How does our memory work? Why fail? There are many more questions than answers. However, at first glance, everything is simple: we put information into it, and then, when necessary, we extract it. And even if we have forgotten something, there are ways to remember - under hypnosis, for example.
Any psychologist will tell you that when we recall the deeds of bygone days, we mostly fantasize, and do not describe the real picture at all. The mechanism for retrieving information in memory is very fragile and unreliable. It often fails. Figuratively speaking, what we put into memory does not necessarily lie where we put it. Our memories differ significantly from the original. Memory never gives us an accurate "photograph" of the past.
In Cambridge, psychology students are necessarily shown such an experience: a group of subjects is shown a drawing and asked to reproduce it from memory. A day later, they again propose to display the drawing and a few days later again … So week after week. As a result, all the pictures are laid out in front of the students in a row. And what do they see? Each next image is different from the previous one, and the last one has nothing to do with the original. But they portrayed what they saw with their own eyes! And nevertheless … This means that memory is a creative reconstruction, and the older the information, the more it is “rewritten” in the brain. Scientists believe that false memories can be implanted into the brain, and on purpose. If they are suggested to you, then later you will not be able to distinguish false information from true. These embedded memories will appear real to you. Moreover, in the course of experiments it turns out that even a lie detector does not distinguish fantasy from truth in this case. Moreover, even under hypnosis, which until recently was considered almost the most reliable way to restore events forgotten by a person, people do not so much remember as invent.
Yes, you probably know from yourself how sometimes, when talking about a movie you saw once, you mix up scenes from different pictures and your fantasies. Remembering an event experienced in your youth, you and your old friends will certainly give different versions of it. And in everyday life this, of course, does not matter. But when does the police collect evidence? It can be very annoying: five, for example, witnesses of one incident give five different versions. And everyone talks as honestly as possible. And all because our memory is still a mystery to scientists. And whoever comes close to solving it, it seems, will receive the Nobel Prize. Hurry up …
TEST "CHECK YOUR MEMORY"
Answer the questions using four options:
never - 0 points;
rarely - 1 point;
sometimes - 2 points;
often - 3 points.
Promotional video:
1. Does it happen that you forget the last name or first name of a person with whom you often communicate?
2. Do you find it difficult to follow the action of a movie, TV show, book, because you forget what happened in the beginning?
3. When you enter a room, do it happen to you to remember painfully why, in fact, you came?
4. Does it happen that you forget about important planned things for you, for example, pay a bill at Sberbank?
5. Do you find it difficult to remember the phone numbers you regularly use?
6. Do you find it difficult to remember what happened yesterday?
7. Have you ever got lost in a familiar place?
8. Do you have difficulty remembering where you put this or that thing?
9. Does it happen that you forgot to turn off the gas, light, close the front door when leaving the apartment?
10. Do you happen to say the same thing several times, causing bewilderment to others?
11. Do you find it difficult to remember the names of popular people or the names of famous places?
12. Are you losing things?
13. Do you have to write everything down because you don't rely on your memory?
14. Is it difficult for you to memorize new recipes, addresses, phone numbers?
15. Does it happen that you instantly forget what you have just been told?
Calculate the result:
From 0 to 7 points - you have an excellent memory that can only be envied.
8 to 15 points: You should start training your memory. Here crosswords, memorizing poetry, logical tasks will help.
More than 15 points: your memory is, alas, in a deplorable state. It is very useful to consult a specialist.