Contents:
- Medical Video: 3 Things You Agreed to Before You Were Born (You Forgot These)
- It turns out that this is the reason why humans forget
- 1. Information is not stored in long-term memory
- 2. Replaced with new information
- 3. Lots of similar information
- 4. Information disappears by itself
- Is there a way to not forget?
Medical Video: 3 Things You Agreed to Before You Were Born (You Forgot These)
Meeting someone but forgetting his name, once told something but forgot who, or even forgot the birthday of the closest person is a handful of complaints from many people whose roots are actually just one - that is forgetting. Yes, it seems easy for humans to forget something. Have you ever guessed, what exactly is the cause of forgetfulness?
It turns out that this is the reason why humans forget
The brain is filled with a large amount of memory that has been formed as long as you live. Starting from deep memories to even the most trivial ones. Research carried out by cognitive psychologists in recent decades has revealed that there are at least two main memory systems in the human mind, namely short-term memory and long-term memory.
In addition to having differences in time to remember information, these two systems are also believed to have different levels in their ability to remember in detail the information that has been received. That is, even though you can store a lot of things in memory, the memory details are not always "clear" and are often quite limited.
Maybe you yourself have often heard sayings like, "It's called a human being, it's natural to forget something." However, humans actually forget easily because their abilities are limited or because they are lazy to remember? To answer this question, see the explanation for why people forget easily below.
1. Information is not stored in long-term memory
Without your realizing it, one of the causes often forgets is because the information is not stored as long-term memory. This is what results in an information that you cannot remember in detail.
This is easy, an experiment from the researchers asked a group of participants to distinguish the correct metal coins from some pictures of wrong coins. Then, the selected coins are compared to the correct coins. Apparently, most participants were wrong when choosing the correct coin picture.
Why can it be wrong? The possibility is because you tend to remember the shapes and colors only, but the difficulty in remembering the characteristics of other coins in detail. This is because the details of the coins have not been properly processed into your long-term memory.
2. Replaced with new information
When you're chatting with friends, suddenly there is a chat section that seems to have vanished from your memory. In fact, maybe you've actually remembered that, but then you have forgotten it unconsciously. Well, this condition is one of the most common easy-to-forget causes.
The most likely reason for this phenomenon is known as the name decay theory. According to this theory, the memory flow is created every time a new memory is formed. Over time, the flow of this memory can only fade until it disappears. Especially if the memory flow is never "turned on" again by remembering the event or seeing a photo that can remind you of certain memories.
Finally the flow of memory of an information that has never been turned on will be replaced with a new memory flow. This memory flow certainly contains fresh, new information.
3. Lots of similar information
Another theory related to memory is that interference theory. This theory explains that some memories seem to compete with each other. This usually happens when you receive information that is very similar to other information that has already been stored in memory.
Then this similar information will "defend" each other, who will be stored in the long-term memory, which will be stored in the short term, and which will be immediately discarded.
4. Information disappears by itself
The human brain can actually work actively to forget things, especially memories or traumatic experiences. How can?
Yes, reported on the page Psychology Today, this is believed thanks to the existence of a cannabinoid neurotransmitter system in the brain, which plays a role in supporting the work of sensory nerves. These neurotransmitters, aka brain chemicals, are tasked to focus your attention on sensory stimulation at this time, not in the past.
That way the brain becomes able to function normally to undergo daily tasks such as logical thinking, making decisions, composing sentences, and maintaining focus on the present. This is the way the brain reminds humans of the importance of life in the present, don't get trapped in the past.
Over time, traumatic or irrelevant memories will become more "buried", although they may not disappear completely.
Is there a way to not forget?
Actually, forgetting can be said as a natural condition that occurs in humans. However, because the ability of the human brain is limited, it does not mean that you just let go. Every now and then try to train your brain's ability to remember something.
According to Dr. Adam Gazzaley, Ph.D., a director and founder of the Neuroscience Imaging Center at the University of California, San Francisco, the brain can work better when it gets a "challenge".
So that, Dr. Adam recommends always trying to focus your attention on the tasks or activities that you are living. Preferably, do it until it's completely finished, then you can do the next activity. In other words, you should avoid itmultitaskingwhich makes you difficult to focus so that it becomes easy to forget.
