The main types of human memory and memorization processes: characteristics, functions, features of sensations and perception
Memory as a psychological process is the most important link in any educational development. All processes of memory and memorization lie in the plane of neuron activity, so this information has a purely scientific context. But let's try to talk about the main memory processes in a simple, understandable language with a minimum use of special terms. We hope that after reading this article, memory processes will become more understandable and accessible to most readers.
What are the psychological processes of memory
The brain is a computing center, it owes its capabilities to the huge number and variety of nerve cells and their interaction.
Memory is the ability to receive and store information about simple details and about abstract events. Memory processes are different ways of storing information, because at the same time this process deals with several facts, ensures the integrity of our lives. Without memory, the life experience of the cognitive path would fall apart into small fragments created by every moment of life. Therefore, you need to know that memory as a cognitive process is characteristic only of rational beings, and that it is the ability not only to assimilate information, but also to use facts in a timely manner for the purpose of clustering.
Thousands of studies have been devoted to human memory and memory processes. Joyful events of life are easily remembered and emotionally unpleasant ones are erased from memory. But there are terrible and strong memories, stress disorders, they can haunt a person for a long time.
The brain works differently than other organs. The kidneys or liver, for example, cannot receive and process information about stimuli, their cells cannot store and evoke memories, and ensure the work of conscious thought.
Memory as a mental cognitive process in psychology
Features of memory processes depend on the fact that the nerve cell differs from the rest in both diverse and irregular shapes, thin outgrowths, dendrites and axons, the path of which is difficult to trace. One axon, but many dendrites. It is not clear where they begin in one cell and where they end on the body of another. They are a hundred times thinner than a human hair, so it is difficult to detect their outer membrane. The processes of one cell are so close to the processes of another that it seems they are connected. A cell with processes is called a neuron. Memory processes in psychology are closely related to biochemistry and some chemicals.
The brain is made up of neurons. Dendrites transmit signals from some neurons, while axons transmit signals to other neurons. Transmission of a signal from an axon to other dendrites occurs in a specific place – in a synapse. There, between the axon of one neuron and the dendrite of another, there is a synaptic gap; they barely touch each other. The axon "said" – the dendrite "heard". There are no random connections among neurons, they form synapses only with certain neurons and create a neural circuit.
The characterization of human memory processes would not be complete without mentioning the peculiar conductors of this mechanism, and here is the time to make a digression and recall B vitamins. Why should they be taken in combination? Because along the entire neural circuit, each performs its own function! Think of the entire neural circuit as a road you don't know. One vitamin from group B contributes to the fact that you perceived the information, another helped you to understand it, the third led you along the path, the fourth accelerated the movement. We reached the barrier (synaptic cleft) – the fifth one helped to “jump over" it.
You don't want to be abandoned halfway on an unfamiliar road, do you? And they don't want information signals either, they have their own goal, they must reach. There is also a sixth and a seventh from a friendly family. They will give energy to go all the way. And you can go in such a way that the path is joyful. And all this is done by B vitamins.
There are vitamin remedies for preserving and strengthening memory, because this mental process is so fragile! Everything is sad – even when a person loses an arm or a leg, or even a finger, but a very special sadness is the loss of memory. When, with the achievement of venerable age, memory weakens, this both worries and irritates, although later the forgotten is remembered. But how many cases are there when complete amnesia sets in and a person does not even remember his name, being lost in space and time. And at the same time, he understands that the memory is lost, and this enhances the experience.
What types of memory are developed in all people: the interaction of various processes
The types and processes of memory are subdivided depending on the clusters and neural connections used. With different forms of training, various types of memory are trained, all of them allow a person to optimize daily activities. There is short-term and long-term memory. The interaction of different types of memory in humans leads to a thought process during which comparisons and comparisons are possible.
The fundamental property of memory is that it is formed in stages. Short-term memory lasts for minutes, while long-term memory lasts for many days or even longer. Repetition moves information from short-term memory into long-term memory. Let's talk about what types of memory a person has and what distinctive characteristics they have. It has been established that long-term memory is not a simple continuation of short-term memory.
But how does it happen? There is a linear relationship between the number of repetitions and retention in memory. The forgetting curve showed that if you learned and forgot, then something remains in the memory even after forgetting. Relearning takes less time and fewer repetitions. Forgetting occurs quickly in the beginning, in the first hour of memorization, and then there is a gentle decrease over the course of a month.
How is long-term memory fixed? To do this, you need to pay attention to the information received and comprehend it, associate it with knowledge that is already well fixed in memory. So, if you just record a lecture, this is a mechanical movement of the hand and nothing more. And active perception comes with included attention and comprehension of what is heard, and it’s even better if it is based on what is already familiar. Then a logical connection is established between the acquired knowledge, and fragments of them are not perceived.
To be useful from memory, you need to extract from it what is written in it. Often there is information in the brain, but a person cannot use it. This requires a key signal that is associated with the experience acquired during the training. It can be an external stimulus (smell, melody) or internal (thoughts). And immediately the memory kicks in. Doesn't it happen that you suddenly discover: you know a given word, for example, or a name, without even knowing it? It means that you heard or read before, or someone spoke, but you remember.
It was revealed that not only the nervous system consists of neurons connected by specific pathways, but the same connections exist inside the cell. Molecules interact with each other within the cell, there are biochemical signaling pathways. Through them, information is transmitted in the form of molecules from the surface of the cell to its internal environment. Molecules floating inside the cell are recognized by other specific molecules, bind to them and regulate their activity.
How many great names and great discoveries along the way! How many missions have been fulfilled by researchers of nerve cells and processes in them! Not just took and came up with the memory vitamin. Nothing can be invested in its composition if you do not understand all the ongoing processes.
The study of the influence of genes on memory was carried out on fruit flies. They have only 4 pairs of chromosomes and a short reproductive cycle of 12 days. The flies were exposed to two odorous substances. Then they were taught to avoid one of these smells. The flies were placed in another chamber, where the two odors were separated to different ends of the chamber. Already trained flies avoided the first smell. Obviously, they “understood” his danger. Then they identified one fly that was not able to remember, it was called dunce (stupid). So looking for mutations in the memory genes.
Learning goes only to an important, useful experience for life. If this fly knew that it is vital to avoid smell, it would learn. And so, apparently, she considered this not a very useful experience for herself.
Repetition is essential for long-term memory. But in extreme situations, a large number of signals can enter the core at once, this will provide an experience that will be recorded in long-term memory. This can occur with strong emotions in some event.
Some people have developed certain types of memory – for visual images, notes, poems, texts, etc. Memory loss is characteristic of age. To date, it has been reliably established what kind of memory is developed in all people, which allows us to speak with confidence about the discovery of the secrets of the brain. Without exception, all modern people have the full value of the ability to memorize artistic images. There is not a single person who would not memorize the content of films.
Processes and mechanisms of memory: perception and sensations
The processes and mechanisms of memory include many psychological nuances. Our confidence in the accuracy of our own perception is an illusion, like an optical illusion. The brain doesn't just take and reproduce the raw data coming from the senses. This data is first disassembled into its component parts, analyzed and put together in accordance with the links and rules built into this system. And they may not be assembled exactly. Eyewitnesses see the same event, and how different are its interpretations. All processes of memory, perception and sensation are corrected by the central nervous system in strict accordance with the forms and textures of images laid down in the depths of neurons.
Attention, which influences memory processes (memorization, storage and reproduction), serves as a filter that selects part of the information coming from outside for processing by the brain. Millions of objects act on my senses but never become part of my experience because they are of no interest to me.
Attention is the concentration of consciousness, its concentration. Attention enhances the psychological processes of memory and the reaction of the neurons of the visual system to stimuli. Attention can be involuntary and arbitrary.
What processes are called memory: memorization, preservation and reproduction
In fact, since the process of assimilation, comparison and identification of objects with previously created casts of images is called memory, much depends on the level of development of the individual. Not only lines, but also shape, color, movement, distance – everything is transmitted along special neural pathways to the brain, where it comes together and forms into a single picture. Processing takes place in different parts of the brain. A person may have good vision, but not distinguish between the degree of distance of objects, another person may not feel the movement of an object.
In 1976, for the first time, the discoveries of genetic engineering were used in the production of drugs to improve memory. Two friends invested $500 in the company and founded a pharmaceutical company, which was bought out by a Swiss company in 2009 for $40 billion.
The longer people live, the more urgent the problem of memory loss becomes with age. In 40% of people over 70, the functions of the memory process are no worse than they were 30 years ago. For others, it weakens. In the early stages, this does not affect other functions – speech, problem solving. Half of the 60% have a mild memory impairment called forgetfulness, while the other half develop Alzheimer's disease, a degenerative disease of the nervous system.
In the early stages of Alzheimer's, everything looks like senile forgetfulness, but later memory deterioration progresses and other cognitive functions are impaired. Senile forgetfulness is conditionally named, since it can begin not in old age, but in the fifth decade of life. Over time, the changes intensify.
Should memory be improved in healthy young people? Do I take drugs when entering educational institutions? When the question arises of how to use the achievements of science, there is always an ethical problem. This is how the discipline "bioethics" was born. She, in particular, considers the problems of taking drugs that enhance cognitive functions.