repository for immediate learning outcomes, and another for long-term storage.

We remember with pleasure

But it is even more surprising that there is no such clear sequence of moving memory from operational to permanent, as it happens in a computer, in the brain. Working memory, fixing immediate sensations, simultaneously triggers other memory mechanisms - medium-term and long-term. But the brain is an energy-intensive system and therefore tries to optimize the expenditure of its resources, including memory. Therefore, nature has created a multi-stage system. Working memory is quickly formed and just as quickly destroyed - there is a special mechanism for this. But truly important events are recorded for long-term storage, while their importance is emphasized by emotion, attitude to information. At the level of physiology, emotion is the activation of the most powerful biochemical modulating systems. These systems release hormones-mediators that change the biochemistry of memory in the right direction. Among them, for example, are various hormones of pleasure, the names of which are reminiscent not so much of neurophysiology as of the criminal chronicle: these are morphines, opioids, cannabinoids - that is, narcotic substances produced by our body. In particular, endocannabinoids are generated directly at synapses, the junctions of nerve cells. They affect the effectiveness of these contacts and thus "encourage" the recording of this or that information in memory. Other substances from the number of mediator hormones can, on the contrary, suppress the process of moving data from working memory to long-term memory.

The mechanisms of emotional, that is, biochemical reinforcement of memory, are now being actively studied. The only problem is that laboratory research of this kind can only be carried out on animals, but how much can a laboratory rat tell us about its emotions?

If we have stored something in memory, then sometimes the time comes to remember this information, that is, to extract it from memory. But is the word "extract" correct? Apparently, not much. It seems that memory mechanisms do not extract information, but re-generate it. There is no information in these mechanisms, just as there is no voice or music in the hardware of a radio receiver. But everything is clear with the receiver - it processes and converts the electromagnetic signal received by the antenna. What kind of “signal” is processed when the memory is retrieved, where and how this data is stored, is still very difficult to say. However, it is already known that when remembering, the memory is rewritten, modified, or at least this happens with some types of memory.

Not electricity, but chemistry

In search of an answer to the question of how memory can be modified or even erased, important discoveries have been made in recent years, and a number of works devoted to the “memory molecule” have appeared.

In fact, they have been trying to isolate such a molecule, or at least some material carrier of thought and memory, for two hundred years, but without much success. In the end, neurophysiologists came to the conclusion that there is nothing specific to memory in the brain: there are 100 billion neurons, there are 10 quadrillions of connections between them, and somewhere, in this cosmic scale, memory, thoughts, and behavior are uniformly encoded. Attempts were made to block certain chemicals in the brain, and this led to a change in memory, but also to a change in the entire functioning of the body. It was only in 2006 that the first works appeared on the biochemical system, which seems to be very specific to memory. Her blockade did not cause any changes in either behavior or learning ability - only the loss of part of the memory. For example, memory about the situation if the blocker was introduced into the hippocampus. Or about emotional shock if the blocker was injected into the amygdala. The biochemical system discovered is a protein, an enzyme called protein kinase M-zeta, which controls other proteins.

One of the main problems of neurophysiology is the inability to conduct experiments on humans. However, even in primitive animals, the basic mechanisms of memory are similar to ours.

The molecule works at the site of synaptic contact - the contact between brain neurons. Here it is necessary to make one important digression and explain the specifics of these same contacts. The brain is often likened to a computer, and therefore many people think that the connections between neurons, which create everything that we call thinking and memory, are purely electrical in nature. But it's not. The language of synapses is chemistry, here some released molecules, like a key with a lock, interact with other molecules (receptors), and only then do electrical processes begin. How many specific receptors will be delivered through the nerve cell to the place of contact depends on the efficiency, the greater throughput of the synapse.

Protein with special properties

Protein kinase M-zeta just controls the delivery of receptors through the synapse and thus increases its effectiveness. When these molecules are activated simultaneously in tens of thousands of synapses, signals are rerouted, and the general properties of a certain network of neurons change. All this tells us little about how memory changes are encoded in this rerouting, but one thing is known for sure: if the protein kinase M-zeta is blocked, the memory will be erased, because the chemical bonds that provide it will not work. The newly discovered "molecule" of memory has a number of interesting features.

First, it is capable of self-reproduction. If, as a result of learning (that is, obtaining new information), a certain additive was formed in the synapse in the form of a certain amount of protein kinase M-zeta, then this amount can remain there for a very long time, despite the fact that this protein molecule decomposes in three to four days. In some way, the molecule mobilizes the resources of the cell and ensures the synthesis and delivery of new molecules to the place of synaptic contact to replace those that have left.

Secondly, one of the most interesting features of the M-zeta protein kinase is its blocking. When the researchers needed to obtain a substance for experiments on blocking the "molecule" of memory, they simply "read" the section of her gene, in which her own peptide blocker is encoded, and synthesized it. However, this blocker is never produced by the cell itself, and for what purpose evolution left its code in the genome is unclear.

The third important feature of the molecule is that both it and its blocker have an almost identical appearance for all living beings with a nervous system. This indicates that, in the form of protein kinase M-zeta, we are dealing with the most ancient adaptive mechanism, on which human memory is also built.

Of course, the protein kinase M-zeta is not a "memory molecule" in the sense in which the scientists of the past hoped to find it. It is not a material carrier of memorized information, but, obviously, it acts as a key regulator of the effectiveness of connections within the brain, it initiates the emergence of new configurations as a result of learning.

Get into contact

Now experiments with the protein kinase blocker M-zeta are, in a sense, "shooting on the squares." The substance is injected into certain areas of the brain of experimental animals with a very thin needle and thus turns off the memory immediately in large functional blocks. The boundaries of penetration of the blocker are not always clear, as well as its concentration in the area of ​​the site chosen as the target. As a result, not all experiments in this area bring unambiguous results.

A true understanding of the processes occurring in memory can be obtained by working at the level of individual synapses, but this requires targeted delivery of the blocker to the contact between neurons. Today it is impossible, but since such a task is facing science, sooner or later the tools to solve it will appear. Special hopes are placed on optogenetics. It has been established that a cell in which the possibility of synthesizing a light-sensitive protein is built in by genetic engineering methods can be controlled using a laser beam. And if such manipulations at the level of living organisms are not yet performed, something similar is already being done on the basis of grown cell cultures, and the results are very impressive.

All living beings have memory, but it has reached the highest level of development in humans. Memory connects the past with the present. It is memory that allows a person to be aware of his "I", to act in the world around him, to be who he is. Human memory is a form of mental reflection, which consists in the accumulation, consolidation, preservation and subsequent reproduction by the individual of his experience. Ours is a functional education that does its job through the interaction of three main processes: memorization, storage and reproduction of information. These processes not only interact, there is a mutual conditionality between them. After all, you can save only what you remember, and reproduce - what you have saved.

Memorization. Human memory begins with the memorization of information: words, images, impressions. The main task of the memorization process is to remember accurately, quickly and a lot. Distinguish between involuntary and voluntary memory. Arbitrary memorization turns on when the goal is to remember not only what is itself imprinted in his memory, but also what is necessary. Arbitrary memorization is active, purposeful, and has a volitional beginning.

What is personally significant, connected with the activities of a person and his interests, is in the nature of involuntary memorization. With involuntary memorization, a person is passive. Involuntary memorization clearly demonstrates such a property of memory as selectivity. If you ask different people what they remember most at the same wedding, then some will easily talk about who and what gifts presented the newlyweds, others - what they ate and drank, others - what music they danced to, etc. However, at the same time, neither the first, nor the second, nor the third set themselves a clear goal of remembering something specific. Memory selectivity worked.

It is worth mentioning the “Zeigarnik effect” (it was first described in 1927 by the Soviet psychologist Bluma Vulfovna Zeigarnik (1900-1988): a person involuntarily remembers actions that are not completed much better, situations that have not received a natural resolution.

If we were unable to finish something, finish eating, get what we wanted, while being close to the goal, then this is remembered thoroughly and for a long time, and successfully completed is forgotten quickly and easily. The reason is that an unfinished action is a source of strong negative ones, which are much more powerful than positive ones in terms of their impact.

Many scientists have studied memory techniques. In particular, the German psychologist G. Ebbinghaus formulated a number of patterns of memorization. He believed that repetition (indirect or direct) is the only relative guarantee of the reliability of memorization. Moreover, the result of memorization is in a certain dependence on the number of repetitions. Ebbinghaus' law states that the number of repeated presentations needed to memorize the entire series grows much faster than the object of the presented series. If the subject memorizes 8 digits from one presentation (display), then to memorize 9 digits he will need 3-4 presentations. The scientist also emphasizes the importance of the volitional factor. The higher the concentration of attention on any information, the faster memorization will occur.

However, it has been found that rote repetition is less effective than meaningful memorization. The direction of modern psychology - mnemonics - is developing numerous memorization techniques based on the principle of associative communication: the translation of information into images, graphics, pictures, diagrams.

Allocate four types of human memory in accordance with the type of memorized material.
1. Motor memory, i.e. the ability to memorize and reproduce a system of motor operations (driving a car, weaving a braid, tying a tie, etc.).
2. Figurative memory - the ability to save and further use the data of our perception. It can be (depending on the receiving analyzer) auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory and gustatory.
3. Emotional memory captures the feelings we experienced, the peculiarity of emotional states and affects. A child who was frightened by a big dog, most likely, even becoming an adult, will dislike these animals for a long time to come (fear memory).
4. Verbal memory (verbal-logical, semantic) - the highest type of memory, inherent only to man. With its help, most of the mental actions and operations (counting, reading, etc.) are carried out, the information base of the human is formed.

Different people have a more developed type of memory: athletes have a motor memory, artists have a figurative one, and so on.

Saving information. The main requirement for human memory is to store information reliably, for a long time and without loss. There are several levels of memory, differing in how long each of them can store information.

1. Sensory (immediate) type of memory. The systems of this memory hold accurate and complete data about how the world is perceived by our senses at the level of receptors. Data is stored within 0.1-0.5 seconds. The mechanism of action of sensory memory is easy to detect: close your eyes, then open them for a second and then close them again. The clear picture you see lasts for a while, and then slowly disappears.
2. Short-term memory allows you to process a huge amount of information without overloading the brain, due to the fact that it filters out everything unnecessary and leaves the useful, necessary for solving urgent (momentary) problems.
3. Long-term memory provides long-term storage and use of information. The capacity and duration of information storage in long-term memory can be unlimited. There are two types of long-term memory. The first is at the level of consciousness. A person in his own way can remember, extract the necessary information. The second type is closed long-term memory, in which information is stored at the subconscious level. Under normal conditions, a person does not have access to this information, only with the help of psychoanalytic procedures, in particular hypnosis, as well as irritations of various parts of the brain, one can access it and update images, thoughts, experiences in all details.
4. Intermediate memory is between short-term and long-term memory. It provides information storage for several hours. In the waking state during the day, a person accumulates information. So that the brain is not overloaded, it is necessary to free it from unnecessary information. The information accumulated over the past day is cleared, categorized and stored in long-term memory during a night's sleep. Scientists have found that this requires at least three hours of sleep a night.
5. Working memory is a type of human memory that manifests itself in the course of performing a certain activity and serving this one.

Playback. The requirements for the process of memory reproduction are accuracy and timeliness. In psychology, four forms of reproduction are distinguished:
1) recognition - occurs when the perception of objects and phenomena is repeated;
2) memory - is carried out in the real absence of perceived objects. Usually, memories are made through associations that provide automatic, involuntary reproduction;
3) recall - is carried out in the absence of a perceived object and is associated with active volitional activity to update information;
4) reminiscence - delayed reproduction of previously perceived and seemingly forgotten. With this form of memory reproduction, older events are remembered more easily and more accurately than those that occurred in the recent past.

Forgetting is the flip side of memory conservation. This is a process that leads to a loss of clarity and a decrease in the amount of data that can be updated in . Mostly forgetting is not an anomaly of memory, it is a natural process, which is due to a number of factors.
1. Time - in less than an hour a person forgets half of the information just received mechanically.
2. Active use of available information - first of all, what is not constantly needed is forgotten. However, childhood impressions and motor skills such as skating, playing a musical instrument, and being able to swim remain quite stable for many years without any exercise. It remains at the subconscious level, as if forgotten that disturbs the psychological balance, causes negative tension (traumatic impressions).

Information in our memory is not stored unchanged, like documents in an archive. In memory, the material undergoes change and qualitative reconstruction.

Human memory disorders. Various memory impairments are very common, although most people do not notice them in themselves or notice them too late. The very concept of "normal memory" is rather vague. Hyperfunction of memory is associated, as a rule, with strong excitement, feverish excitement, taking certain medications or hypnotic influence. A form of obsessive memories is a violation of emotional balance, feelings of insecurity and anxiety, creating a thematic orientation of memory hyperfunction. So, for example, we constantly remember our extremely unpleasant, unseemly actions. It is almost impossible to expel such memories: they haunt us, cause a feeling of shame and pangs of conscience.

In practice, there is a weakening of the memory function, a partial loss of storing or reproducing the available information. The weakening of selective reduction, difficulties in reproducing the material needed at the moment (names, dates, names, terms, etc.) are among the earliest manifestations of memory impairment. Then the weakening of memory can take the form of progressive amnesia, the causes of which are alcoholism, trauma, age-related and negative personality changes, sclerosis, diseases.

In modern psychology, there are known facts of memory deceptions in the form of extremely one-sided selectivity of memories, false memories and distortions of memory. Usually they are caused by strong desires, passions, unsatisfied needs. For example, when a child is given a sweet, he quickly eats it, and then "forgets" about it and sincerely proves that he did not receive anything.

Memory distortion is often associated with a weakening of the ability to distinguish between one's own and someone else's, what a person experienced in reality, and what he heard about, saw in a movie or read. In the case of multiple repetitions of such memories, their complete personification occurs, i.e. a person begins to consider other people's thoughts as his own. The presence of facts of deception of memory indicates how closely it is connected with the fantasy of a person.

Memory is a process that takes place in the human psyche, due to which the display, saving and accumulation of material is carried out. In psychology, the definition of memory is the ability of the brain to remember, recreate, and store experiences. This process enables a person to remember the events and experiences of the past time, thinking consciously about its value in personal history, as well as comprehend the emotions and feelings associated with it.

This process helps that a person becomes able to expand their own cognitive abilities. in psychology, they have a complex structure, which consists of processes that ensure the perception of information and its fixation. This is a very complex process in which the accumulation, perception, systematization, storage and instant reproduction of the information received once is carried out.

Memory

This is a definition of the ability of an individual to remember, forget, reproduce and retain information from personal experience. This property helps a person to instantly move in time and space. There are various theories that have their own view of this concept. Association is a key concept in association theory. It carries out in memory the connection of the parts of the resulting material. When a person remembers something, he is looking for a connection between these materials, as well as those that need to be reproduced.

Associative laws of memory in psychology: similarity, contrast and adjacency. Similarity is manifested in the remembered material, which is then reproduced through a connection with similar similar material. Contrast occurs when the material to be memorized is strikingly different from what is being stored. Adjacency is expressed in the fact that the incoming material is remembered because of the previous material.

Kinds

This is a multilevel and multifunctional process. This complexity suggests the emergence of several of its types. Consider the classification of memory in psychology.

figurative memory

Figurative memory is the process of memorizing images formed on the basis of data from sensory systems. Functions of memory in psychology in the figurative process:

• visual (fixation of images of people or objects with which there was frequent contact);
• taste (various tastes that a person once felt);
• auditory (sounds that a person once heard);
• olfactory (smells with which an individual can associate a certain memory);
• tactile (tangential sensations reminiscent of people or objects).

motor memory

Considering the properties of memory in psychology, it is also worth mentioning motor memory. This is a kind with which a person learns to memorize a dance, ride a bicycle, swim, play games, make various appropriate movements and any work activity.

emotional memory

This psychology has the following: the ability to remember experiences of fear, feelings, remember emotions, as well as their relativity to a certain situation at a particular moment. If a person did not have such a mental process, he would become “emotionally dull” (the definition of the state of an individual in which he looks uninteresting, unattractive to others, a robot-like object). The ability to express emotions is the foundation of mental health.

implicit

This is the memory of an adult and a child for unconscious information. At the same time, memorization occurs regardless of consciousness, is closed and cannot be directly observed. This process is carried out with the need to find a solution in a certain situation, but then even the knowledge that a person has is not amenable to awareness. An example of this process is that in the process of socialization a person perceives the norms of society absolutely, and in his behavior is guided by them, without realizing the theoretical principles.

Explicit memory

In this case, such a definition of memory in psychology is applicable - this is the conscious use of the knowledge gained. They are recalled, retrieved when there is a need to solve a certain problem using this knowledge. This process can be arbitrary and involuntary. In the last process, traces remain from the images that have arisen automatically, unconsciously. developed more in childhood, it weakens with age.

Verbal-logical memory

This is memory, in psychology, the definition of which is divided into thoughts, judgments and words. It is also logical and mechanistic. The latter includes the memorization of material due to its regular repetition, when there is no awareness of the meaning of the information. The logical one makes connections according to the meaning in the memorized objects. Memory can be of 2 types according to the level of understanding of the memorized material: explicit and implicit.

Arbitrary memory

Arbitrary memory is a definition in psychology that is responsible for the purposeful memorization of an image. Regarding the duration in time, it is divided into short-term, instantaneous, long-term, operational.

instant memory

It is also called sensory, it is expressed in the retention of information that was perceived by sensory analyzers. In turn, it is divided into echoic and iconic.

echoic memory

This is post-image memory. It contains images of some 2-3 seconds after the auditory stimulus has arisen.

Iconic

It is a specific sensory recorder of visual stimuli. With the help of it, information is recorded in a general form. A person never distinguishes between environmental objects and iconic memory. If iconic information is replaced by other types of information, the visual sensation becomes more receptive. If the material comes to a person too quickly, there is a layering of information over the one that is still in the memory, and has already passed into long-term memory. This is called the reverse masking effect.

short term memory

Often, when a memory test is carried out, we are talking about short-term memory. It contributes to the memorization of images after a short-term, one-time perception and instant reproduction. In this process, the total number of stimuli that are perceived, as well as the physical nature, is important, but their information load is not taken into account.

This memory has a formula, followed by the number of stored objects. It sounds like "7 ± 2". When a person is shown stimulus material depicting a certain number of objects, he is able to remember five or nine of them in 30 seconds.

biological

Biological (genetic) memory is explained by the mechanism of heredity. This refers to the possession by a person of some patterns of behavior characteristic of people in the early periods of evolution, which is demonstrated in instincts, reflexes.

long term memory

It can store traces of images for a long time and makes it possible to use them later in future activities. Due to such memorization, a person can accumulate knowledge that he can then extract. This can be done at will or with the help of hypnosis when interfering with the brain and memory.

Depending on the target research activity, there are special types of this mental process: episodic, biological, reproductive, associative, autobiographical, reconstructive.

Memory training

Training happens at a time when people do not even notice it, as numerous books on psychology and memory tell us. Perception related to remembering the list of products to be purchased at the store, dates of birth, names of acquaintances - these are all considered training. At the same time, for development there are more specific exercises that contribute to the best memorization, as well as concentrating on the development of such abilities. If memory develops, other mental processes (perception, thinking, attention) develop along with it.

Mechanisms of memory in psychology

Known memory mechanisms are divided into semantic (logical) and mechanical.

Logical is directed to the meaning of the received information. At the same time, intensified work of thinking is proposed. The second type of memorization is associated with the form of the information received: sounds, words, images. The semantic content of the material does not completely lose its meaning when memorizing, but fades into the background.

This is the memorization of movements, the text of a poem, phone numbers. It should be noted that in practice it is difficult to draw a line between mechanical and logical memorization. This is clearly seen in the most popular memorization technique - repetition.

Today, there are a huge number of memory tests that can always be taken online. There are exercises for its development, the most common of which we will describe in the article.

Development of memory in adults

Exercise can be very different. Especially popular exercises are those that contribute to the development of attention, peripheral vision, visual memory, speed reading and observation. Vision, looking for consecutive numbers, fixes only a few cells, thus remembering the place of the required cell, as well as the cells of other numbers.

Development of photographic memory

Such an exercise according to the Aivazovsky method is to look at a certain object for 5 minutes. Next, you need to close your eyes and restore the image of this object in your head very clearly. In addition, these images can be drawn, which will only help improve the effectiveness of the exercise. It should be performed from time to time so that visual memory develops well.

"The match game"

This exercise helps to train visual memory. To do this, put 5 matches on the table, and for a long time at their location, then turn away, take another 5 matches and try to recreate the location of those that you managed to remember on another surface.

"Roman Room"

This exercise contributes to the development of the ability to structure the information received, while it also trains visual memory. You should remember the sequence of various objects, their color, details, shapes. As a result, more information is trained and remembered.

There are also exercises aimed at training auditory memory.

Exercises for its development in adults must obey strict rules. The initial exercise is reading aloud. The features of memory in psychology are different in that when a person voices the material that he has remembered, he develops his own vocabulary, improves intonation, diction, improves the ability to give brightness and emotional coloring to his speech. In addition, the auditory components of the read are better remembered. You need to read easily, as if you were just talking.

There are some rules: you need to pronounce the words clearly, with a certain arrangement, expressively pronouncing each word, do not “eat” the ending, pronounce the text as if it were the words of a speaker or a diplomat, laying out his thoughts on a serious issue. Moreover, if, adhering to the rules, you read for at least 10 minutes daily, you can notice good results in auditory memory and oratory skills in one month.

Daily study of poems is an easy and good way to practice. When studying a poem, one should understand its meaning, as well as highlight the techniques used by the author.

Auditory memory is excellently developed through eavesdropping. Once in a place full of people (on the street or in transport), you need to focus on the conversation between other people, comprehend the information, trying to remember it. Then, having come home, speak the heard conversations with the appropriate intonation, and also remember the expression on the faces of those people who spoke. Practicing in this way very often, you can learn to perceive the text fluently by ear, become much more sensitive and attentive to tone and intonation.

In today's world, almost everyone is used to the fact that they always have a tablet, phone, organizer at hand, where the necessary information is stored and which you can always peep there. Work, overloading the process of memorization with unnecessary information, inability to systematize this information leads to a weakening of memory development. A good example is a scout who cannot save a map, an operation plan on his phone, he does not have time to scroll through his notebook. All the necessary information should be stored in his head, any details in order to reproduce them clearly at the necessary moment.

Memory development

This is a huge plus of a person's personality at work and in everyday life. The study of memory in psychology is valued because in most professions it is a huge advantage, which helps to achieve great achievements at work and take on great responsibility. There are certain ways suitable for developing this process. To remember something, you need to focus on the material itself, on the process. It is necessary to comprehend the information, look for parallels in it regarding your experience. The more chances there are to establish this connection, the better memorization will be.

If you need to remember a certain element, for example, a phone number, name, number, you should not immediately rush to the Internet or a notebook for an answer. For two minutes, you need to abstract from the external, look into the depths of your own brain and try to remember yourself.

If you need to remember something important, you should recreate in your head some kind of image regarding this, a very vivid association. The brain is much easier to remember something original, so it will be easier to remember the necessary thing. In order to make it easier to remember numbers, you should divide them into groups, or create associations, as in the previous method.

An effective method of development is considered to be a simulator that develops cognitive abilities, which is called the Wikium project.

In order to remember something well, after perceiving the information, it is necessary to say it, then retell it to someone, it will be much easier to remember, and also better understand the meaning of what was said.

A simple method is to solve simple arithmetic problems in your mind.

In addition, scrolling through the events of the day in your head is considered an easy way to develop memorization. It is advisable to do this before going to bed at the end of the day, recreating all the episodes and details, experiences, feelings, emotions. In addition, you should evaluate your own actions and deeds.

Understanding the meaning of the text involves effective memorization. It is very unprofitable to memorize material mechanically without retelling it.

To effectively develop memory, you should train yourself to repeat all the new information. Initially, to memorize, you will need to repeat many times, after that the brain will be very developed in order to quickly memorize information.