What is memory

What we sense and perceive does not disappear without a trace; everything is remembered to one degree or another. Excitations coming into the brain from external and internal stimuli leave “traces” in it that can persist for many years. These “traces” (combinations of nerve cells) create the possibility of excitation even when the stimulus that caused it is absent. Based on this, a person can remember and save, and subsequently reproduce his feelings, perceptions of any objects, thoughts, speech, actions.

Just like sensation and perception, memory is a process of reflection, and not only what acts directly on the senses is reflected, but also what took place in the past.

Memory- this is the remembering, preservation and subsequent reproduction of what we previously perceived, experienced or did. In other words, memory is a reflection of a person’s experience by remembering, preserving and reproducing it.

Memory is an amazing property of human consciousness, it is the renewal in our consciousness of the past, images of what once impressed us.

In old age I live again, The past passes before me. How long has it been full of events, worrying like a sea-ocean?

Now it is silent and calm, Not many faces have been preserved in my memory, Few words reach me, But the rest has perished irrevocably...

A.S. Pushkin."Boris Godunov"

No other mental function can be carried out without the participation of memory. And memory itself is unthinkable outside of other mental processes. THEM. Sechenov noted that without memory, our sensations and perceptions, “disappearing without a trace as they arise, would leave a person forever in the position of a newborn.”

Let's imagine a person who has lost his memory. The student was woken up in the morning and told to have breakfast and go to class. Most likely he would not have come to the institute, and if he had come, he would not have known what to do there, he would have forgotten who he was, what his name was, where he lived, etc., he would have forgotten his native language and could not say a word . The past would no longer exist for him, the present is hopeless, since he cannot remember anything, cannot learn anything.

When remembering any images, thoughts, words, feelings, movements, we always remember them in a certain connection with each other. Without establishing certain connections, neither memorization, nor recognition, nor reproduction is possible. What does it mean to memorize a poem? This means remembering a series of words in a certain connection, sequence. What does it mean to remember some foreign word, for example the French “la table”? This means establishing a connection between this word and the object that it denotes, or the Russian word “table”. The connections that underlie memory activity are called associations. Association is a connection between separate representations in which one of these representations causes another.

Objects or phenomena that are connected in reality are also connected in human memory. To remember something means to connect what is being remembered with something, to weave what needs to be remembered into a network of existing connections, to form associations.

There are a few types of associations:

- by adjacency: perception or thought about one object or phenomenon entails the recall of other objects and phenomena adjacent to the first in space or time (this is how a sequence of actions is remembered, for example);

- by similarity: images of objects, phenomena or their thoughts evoke memories of something similar to them. These associations underlie poetic metaphors, for example, the sound of waves is likened to the talking of people;

- by contrast: sharply different phenomena are associated - noise and silence, high and low, good and evil, white and black, etc.

Various associations are involved in the process of memorization and reproduction. For example, we remember the surname of a person we know, a) passing near the house in which he lives, b) meeting someone similar to him, c) calling another surname, which comes from a word opposite in meaning to the one from which the surname comes a friend, for example, Belov - Chernov.

In the process of memorization and reproduction, semantic connections play an extremely important role: cause - effect, the whole - its part, the general - the particular.

Memory connects a person’s past with his present and ensures the unity of personality. A person needs to know a lot and remember a lot, more and more with every year of life. Books, records, tape recorders, cards in libraries, computers help a person remember, but the main thing is his own memory.

In Greek mythology, there is the goddess of memory, Mnemosyne (or Mnemosyne, from the Greek word for "memory"). By the name of its goddess, memory in psychology is often called a mnemonic activity.

In scientific psychology, the problem of memory is “the same age as psychology as a science” (P.P. Blonsky). Memory is a very complex mental process, therefore, despite numerous studies, a unified theory of memory mechanisms has not yet been created. New scientific evidence shows that memory processes involve complex electrical and chemical changes in the brain's nerve cells.

Types of memory

The forms of manifestation of memory are very diverse, since it is associated with various spheres of a person’s life, with his characteristics.

All types of memory can be divided into three groups:

1) What a person remembers (objects and phenomena, thoughts, movements, feelings).

Accordingly, they distinguish: motor, emotional, verbal-logical And aboutdifferent memory;

2) How a person remembers (accidentally or intentionally). Here they highlight arbitrary And involuntary memory;

3) how long the memorized information is saved.

This short-term, long-term And operational memory.

Motor (or motor) memory allows you to remember abilities, skills, various movements and actions. If it were not for this type of memory, then a person would have to learn to walk, write, and perform various activities all over again.

Emotional memory helps to remember the feelings, emotions, experiences that we experienced in certain situations. Here's how A.S. talks about it. Pushkin:

I thought my heart had forgotten the ability to suffer easily, I said: what happened will never happen! It won't happen! Delights and sorrows are gone, And gullible dreams...

But here we are again in awe of the powerful power of beauty.

K.S. Stanislavsky wrote about emotional memory: “Since you are able to turn pale and blush at the mere memory of what you have experienced, since you are afraid to think about a misfortune experienced long ago, you have a memory for feelings, or emotional memory.”

Emotional memory is of great importance in the formation of a person’s personality, being the most important condition for his spiritual development.

Semantic, or verbal-logical memory is expressed in the memorization, preservation and reproduction of thoughts, concepts, reflections, and verbal formulations. The form of thought reproduction depends on the level of human speech development. The less developed speech is, the more difficult it is to express the meaning in your own words.

Figurative memory.

This type of memory is associated with our senses, thanks to which a person perceives the world around us. In accordance with our senses, there are 5 types of figurative memory: auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile. These types of figurative memory are developed unevenly in humans; one is always predominant.

Arbitrary memory presupposes the presence of a special goal to remember, which a person sets and applies appropriate techniques for this, making volitional efforts.

Involuntary memory does not imply a special goal to remember or recall this or that material, incident, phenomenon; they are remembered as if by themselves, without the use of special techniques, without volitional efforts. Involuntary memory is an inexhaustible source of knowledge. In the development of memory, involuntary memorization precedes voluntary memorization. It is very important to understand that a person involuntarily remembers not everything, but what is connected with his personality and activities. What we involuntarily remember, first of all, is what we like, what we noticed by chance, what we are actively and enthusiastically working on.

Therefore, involuntary memory also has an active character. Animals already have involuntary memory. However, “the animal remembers, but the animal does not remember. In man, we clearly distinguish both of these phenomena of memory” (K. Ushinsky). The best way to remember and retain it in memory for a long time is to apply knowledge in practice. In addition, memory does not want to retain in consciousness what contradicts the attitudes of the individual.

Short-term and long-term memory.

These two types of memory differ in the duration of retention of what a person remembers. Short-term memory has a relatively short duration - a few seconds or minutes. It is sufficient for accurate reproduction of events that have just occurred, objects and phenomena that have just been perceived. After a short time, the impressions disappear, and the person usually finds himself unable to remember anything from what he perceived. Long-term memory ensures long-term retention of material. What is important here is the attitude to remember for a long time, the need for this information for the future, and its personal significance for a person.

They also highlight operational memory, which is understood as remembering some information for the time necessary to perform an operation, a separate act of activity. For example, in the process of solving any problem, it is necessary to retain in memory the initial data and intermediate operations, which may later be forgotten, until the result is obtained.

In the process of human development, the relative sequence of formation of types of memory looks something like this:

All types of memory are necessary and valuable in themselves; in the process of a person’s life and growing up, they do not disappear, but are enriched and interact with each other.

Memory processes

The basic processes of memory are memorization, reproduction, storage, recognition, forgetting. The quality of operation of the entire memory apparatus is judged by the nature of reproduction.

Memory begins with remembering. Memorization- this is a memory process that ensures the preservation of material in memory as the most important condition for its subsequent reproduction.

Memorization can be unintentional or intentional. At unintentional memorization a person does not set a goal to remember and does not make any effort for this. Memorization happens “by itself.” This is how one remembers mainly that which vividly interests a person or evokes in him a strong and deep feeling: “I will never forget this!” But any activity requires that a person remember many things that are not remembered by themselves. Then comes into effect deliberate, conscious remembering, i.e. the goal is to remember the material.

Memorization can be mechanical and semantic. Rote is based mainly on the consolidation of individual connections and associations. Semantic memorization associated with thinking processes. To remember new material, a person must understand it, comprehend it, i.e. find deep and meaningful relationships between this new material and existing knowledge.

If the main condition for mechanical memorization is repetition, then the condition for semantic memorization is understanding.

Both mechanical and semantic memorization are of great importance in a person’s mental life. When memorizing proofs of a geometric theorem or analyzing historical events or a literary work, semantic memorization comes to the fore. In other cases, remember the house number, telephone number, etc. - the main role belongs to mechanical memorization. In most cases, memory must rely on both comprehension and repetition. This is especially evident in academic work. For example, when memorizing a poem or any rule, you cannot get by with understanding alone, just as you cannot get by with mechanical repetition alone.

If memorization has the character of specially organized work associated with the use of certain techniques for the best assimilation of knowledge, it is called by memorization.

Memorization depends:

a) on the nature of the activity, on the processes of goal setting: voluntary memorization, based on a consciously set goal - to remember, is more effective than involuntary;

b) from installation - remember for a long time or remember for a short time.

We often set out to memorize some material knowing that, in all likelihood, we will only use it on a certain day or until a certain date and that it will not matter then. Indeed, after this period we forget what we have learned.

Emotionally charged material is better learned when a person approaches it with interest and is personally significant to him. This kind of memorization is motivated.

This is very convincingly shown in the story by K. Paustovsky “The Glory of the Boatswain Mironov”:

“...And then an unusual story happened with the boatswain Mironov in the Mayak editorial office...

I don’t remember who - the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs or Vneshtorg - asked the editors to report all the information about Russian ships taken abroad. You need to know that the entire merchant fleet was taken away to understand how difficult it was.

And when we sat through the hot Odessa days over ship lists, when the editorial office was sweating from tension and remembering the old captains, when exhaustion from the confusion of new ship names, flags, tons and “deadweights” reached its highest tension, Mironov appeared in the editorial office.

Give it up,” he said. - So you won't succeed.

I will speak, and you write. Write! The steamer "Jerusalem". Now sailing under the French flag from Marseille to Madagascar, chartered by the French company "Paquet", the crew is French, captain Borisov, the boatswains are all ours, the underwater part has not been cleaned since nineteen seventeen. Write further. The steamer "Muravyov-Apostol" has now been renamed "Anatol". Sails under the English flag, carries grain from Montreal to Liverpool and London, chartered by the Royal Mail Canada Company. The last time I saw him was last year in the fall in New Port Newos.

This lasted three days. For three days from morning to evening, smoking cigarettes, he dictated a list of all the ships of the Russian merchant fleet, calling out their new names, captains' names, voyages, condition of the boilers, crew composition, cargo. The captains just shook their heads. Marine Odessa became agitated. The rumor about the monstrous memory of the boatswain Mironov spread like lightning..."

An active attitude to the learning process is very important, which is impossible without intense attention. For memorization, it is more useful to read the text 2 times with full concentration than to reread it 10 times inattentively. Therefore, trying to memorize something in a state of severe fatigue, drowsiness, when you cannot concentrate properly, is a waste of time. The worst and most uneconomical way to memorize is to mechanically reread the text while waiting for it to be remembered. Reasonable and economical memorization is active work on the text, which involves the use of a number of techniques for better memorization.

V.D. Shadrikov, for example, offers the following methods of random or organized memorization:

Grouping - dividing material into groups for some reason (by meaning, associations, etc.), highlighting strong points (thesis, titles, questions, examples, etc., in this sense, compiling cheat sheets is useful for memorizing ), plan - a set of support points; classification - distribution of any objects, phenomena, concepts into classes, groups based on common characteristics.

Structuring the material is the establishment of the relative arrangement of the parts that make up the whole.

Schematization is an image or description of something in its main features.

Analogy is the establishment of similarities, similarities between phenomena, objects, concepts, images.

Mnemonic devices are certain techniques or methods of memorization.

Recoding - verbalization or pronunciation, presentation of information in figurative form.

Completing the memorized material, introducing new things into memorization (using words or intermediary images, situational features, etc. For example, M.Yu. Lermontov was born in 1814, died in 1841).

Associations establishing connections by similarity, contiguity or opposition.

Repetition consciously controlled and not controlled processes of material reproduction. It is necessary to begin attempts to reproduce the text as early as possible, since internal activity strongly mobilizes attention and makes memorization successful. Memorization occurs more quickly and is more durable when repetitions do not immediately follow each other, but are separated by more or less significant periods of time.

Playback- an essential component of memory. Reproduction can occur at three levels: recognition, reproduction itself (voluntary and involuntary), remembering (in conditions of partial forgetting, requiring volitional effort).

Recognition- the simplest form of reproduction. Recognition is the development of a feeling of familiarity when experiencing something again.

Involuntarily, an unknown force draws me to these sad shores.

Everything here reminds me of the past...

A.S. Pushkin."Mermaid"

Playback- a more “blind” process, it is characterized by the fact that images fixed in memory arise without relying on the secondary perception of certain objects. It's easier to learn than to reproduce.

At unintentional reproduction thoughts, words, etc. are remembered by themselves, without any conscious intention on our part. Unintended playback may be caused by associations. We say: “I remembered.” Here thought follows association. At deliberate reproduction we say: “I remember.” Here associations already follow thought.

If reproduction is associated with difficulties, we talk about recollection.

Recall- the most active reproduction, it is associated with tension and requires certain volitional efforts. The success of recall depends on understanding the logical connection between the forgotten material and the rest of the material, which is well preserved in memory. It is important to evoke a chain of associations that indirectly help to remember what is needed. K.D. Ushinsky gave the following advice to teachers: do not impatiently prompt a student trying to remember the material, since the process of remembering itself is useful - what the child himself managed to remember will be remembered well in the future.

When remembering, a person uses various techniques:

1) intentional use of associations - we reproduce in memory various kinds of circumstances directly related to what needs to be remembered, in the hope that they will, by association, evoke forgotten things in our consciousness (for example, where did I put the key? Did I turn it off? I iron when leaving the apartment? etc.);

2) reliance on recognition (we have forgotten the exact patronymic of a person - Pyotr Andreevich, Pyotr Alekseevich, Pyotr Antonovich - we think that if we accidentally find the correct patronymic, we will immediately recognize it, experiencing a feeling of familiarity.

Recall is a complex and very active process that requires persistence and resourcefulness.

The most important of all the qualities that determine the productivity of memory is its readiness - the ability to quickly extract from the stock of remembered information exactly what is needed at the moment. Psychologist K.K. Platonov drew attention to this. that there are families who know a LOT, but all their baggage lies in their memory as dead weight. When you need to remember something, what you need is always forgotten, and what you don’t need just pops into your head. Others may have less luggage, but they have everything at hand, and exactly what they need is always reproduced in their memory.

K.K. Platonov gave useful tips for memorization. You cannot first learn something in general and then develop memory readiness. The readiness of memory itself is formed in the process of memorization, which must necessarily be semantic and during which connections are immediately established between memorization and those cases when this information may be needed. When memorizing something, we need to understand why we are doing it and in what cases this or that information may be needed.

Saving and Forgetting- these are two sides of a single process of long-term retention of perceived information. Preservation - this is retention in memory, and forgetting - it is a disappearance, a loss from the memory of what has been memorized.

At different ages, in different life circumstances, in different types of activities, different material is forgotten, as well as remembered, in different ways. Forgetting isn't always such a bad thing. How overloaded our memory would be if we remembered absolutely everything! Forgetting, like memorizing, is a selective process that has its own laws.

When remembering, people willingly resurrect the good and forget the bad in their lives (for example, a memory of a hike - difficulties are forgotten, but everything fun and good is remembered). What is forgotten first of all is that which is not of vital importance to a person, does not arouse his interest, and does not occupy a significant place in his activity. What excited us is remembered much better than what left us indifferent and indifferent.

Thanks to forgetting, a person clears space for new impressions and, freeing memory from a pile of unnecessary details, gives it a new opportunity to serve our thinking. This is well reflected in popular proverbs, for example: “Whoever needs someone is remembered by him.”

At the end of the 1920s, forgetting was studied by German and Russian psychologists Kurt Lewin and B.V. Zeigarnik. They proved that interrupted actions are retained in memory more firmly than completed ones. An unfinished action leaves a person with subconscious tension and it is difficult for him to concentrate on something else. At the same time, simple monotonous work like knitting cannot be interrupted, it can only be abandoned. But when, for example, a person writes a letter and is interrupted in the middle, a disturbance in the tension system occurs, which does not allow this unfinished action to be forgotten. This interruption of unfinished action is called the Zeigarnik effect.

But forgetting, of course, is not always good, so we often struggle with it. One of the means of such struggle is repetition. Any knowledge that is not consolidated by repetition is gradually forgotten. But for better preservation, variety must be introduced into the repetition process itself.

Forgetting begins soon after memorization and at first proceeds at a particularly rapid pace. In the first 5 days, more is forgotten after memorization than in the next 5 days. Therefore, you should repeat what you have learned not when it has already been forgotten, but while forgetting has not yet begun. To prevent forgetting, a quick repetition is enough, but to restore what has been forgotten requires a lot of work.

But this doesn't always happen. Experiments show that reproduction is often most complete not immediately after memorization, but after a day, two or even three days. During this time, the learned material is not only not forgotten, but, on the contrary, is consolidated in memory. This is observed mainly when memorizing extensive material. This leads to a practical conclusion: you should not think that you can best answer in an exam what you learned immediately before the exam, for example, on the same morning.

More favorable conditions for reproduction are created when the learned material “rests” for some time. It is necessary to take into account the fact that subsequent activities, which are very similar to the previous one, can sometimes “erase” the results of previous memorization. This sometimes happens if you study literature after history.

Forgetting can be a consequence of various disordersmemory:

1) senile, when an elderly person remembers early childhood, but does not remember all the immediate events,

2) with a concussion, the same phenomena are often observed as in old age,

3) split personality - after sleep a person imagines himself to others, forgets everything about himself.

It is often difficult for a person to remember anything specifically. To make memorization easier, people have come up with different ways, they are called memorization techniques or mnemonics. Let's list some of them.

1. Rhyme technique. Any person remembers poetry better than prose. Therefore, it will be difficult to forget the rules of behavior on the escalator in the subway, if you present them in the form of a humorous quatrain:

Don’t put canes, umbrellas and suitcases on the steps, don’t lean on the railings, stand on the right, pass on the left.

Or, for example, in the Russian language there are eleven exception verbs that are not easy to remember. What if we rhyme them?

See, hear and offend, persecute, endure and hate,

And turn, look, hold,

And depend and breathe,

Look, -it, -at, -yat write.

Or, so as not to confuse the bisector and the median in geometry:

A bisector is a rat that runs around the corners and divides the corner in half.

The median is the kind of monkey that jumps to a side and divides it equally.

Or, to remember all the colors of the rainbow, remember the funny sentence: “How Jacques the bell-ringer once broke a lantern with his head.” Here, each word and color begins with one letter - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.

2. A number of mnemonic techniques are used when memorizing the dates of birth of famous people or significant events. For example, I.S. Turgenev was born in 1818 (18-18), A.S. Pushkin was born one year earlier than the 19th century (1799), M.Yu. Lermontov was born in 1814 and died in 1841 (14-41).

3. To remember which is the organ of daytime vision and which is the organ of night vision - rods or cones, you can remember the following: it is easier to go with a rod at night, but in the laboratory they work with cones during the day.

Memory qualities

What is good and bad memory?

Memory starts with memorization the information that our senses receive from the world around us. All images, words, impressions in general must be retained, remain in our memory. In psychology this process is called - preservation. When necessary, we reproduce previously seen, heard, experienced. It is by reproduction that the quality of operation of the entire memory apparatus is judged.

Good memory is the ability to remember quickly and a lot, to reproduce accurately and on time.

However, all a person’s successes and failures, his victories and losses, discoveries and mistakes cannot be attributed to memory alone. No wonder the French thinker F. La Rochefoucauld wittily remarked: “Everyone complains about their memory, but no one complains about their mind.”

So, memory qualities:

1) speed of memorization. However, it acquires value only in combination with other qualities;

2) preservation strength;

3) memory accuracy - absence of distortions or omissions of essential things;

4) memory readiness- the ability to quickly retrieve from memory reserves what is needed at the moment.

Not all people quickly memorize material, remember for a long time and accurately reproduce or remember exactly at the very moment when it is needed. And this manifests itself differently in relation to different materials, depending on a person’s interests, his profession, and personal characteristics. Someone remembers faces well, but poorly remembers mathematical material, others have a good musical memory, but poor for literary texts, etc. In schoolchildren and students, poor memorization of material often depends not on poor memory, but on poor attention, on a lack of interest in this subject, etc.

Performance

One of the main manifestations of memory is reproduction of images. Images of objects and phenomena that we do not perceive at the moment are called presentations. Ideas arise as a result of the revival of previously formed temporary connections; they can be evoked through the mechanism of associations, using words or descriptions.

Representations are different from concepts. The concept has a more generalized and abstract character, the representation has a visual character. A representation is an image of an object, a concept is a thought about an object. Thinking about something and imagining something are not the same thing. For example, a thousandgon - there is a concept, but it cannot be imagined. The source of ideas are sensations and perceptions - visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, kinesthetic.

Representations are characterized by clarity, i.e. direct similarity with the corresponding objects and phenomena (we internally or mentally “see”, “hear”, “smell”, “feel” touch, etc.).

I see Pavlovsk as hilly. The round meadow, lifeless water, The most languid and the most shady, After all, it will never be forgotten.

A. Akhmatova

But ideas are usually much poorer than perceptions. Representations never convey with equal brightness all the features and characteristics of objects; only individual features are clearly reproduced.

Ideas are very unstable and fickle. The exception is people who have highly developed ideas related to their profession, for example, musicians have auditory ones, artists have visual ones, tasters have olfactory ones, etc.

Representations are the result of processing and generalization of past perceptions. Without perceptions, ideas could not be formed: those born blind have no ideas about colors and colors, those born deaf have no ideas of sound.

Representation is more accurately called memory representation, since it is associated with the work of figurative memory. The difference between ideas and perceptions is that ideas give a more generalized reflection of objects. The representations generalize individual perceptions, emphasize the constant signs of things and phenomena, and omit the random signs that were previously present in individual perceptions. For example, we see a tree - an image of perception, we imagine a tree - the image is duller, more vague and inaccurate.

Representation is a generalized reflection of the surrounding world. We say “river” and imagine it: two banks, flowing water. We saw many different rivers; the presentation reflects visual signs characteristic of objects and phenomena. We can only perceive a specific river - the Volga, Moscow River, Kama, Yenisei, Oka, etc., the image of perception is accurate.

To imagine means to mentally see or mentally hear something, and not just to know. Representation is a higher level of cognition than perception, they are a stage of transition from sensation to thought, it is a visual and at the same time generalized image, reflecting the characteristic features of an object.

We can imagine the sound of a steamship whistle, the taste of lemon, the smell of gasoline, perfume, flowers, touching something, or a toothache. Of course, anyone who has never had toothache cannot imagine this. Usually, when telling something, we ask: “Can you imagine?!”

In the formation of general ideas, speech plays a crucial role, naming a number of objects in one word.

Ideas are formed in the process of human activity, therefore, depending on the profession, one type of ideas predominantly develops. But the division of ideas by type is very arbitrary.

Definition

Memory is the ability to reproduce past experiences, one of the main properties of the nervous system, expressed in the ability to store information for a long time and repeatedly enter it into the sphere of consciousness and behavior. The processes of memorization, preservation and reproduction are distinguished, including recognition, recollection, and recollection itself. There are voluntary and involuntary memory, direct and indirect, short-term and long-term. Special types of memory: motor (memory-habit), emotional or affective (memory of “feelings”), figurative and verbal-logical.

The impressions that a person receives about the world around him leave a certain trace, are stored, consolidated, and, if necessary and possible, reproduced. These processes are called memory.

Essence of the process

Memory can be defined as the ability to receive, store and reproduce life experiences. Various instincts, congenital and acquired mechanisms of behavior are nothing more than imprinted, inherited or acquired experience in the process of individual life. Thanks to his memory and its improvement, man stood out from the animal kingdom and reached the heights at which he is now. And further progress of humanity without constant improvement of this function is unthinkable.

Classification

Based on storage time, memory is divided into:

Instant	0.1 – 0.5 s	– retention of an accurate and complete picture of the information just perceived by the senses. (memory - image).
Short term	up to 20 s	– is a method of storing information for a short period of time. It preserves the most essential elements of the image. From instant memory, only that information that attracts increased attention gets into it.
Operational	up to several days	- storage of information for a certain, predetermined period. The storage period of information in this memory is determined by the task facing the person.
Long-term	Unlimited	- storage of information for an unlimited period of time. This information can be reproduced as many times as desired (temporarily) without loss.
Genetic		- information that is stored in the genotype is transmitted and reproduced by inheritance.
Visual		- preservation and reproduction of visual images.
Auditory		- memorization and accurate reproduction of various sounds.
Motor		- memorization and preservation, and, if necessary, reproduction with sufficient accuracy of a variety of complex movements.
Emotional		- memory for experiences. What causes emotional experiences in a person is remembered by him without much difficulty and for a longer period.
Tactile, olfactory, gustatory...		- satisfaction of biological needs or needs related to the safety and self-preservation of the body.

By the nature of the participation of the will in the processes:

Process Development

The development of memory in general depends on the person, on the sphere of his activity.

And it directly depends on the normal functioning and development of other “cognitive” processes. Working on a particular process, a person without thinking, develops and trains his memory.

the ability to retain perceptions and ideas after the moment of experience; memory also means (figuratively speaking) storage. For a thinking being, after perception, the most necessary thing is memory. Its importance is so great that where it is absent, all our other abilities are for the most part useless; in our thinking, inferences and knowledge, we could not go beyond the limits of the objects directly given to us without the assistance of memory. While recollection is a mental act, an act of using the property of memory, memory itself is a hidden force that has the ability to mobilize this property in a certain way and make its use possible. In different animals, as well as in individual people, the strength of memory and its direction are different. According to the theory of memory, each experience leaves a “trace” in the large hemispheres of the brain, and memory can only operate if a connection is created between this trace and a new experience. There are only assumptions about the nature of the formation of this connection. It is a false assumption in psychological theory that the trace of a new experience must coincide with an old trace in order for a past experience to be remembered, or that when an experience is repeated frequently (for example, during learning), a “path” is laid out in the cerebral hemispheres of the brain. "from special excitation conductors. In recognition, we are probably talking about the formation of a pair (as it is formed, for example, in the field of perception between two visible points of the same color, provided that the property of the intermediate field is sufficiently different from both members of the pair) between the image of perception and the (unconscious) image - next, and the degree of similarity and proximity (spatial and temporal) are of decisive importance (see Subconscious). The trace image changes over time. Firstly, he is identified with the mass of other trace images, loses himself in them and becomes elusive for a new experience (incipient and progressive forgetting). Secondly, it changes in such a way that what is remembered or, due to an external reason, reproduced in memory has a clearer image than the corresponding experience itself; in memory, as in perception and representation, a tendency towards clarity and pregnancy prevails (see Pregnancy rule), and the trace image improves in the direction of a “good” image (see Gestalt). The latter has the consequence that “the same formation, from the point of view of the image, is not different, if it is encountered a second time after a fairly long period of time, it immediately looks many times worse, fades, etc. d. The improved trace of the old perception is effective as a latent scale of the new perception, and for this there is no need to evoke the image of the previously seen or the memory of the first meeting "(Metzger, Psychologie, 1941). t With regard to memory disorders, theories and methods Research on these disorders mainly began to take shape as medical knowledge spread from the end of the 19th century. The greatest pioneering contribution to their study was made by Théodule Armand Ribot, a French psychologist, Sergei Sergeevich Korsakov, a Russian psychiatrist, and Pierre Janet, a French neurologist. Their joint The contribution can be summarized as follows: memory loss, although related to brain function, can occur without organic damage (e.g. in hysterics) and is not necessarily accompanied by dementia (loss of reasoning ability). In fact, memory loss can occur due to emotional anxiety, as demonstrated by Sigmund Freud Memory defects are among the most commonly observed symptoms of a damaged brain and can be temporary (as after an epileptic seizure) or permanent (as after a serious head injury). If a person’s ability to retain new impressions is impaired, then he suffers from anterograde amnesia; the pronounced loss of previous memories is called retrograde amnesia. Both may, although not necessarily, occur simultaneously. Even with the most severe amnesia, immediate (short-term) memory remains intact, suggesting that new impressions are initially imprinted and processed for a long time before causing a reaction. Korsakoff's syndrome, which is now known to be caused by many physical causes in addition to alcoholism, may manifest itself as retrograde amnesia for some time before the onset of the disorder, but its main psychological characteristic is an anterograde loss of the ability to perceive new things. Physical trauma that causes loss of consciousness can cause the victim to become disorientated for several days upon awakening. Upon recovery, he is often unable to remember anything about this period, and he may also develop retrograde amnesia for earlier events. Memory disorder also includes retrospective distortion - purposeful embellishment of what is preserved in memory; Deja vu is the mystical feeling that a person has already experienced the same thing in the past, and Jamais vu is the incorrect impression that he has never encountered this phenomenon before. See experience de ja vu. Previously existing theories of memory: metaphysical theory, anamnesis, originating from Plato, psychological theory - from the time of Aristotle; since the beginning of modern times - associationist theory, psychological theory of the 19th century. In the spirit of the latter, Ewald Goering in his work. "Ber das Gedächtnis" (1870) attempts to present memory as a "universal function of organized matter" and also considers the processes of inheritance as the implementation of this function. R. Semon developed these ideas further in his theory of mnemony (see Mnemony), developed in more detail by Bleier in his theory of memory. For the art of memory, see Mnemonics.

According to modern psychological concepts, the human cognitive system includes several types of memory. These include a primitive method of storing information - sensory memory, which, unlike other types of memory, does not depend on higher cognitive functions (such as, for example, attention) and conscious control - here the information is not transformed and is not associated with other information. Sensory perception (iconic, echoic, tactile, etc.) allows us to select only essential, adaptively valuable information. This is a kind of large-capacity buffer for storing “raw” unprocessed information, coupled with a filter capable of carrying out such selection. By storing a complete sensory image in the sensory perception for a short time, we get the opportunity to scan directly observed events, abstract the most significant stimuli for us and integrate them into the matrix of our perception. The sensory perception retains input signals for a short period of time (from 250 milliseconds to 4 c), it is precise and cannot be controlled.

Information selected by the sensory system is quickly transferred to short-term memory and then either replaced by other incoming information or retained through repetition. Short-term P. effortlessly restores in consciousness what is happening now, at a given time, she needs about one second in order to study the information and spontaneously forget most of it within 15-30 seconds.

Unlike short-term, long-term information requires serious effort and search; its volume is enormous, and the duration of information storage is limited only by age. Human thought consciously (and sometimes unconsciously) starts the process of extracting information from long-term memory and then briefly retains the necessary data in short-term memory, where it is processed. Long-term P. contains information organized in a certain way regarding the spatial-figurative model of the surrounding world, beliefs and views regarding oneself and other people, values ​​and social goals, our skills, as well as perceptual skills in understanding speech, interpreting painting or music, and scientific knowledge. etc.

Experimental data accumulated in cognitive psychology allowed E. Tulving (1972) to suggest the existence of two types of long-term memory - episodic and semantic. There is also a lower form of long-term P.-procedural P., which preserves the connections between stimuli and reactions. Episodic memory allows you to store information ordered in time about individual episodes and events, about the connection between these events, and to remember and consciously reproduce in time sequence images of specific persons, objects, and actions. Episodic P. is subject to changes and losses as new information becomes available. Most of our behavioral “repertoire” is ritualized and corresponds to simple scripts - instructions, diagrams that record the sequence of actions and relationships between participants in events. In episodic P., units of stereotypical information - scenarios - are constantly accumulated, which are organized into structures of a higher order - clusters. This type of memory stores mainly figurative information, which forms the basis for recognizing people, events, places, etc. that we perceived in the past.

Semantic P. is the P. necessary for using the language for words (and other verbal symbols), concepts, rules, formulas, algorithms for manipulating symbols, abstract ideas, etc. Such P. recreates meaning (meaning) in the form of simultaneous representation and experience of interrelated concepts. For example, the concept of fire is associated in semantic language with the concepts of “hot”, “red”, “dangerous”, with cooked food, etc. Thus, in semantic linguistics, any concept acts as a “node,” which is always or almost always connected by some kind of relationship with other “nodes,” forming a semantic network. The act of remembering itself is associated with the excitation of nodes in long-term memory and with the spread of search through semantic networks. If some new mental representation, a new concept, etc. appears, then spreading the search across semantic networks makes it possible to discover the connection of this concept with already known concepts. Therefore, for example, we immediately classify a new variety of apples by color, shape, size, taste characteristics, circumstances under which they were able to be enjoyed, etc. In semantic P., this variety will be associated not only with other varieties of apples, but also with other types of fruits, as well as with various emotional states and memories. Thought from this viewpoint is a very complex and constantly changing network of nodes and connections.

Semantic networks open up broad opportunities for representing knowledge and drawing conclusions; they make it possible to describe a rich range of relationships, and not just some simple types of subclass relationships (“dog - animal”).

Propositional representation is most effective where consistent classification is possible.

fication, it is very convenient for analyzing linguistic material - words, sentences, stories, etc., as well as for computer programming. But in human P., propositional representations are correlated in a certain way with figurative representations—scenarios, prototypes, and higher-level structures—clusters—can be associated with the corresponding nodes (concepts) of semantic P. Therefore, thanks to the close interaction of episodic and semantic P., we can freely, without much effort, to resort to the services of figurative representations with the help of words and inferences, and vice versa.

Developed initially only for technical purposes (in particular, for the creation of computer search techniques), network models of the functioning of semantic memory later received well-known recognition in neurobiology and neurophysiology, where in recent years new concepts have been developed that consider the “memory trace” not as a fixed one. and an n-gram localized in one place, but as an emergent property of a dynamic system. The information necessary for recollection may be localized in a certain area of ​​the brain, but the engram itself most likely arises as a result of activation by the act of recollection, being embodied in altered connections of the neural ensemble. Thus, P., according to the new ideas of neurophysiologists, is contained in the pattern of connections between neurons and the dynamics of the neural system. These ideas generally agree well with the conclusions of cognitive models of long-term communication, which proceed from the fact that communication is a property of networks, the system as a whole, and its functioning is based on structural connections between nodes. It is these structural connections that determine the method of processing cognitive information, its strategy, and serve as a tool for the developing thought to search for new information.

About NormanD. Memory and learning. M., 1985; RoseS. Memory device. M., 1995.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

Memory is a universal cognitive process.

Memory is a combination of three processes: 1) memorization, 2) storage, 3) recall.

Memorization is the process of acquiring knowledge or the process of forming a skill. In two types it is designated: 1) imprinting (does not involve any effort on the part of the subject, everything happens simultaneously, the extreme option is imprinting); 2) memorization (a person makes some effort, the process unfolds over time).

Recall is the process of updating knowledge or skill (sometimes called the process of retrieving knowledge). In what form can this occur: 1) the process of implicit remembering - a remembering process in which the task of remembering something is not set at all (the process of generating associations); 2) explicit recall - the task of recall is set. Possible options: 1. recognition (test); 2. reproduction (without answer options, retrieval from memory).

Modern psychology is more interested in conservation processes. They have not been studied very well. Retention – retention of knowledge or retention of skills over a period of time (gradual development, changes).

Types of memory.

Subject classification. Blonsky. 4 types of memory: 1) motor (motor); 2) affective; 3) figurative; 4) verbal-logical.

Motor memory – motor skills. It was first studied in behaviorism (Watson, Thorndike, Skinner).

Affective memory is memory for emotions, they tend to accumulate. First pointed out by Ribot. Freud studied in detail.

Figurative memory. G. Ebbinghaus. Memory is the connection of two ideas, one gives rise to the other. Representation is an image.

Verbal-logical memory. It was first described in the works of Janet, who denied all other types of memory. Memory is a story.

Functional classification.

By process (memorization, preservation, recall). Forgetting is a type of remembering.

By connections (subject connections of memory (Ebbinghaus) and semantic connections (memory as restoration)).

According to the presence of conscious intention (whether there is a goal to remember or not): involuntary and voluntary memory. Relevant for classical psychology. We were investigated by Zinchenko and Smirnov. They concluded that what is remembered (involuntarily) is material that corresponds to the main stream of activity.

According to the presence of a means of memorization (Vygotsky: memory knots, write down, keep a diary): direct and indirect memory. This brings to mind the parallelogram of development

According to the duration of information storage (Atkinson and Shifrin): ultra-short-term or instantaneous memory (sensory register; 1 second, maybe 3), short-term (up to a minute) and long-term (indefinitely long time).

Types of long-term memory: autobiographical (memory associated with a person’s personality, for events in one’s own life); semantic memory (general knowledge; for example, knowing the meaning of words). This division was first introduced by Henri Bergson. The terms were proposed by Endel Tulving (1972). Bergson used his own terms: memory of the body (semantic) and memory of the spirit (autobiographical). Memory of the spirit is immediate and permanent, memory of the body is training, gradually.

Genetic classification(according to antiquity). Blonsky puts forward arguments in favor of considering the 4 types of memory that he identified as stages of its development. Ontogenetic and phylogenetic arguments: 1. The most ancient type of memory is motor memory. In the ontogenetic argument, this memory occurs earlier than others (in the first few days, the child demonstrates sucking movements in the feeding position). Phylogeny – protozoans have the simplest forms of motor memory. 2. Affective memory appears after motor memory (in the first few months). Ontogenesis: Watson showed the children a rabbit and pulled out the rug - fears arise. In phylogeny - experiments with worms in labyrinths. 3. Figurative memory (develops until late childhood). In ontogenesis, researchers disagree about when images appear in a child: at 6 months or at 2 years. In phylogeny, one animal psychologist claimed that his dog dreams. The people we call savages have images. Perhaps even more developed than those of Europeans. 4. Verbal-logical memory. Does not exist in phylogeny. In ontogenesis, it appears at 6-7 years of age and develops until adolescence and beyond. The destruction of memory goes from higher to lower (from verbal-logical and further).

Memory is the most important component of our personality. She is the link between our past, present and future. Without the ability to remember, evolution would probably stand still. For a modern person in the age of a large flow of information, it is extremely important to have a good memory in order to keep up with the development race. The load on our natural “hard drive” is growing every day.

What is human memory?

Language and memory are closely related. The ability to remember is not innate in humans. It develops as we learn to describe the world. We have practically no memories of the first years of life precisely because we did not know how to speak. Then, by the age of 3-5, the child begins to speak in sentences and describes events from life, thereby fixing them in memory.

During adolescence, a person becomes aware of himself. He answers the question “Who am I?” And the memories of these years are the strongest and most vivid. Whereas recent life events can be very difficult to remember. Why is this happening?

There is a theory that 15-25 years is the last period of formation. During this time, we turn our attention to other things besides family. Hormonal changes occur, the brain is formed, new neural connections are formed, many of them work effectively in the frontal lobe. This part of the brain is responsible for self-awareness. And also in these areas information accumulates, which becomes memories. Maybe this is the reason that we remember the teenage period of our lives very well even in adulthood.

Types of memory according to the method of memorization.

Human memory can be divided into several types. rice.

So, in order:

1 block. Subject of memorization.

* Figurative memory. Information that is stored by creating some images based on data received by our senses. Everything we see, hear, touch, feel with taste buds and smell is transformed into images and remains in memory in this form.

* Verbal memory is all we get through words and logic. Only humans have this species. All information received verbally is consciously analyzed and classified for further use.

* Emotional memory. The feelings experienced by a person are imprinted in this “department”. All positive or negative emotions are preserved, and in the future, remembering these moments in life, a person can again experience the same sensations.

* Motor (motor) memory. Everything related to movement is remembered by motor memory. Riding a bicycle, learning to swim, everything that we do “automatically”, having learned it once, is stored in our muscle memory.

2 block. Memorization method.

* Arbitrary memory. With this method, a person remembers the necessary information specifically, through an effort of will. For example, through repetition.

* Involuntary memory. In the process of life, we remember not only what we need, but also other processes. Especially if this data matches our interests and preferences. For example, after a New Year’s corporate party, some will remember the employees’ outfits, some will remember the delicious dishes, while others will remember the competitive games. Everyone will involuntarily carry away in their memory what was most interesting to them personally.

3 block. Memorization time.

* Short-term memory. Used to solve problems “on the agenda”. With its help, a person processes a huge amount of information, but very quickly forgets it. Immediately, as soon as the need for it disappears. A natural “fuse” is triggered to prevent the brain from “exploding.”

* Long-term memory. This type is determined by the long storage period of information. All accumulated knowledge is structured, grouped and used over the course of months, years or a lifetime.

* Intermediate memory. This is something between long-term and short-term. During the day, the brain collects everything it has learned, and in the process of night sleep it sorts it out - something is cut off, and something is put into a long-term “safe”.

* RAM needed to perform a specific action.

* Sensory memory the shortest. Stores information received from the senses for a fraction of a second. For example, after closing your eyes, the last picture you saw does not immediately disappear. Probably thanks to this type of memory we do not notice the blinking of our eyes.