Why does forgetting occur?

We have all walked into a room at some point and stayed still, because we don’t remember why we went there.. If we asked ourselves what we had for dinner last Tuesday, it is likely that we would not remember it or we would have a hard time doing it. All this is related to a phenomenon that occurs in our brain and that usually helps us; However, from time to time it also plays tricks on us. We talk about oblivion.

Thus, it is important to understand how attention works and how it combines its operation with memory to remember one information and forget another. Likewise, we wonder why we forget data that is relevant.

How does memory work?

Memory is the ability to retain, preserve and retrieve information. It is so important that a good part of our identity resides in it. In addition, it helps shape our way of acting and processing data. It must be emphasized that experience is perhaps our main guide when making decisions.

Through memory, people obtain the knowledge necessary to understand the world in which we live, giving us the ability to collect new information and organize it. Thus, we can give it a meaning, to recover it when necessary. It focuses on three fundamental processes:

Coding: here the transformation of the stimuli into a mental representation occurs.Storage: this process is related to the retention of data, so that it can be used laterRecovery: It is the way in which the person accesses the retained information. This process can occur voluntarily or spontaneously.

Likewise, it is important to indicate that there are multiple classifications around memory. On this occasion, we will focus on the classification that takes its temporality as a criterion. Thus, we would talk about the sensory or immediate memory, which records the information that comes from the environment for a very short time.

Secondly, there is the short term memory. Its function is to analyze and organize information, is also responsible for uniting it with our experiences. Its capacity is limited, therefore, it is closely related to forgetting.

Lastly, there is the long term memory. It contains all the knowledge and experiences we have throughout life.. Its capacity is unlimited and try to have an organization that can be easily accessed.

What factors can be related to forgetting?

As we know, Forgetting represents the inability to remember necessary information, voluntarily, in a context specific. This implies problems in the development of some activities, since on many occasions we depend on this data, for example, in an exam.

Currently there are multiple factors that are related to forgetting. Among the main ones are those that we present below:

Lack of processing or recovery

In this case two situations can occur. One of them occurs when the information was not processed properly from the first moment, therefore, the storage process is affected. It may also happen that, if it is not recovered within a period of time, all or part of the information is forgotten (forgetting curve).

Interference

This It occurs when there is competition between the experiences that the person lives. There are two types of interference. The first is retroactive, and in it new learning affects the memory of information that had been learned in advance. The second is proactive interference, in which already learned information makes it difficult to learn new information, for example, learning a new market listing.

Inappropriate context

It has been found that, on occasion, information is harder to remember if it was learned in a different environment. As a rule, information is easier to remember if this retrieval attempt occurs in the context in which it was stored.

For example, we make a grocery list before leaving home, but we don’t realize it and we leave a product to write down. When we arrive at the supermarket we have the feeling that something is missing, something that we only remember when we get home again, where we do include it in our mental list.

Associations and oblivion

The quality and quantity of information that we can forget depends a lot on how we learn it.. If the process is done in a much more superficial way, the mark it will leave will be much more fragile.

On the contrary, when we memorize new knowledge by establishing associations with what we already knew, it will be more difficult to forget.

Attention, a fundamental process to avoid the forgetting process

The truth is we have the ability to control our attention. In some way, we can free it so that the environment directs it or we can put ourselves in control and direct our focus of concentration where we want.

Thus, our intention is to put it, when we want to memorize, it is in the message that we want to assimilate. Subconsciously, without having read any studies, we know that this helps. In fact, we can feel quite annoyed when someone or something tries to distract us.

This is essential, because Attention, understood as concentration, is very important to do quality coding or, what is the same, to generate a strong imprint associated with the memory.

What can we do to delay the forgetting process?

There are several processes that can be carried out to strengthen memory and, therefore, reduce the amount of forgetting. One of the strategies is to increase attention/concentration at the time of assimilation. Another is to separate the relevant information from the irrelevant or divide it into layers, so that the memory of what is important triggers the recovery of the details.

Repeating and making sense of information is another strategy used to avoid forgetting.. In this case, attending to and correctly organizing the information helps in learning about it. Likewise, tools can be used to make the information clearer. For example, if we need to learn names of concepts, we can generate acronyms and form a word.

On the other hand, Giving meaning to the information you want to learn will help make the coding and storage processes much faster and more effective.. In addition, when it is connected with information already learned, this will help a lot in remembering it.

Conclusion

The process of forgetting information is natural and vital for the proper functioning of memory. On many occasions we remember what our brain considers essential and useful when carrying out any type of activity. Still, it is important to keep in mind that Motivation, emotion and attention are fundamental aspects in this process.

Therefore, if you want to reduce forgetfulness, you must select the information that is relevant. Likewise, associating information with information already learned will help with better storage, facilitating retention (survival of the memory) and recovery (act of remembering).

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