Psychology of memory. Memory processes Psychological process of remembering recognition and reproduction of information

Memory as a complex mental phenomenon includes several interrelated processes: memorization, preservation, reproduction and forgetting.

Memorization means selective consolidation (imprinting) of an image in memory. What is remembered best is what is associated with significant goals, motives and methods of activity of a given person. The memorization process, like memory itself, can be voluntary and involuntary (depending on the presence or absence of a goal when memorizing), short-term, operational and long-term (depending on what tasks the memory “serves”).

There is also a distinction between associative memorization, in which a perceived image is associated with some other image (remember the famous everyday “knots for memory”); meaningful memorization, where the leading processes are thinking and awareness of logical connections between perceived objects or their parts; mechanical memorization, realized as a result of simple repeated and similar repetitions of image perception.

Memorization is an integral part of a special type of activity - mnemonic. So, for example, for teachers, lecturers, politicians, and artists, mnemonic activity is one of the most important.

Saving. The very name of the process reflects its psychological essence. Information must be stored in a person's memory for some time due to the fact that it is usually significant for him. Preserving information is a complex process during which information must be processed, organized and classified. The brain performs a statistical analysis of incoming information, as a result of which it becomes possible to assess the probability of relevant events and, consequently, plan one’s behavior.

There are several forms of storage, the names of which coincide with the corresponding types of memory: reconstructive, reproductive, echoic and episodic.

Reconstructive storage of information occurs in long-term memory. Here, information undergoes changes in detail, while maintaining general features (small fragments of material, the order of events, etc. disappear from memory). Reconstruction is usually caused by the arrival of new information that displaces information already stored there from memory.

Reproductive preservation is based on remembering the original element of an object. Let us recall the comic scene of a meeting between two women:
Have you noticed a man passing here - blond, blue eyes, with a diplomat, very tall? - In a light blue suit? Yes, I noticed.

The episodic form of storing information is associated with the recording of episodes relating to the time, place and conditions of its reception.

Echoic preservation is extremely short-lived: after a brief auditory exposure, the auditory image is retained for 2-3 s.

Reproduction is the restoration of an image of an object previously reflected in a person’s mind without re-perceiving it. Reproduction can be carried out in arbitrary and involuntary forms. An arbitrary form involves setting a reproductive task for an individual in accordance with a specific goal. In the involuntary form, the task is solved without a previously set goal under the influence of thoughts, ideas and feelings that arise at the current moment. Reproduction is carried out by extracting an image from long-term memory and transferring it to operational memory. Reproduction and memorization are incompatible processes: a person can carry out either one process or the other at a given M0M6N1 time.

There are different types of playback:
- recognition - reproduction of an image either upon its repeated perception (recognition from memory), or on the basis of ideas about it (recognition by representation);
- reminiscence is a little-studied phenomenon of improving the reproduction of sufficiently voluminous information some (sometimes quite long) time after its receipt (for example, complex educational material learned in preparation for an exam is often better reproduced not immediately after memorization, but after 2-3 days) ;
- recall - deliberate step-by-step reproduction of information in accordance with the set goal (according to the Kamin effect, recall improves after a few minutes and after 24 hours);
- memory is the reproduction of information relating to the past from a person’s life.

Reproduction errors are associated with the phenomena of contamination and confabulation. Contamination is associated with a person’s tendency to introduce into the reproduced information elements associated with past experience, expectations, attitudes, etc. Confabulation involves adding details or filling in memory gaps with conjectures. It can be either intentional, manipulative, or unconscious.

Forgetting is the process of gradually reducing the ability to reproduce an image of an object stored in long-term memory. For a normally functioning memory, the forgetting process can be attributed to one of the levels:
- high, when a person cannot independently restore the image of an object, but will do it relatively easily after repeated experience;
- average, when complete independent reproduction is difficult, but is easily accomplished when some features of the image are presented (sometimes it is enough for a person to show his notes from afar so that almost everything written is restored in his memory);
- low, when a person recovers information independently without errors.

Forgetting cannot be opposed to remembering. This is a completely expedient process that helps relieve memory from details that are irrelevant at the moment. Forgetting is not a disease of memory, but a condition for its health. Thus, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Edgar Allan Poe highly valued the ability to forget and even came up with techniques for this purpose. Edgar Allan Poe said: “If you want to forget something, immediately write down what you have to remember.”

The organization of memorization influences the storage of information, and the quality of storage is determined by reproduction.

Memorization is a mental activity aimed at consolidating new information in memory by associating it with previously acquired knowledge. At a moment of high emotional stress, the memorization process can proceed as an instant capture - imprinting.

Arbitrary memory is based on memorization with a special installation. Involuntary memorization occurs when there is no special mental task, and it accompanies other activities, but in the process of intense mental activity it can be more effective than voluntary memorization.

Memorization can proceed with varying depths of understanding, but thinking is always an essential support of memory, a necessary condition for successful memorization. A distinction is made between logical (semantic), based on logical connections, and mechanical memorization, based on single temporary connections.

The process of meaningful memorization includes a number of logical operations: semantic grouping; highlighting semantic reference points; drawing up a plan, etc.

The retention of individual elements of educational material largely depends on the place they occupy in the general range of information. As a rule, the first and last elements of a row are held better than the middle ones. This phenomenon is called the “edge factor”. The dependence of the preservation of information on the attitudes of the individual, the organization of memorization, the influence of subsequent information, mental processing of the material, and transitions from storage in consciousness to repression into the unconscious is revealed.

Under the influence of systematic training, memory develops: the volume and speed of memorization and reproduction increase, logical connections and concepts are used.

Forgetting is a biologically expedient process for the body, the opposite of preservation, caused by the extinction of temporary nerve connections that have lost their meaning. Material is forgotten faster shortly after learning, while meaningless material is forgotten much faster. First of all, what is forgotten is what ceases to be significant for the individual.

Depending on the material stored by memory, it is divided into cognitive (the process of storing knowledge acquired during the learning process, which gradually turns into experience, a person’s beliefs), emotional (preservation of experiences and feelings in consciousness, which is a condition for the development of the ability to sympathize) and personal (preservation of an image of oneself in the mind, ensuring continuity of goals, beliefs, etc.).

According to the modality of stored images, verbal-logical and figurative types of memory are distinguished. Figurative memory is divided into visual, auditory, and motor.

Reproduction is an actualization, a revival of connections formed in the brain, which occurs intentionally and unintentionally. Forms of reproduction: recognition (the manifestation of memory as the reproduction of an image upon repeated perception of an object), recollection (the manifestation of memory carried out in the absence of perception of the object), recollection (active reproduction, largely dependent on the clarity of the tasks), reminiscence (delayed reproduction of what was previously perceived, seemed forgotten).

There are four interconnected processes in memory: remembering, storing, reproducing, and forgetting information.

Memorization is a memory process that results in “imprinting”, consolidation of new information through its encoding (in the form of “memory traces”) and association with previously acquired experience. The most important feature of memorization is its selectivity - Not all information entering the brain can be imprinted. This property is directly related to the selectivity of attention.

Memorization can be

• mechanical and meaningful,
• involuntary and voluntary.

During ontogenetic development, methods of memorization change, the role of meaningful memorization, in which semantic connections are established in the memorized material. Various types of memory - motor, emotional, figurative, verbal-logical - are sometimes described as stages of such development.

Saving is the process of retaining information in memory, processing and transforming it.

Least studied compared to the others. It is carried out unconsciously and is not subject to volitional control and regulation. It has been proven that intensive information processing occurs during sleep. There is a hypothesis that a person’s memory stores all the wealth of his life experience, but human consciousness is simply not able to reproduce all the information accumulated during life and does not have access to it. According to another hypothesis, storing any material in memory requires its systematic restructuring, reorganization under the influence of new experience.

A necessary condition for remembering and retaining information is the preservation of brain structures.

Playback- this is the actualization in the consciousness of previously formed psychological content (thoughts, images, feelings) in the absence of external, actually perceived pointers to this content.

Varies

• involuntary reproduction, when a past impression is updated without a special task, and
• arbitrary, conditioned by the goals and objectives of the activity being performed.

Reproduction is selective and indirect in nature, determined by needs, direction of activity, and current experiences. During reproduction, a significant restructuring of what is perceived usually occurs, so that the original content loses a number of minor details and acquires a generalized form that best suits the tasks being solved.

The reproduction process has several varieties:

• recognition,
• actually reproduction,
• recollection(will-directed extraction from long-term memory images of the past).
• memory.

Recognition- this is the process of identification based on memory data of an already known object, which is in the center of actual perception. This process is based on comparison of perceived features with corresponding memory traces, which act as standards for the identification features of what is perceived. Highlight individual recognition of an object, as a repeated perception of something quite specific, and generic, when the perceived object can be attributed to any known class of objects.

Memory - This is the reproduction of images from the past, localized in time and space, i.e. associated with certain periods and events of our lives. When remembering, life events serve as unique reference points that facilitate this process.

Forgetting- an active process consisting in the loss of access to previously memorized material, the inability to reproduce or learn what was once learned. What is subject to forgetting, first of all, is that which does not meet the immediate needs of the subject and is not actualized in the context of the tasks he solves. This process occurs most intensively immediately after memorization is completed. In this case, it is best to preserve meaningful and important material, which acquires a more generalized and schematic character during storage. Minor details are forgotten more quickly than significant ones.

Under certain conditions it is observed effect of reversibility of the forgetting process. Thus, recreating the external and internal conditions under which memorization took place, and the use of special reproduction strategies can lead to the restoration of forgotten material.

Forgetting is associated with effects projective And retroactive inhibition. Projective inhibition occurs as a result of the influence of previous activity on the memory processes, retroactive inhibition is the result of the negative influence of subsequent activity.

In psychoanalysis, forgetting was explained by the action of a defense mechanism of repressing unacceptable contents and traumatic impressions from the sphere of consciousness.

It is necessary to distinguish between forgetting as a natural component of mnemonic processes and various amnesia- memory dysfunction (impairment) caused by one reason or another.

Théodule Armand Ribot (1839-1916), based on psychopathological data, divided all amnesia into three groups: 1) temporary; 2) periodic; 3) progressive. The causes of amnesia can be both organic (damage to brain structures) and psychogenic in nature (repression, post-affective amnesia).

Along with amnesia, there are paramnesia or “false memories” that replace forgotten or repressed events. According to the clinical observations of Sigmund Freud, amnesia and false memories (paramnesia) are always in a complementary relationship: where significant memory gaps are identified, false memories arise, which can completely hide the presence of amnesia.

1. The concept of memory.

2. Types of memory.

3. Memory processes.

4. Development and improvement of memory.

1. Memory- This is one of the most popular human mental processes.

Such popularity dates back to the ancient Greeks, who revered the goddess of memory Mnemosyne as the mother of the nine muses, patroness of the arts and sciences known at that time.

Modern scientific expressions related to memory also come from the name of the goddess: “mnemonic task”, “mnemonic processes”, “mnemonic orientation”, etc.

It is difficult to imagine a world without memory.

The importance of memory is very great, but all successes or, conversely, failures should not be attributed to this cognitive process.

It is difficult for a person to say: “I don’t know how to reason,” or even more so, “I’m stupid,” but he easily says: “This sclerosis again,” etc.

Memory is a complex cognitive process through which a person can remember, preserve and reproduce his past experiences.

Thanks to memory, we can preserve and reproduce not only individual objects or situations, but also entire chains of events.

The connections that exist between events, objects or phenomena, preserved in our memory, are called associations.

Researchers identify different types of associations, but classically these are:

1) associations by similarity;

2) associations by contrast;

3) associations by contiguity.

Many poetic comparisons are based on associations of similarity (“the river flowed like rain,” “the blizzard cried like a gypsy violin”). On a hot summer day, we remember how good it was to ski in winter, and how much fun we had on the beach in winter.

Associations of this kind are associations by contrast.

During the exam, a student presents a notebook with notes and the page where the ticket material is located, sees a table or diagram, etc.

If objects are connected in time and space, then these are associations by contiguity (floor - rag, pen - notebook).

Most associations are related to the experience of a particular person, but there are some that are the same for many people.

For example, when most people hear the word “fruit,” they say “apple,” and when asked to name a part of the face, they say “nose.”

The importance of associations for a person is that they allow you to automatically and quickly perceive the information necessary at the moment.

So, memory is a complex cognitive process that ensures the continuity of a person’s mental life.

2. Human memory can be classified on several grounds.

1. Material storage time:

1) instant (iconic)– thanks to this memory, a complete and accurate picture of what the senses just perceived is retained for 0.1–0.5 s, without any processing of the received information;

2) short-term(KP) – capable of storing information for a short period of time and in a limited volume.

As a rule, for most people the volume of the CP is 7 ± 2 units.

The CP records only the most significant information, a generalized image;

3) operational(OP) – functions for a predetermined time (from several seconds to several days) depending on the task that needs to be solved, after which the information can be erased;

4) long-term(DP) – information is stored for an indefinite period.

the DP contains the material that a practically healthy person should remember at any time: his first name, patronymic, last name, place of birth, capital of the Motherland, etc.

In humans, DP and CP are inextricably linked.

Before the material enters storage in the DP, it must be processed in the CP, which helps protect the brain from overload and preserve vital information for a long time;

5) genetic memory began to be highlighted by researchers relatively recently.

This is information that is preserved in the genotype and transmitted by inheritance, not subject to the influence of training and upbringing.

2. The leading role of a particular analyzer:

1) motor – motor reactions are remembered and reproduced, therefore, on its basis, basic motor skills are formed (walking, writing, sports, dancing, work).

This is one of the ontogenetically earliest types of memory;

2) emotional– remembering a certain emotional state and reproducing it when repeating the situation when it arose for the first time.

This type of memory also appears in a child very early; according to modern research, already in the first year of life, it is well developed in preschool children.

Characterized by the following features:

a) special strength;

b) rapid formation;

c) involuntary reproduction;

3) visual– preservation and reproduction of visual images predominates.

For many people, this type of memory is the leading one. Sometimes visual images are reproduced so accurately that they resemble a photograph.

Such people are said to have eidetic memory (eidos - image), that is, memory with photographic accuracy.

For many people, eidetic memory is well developed in preschool age, but for some individuals (usually people of art) it persists throughout their lives.

For example, V. A. Mozart, S. V. Rachmaninov, M. A. Balakirev could remember and reproduce a complex piece of music on an instrument after just one perception;

4) auditory– promotes good memorization and reproduction of a wide variety of sounds.

It is especially well developed among musicians, acousticians, etc.

As a special variety of this type, verbal-logical memory is distinguished - this is a purely human type of memory, thanks to which we can quickly and accurately remember the logic of reasoning, the sequence of events, etc.;

5) olfactory– smells are well remembered and reproduced;

6) gustatory– predominance of the taste analyzer in memory processes;

7) tactile– what a person was able to feel, what he touched with his hands, etc. is well remembered and reproduced.

The last three types of memory are not as significant for a person as those previously listed, but their importance increases sharply if the functioning of any of the main analyzers is disrupted, for example, when a person loses sight or hearing (there are many cases where blind people became excellent musicians ).

There are a number of professions where these types of memory are in demand.

For example, tasters must have a good taste memory, perfumers must have an olfactory memory.

It very rarely happens when a person has a predominance of one type of memory.

Much more often, the leading memory is visual-auditory, visual-motor, and motor-auditory.

In addition to the above classifications, memory can vary in parameters such as speed, duration, strength, accuracy and memory volume.

The variety of types of memory allows you to achieve success in various activities.

3. The memory contains the following processes:

1) memorization;

2) reproduction;

3) preservation;

4) forgetting.

Memorization- This is a memory process, the result of which is the consolidation of previously perceived information.

Memorization is divided into:

1) voluntary (the task is set to remember, and certain efforts are made) – involuntary (a special task is not set to remember, the material is memorized without any effort);

2) mechanical (information is memorized as a result of simple repetition) – logical (connections are established between individual elements of information, which allows the forgotten to be deduced anew through logical reasoning).

In order for memorization to be successful, the following provisions should be adhered to:

1) make a memorization setting;

2) show more activity and independence in the process of memorization (a person will remember the path better if he moves independently than when he is accompanied);

3) group the material according to meaning (drawing up a plan, table, diagram, graph, etc.);

4) the process of repetition when memorizing should be distributed over a certain time (a day, several hours), and not in a row.

5) new repetition improves memorization of previously learned;

6) arouse interest in what is being remembered;

7) the unusual nature of the material improves memorization.

Reproduction (recovery) is a memory process through which previously fixed past experiences are retrieved.

The following forms of reproduction are distinguished:

1) recognition– the appearance of a feeling of familiarity during perception;

2) memory– restoration of material in the absence of perception of an object; remembering is always more difficult than recognizing (for example, it is easier to remember a person’s last name if you find it in a list);

3) reminiscence– reproduction delayed in time (for example, one remembers a poem that a person told in distant childhood);

4) recollection– an active form of reproduction, requiring the use of certain techniques (association, reliance on recognition) and volitional efforts.

Saving– retention of previously learned material in memory. Information is retained in memory through repetition, as well as the application of acquired knowledge in practice.

Memory researchers have found that the material that begins and ends the general series of information is best retained; the middle elements are stored less well.

This phenomenon in psychology is called the edge effect.

An interesting fact was discovered by B.V. Zeigarnik. in her experiments, subjects had to complete about 20 different tasks as quickly and accurately as possible (riddles, small mathematical problems, sculpting figures, etc.).

It turned out that the subjects recalled those actions that remained unfinished almost twice as often as those that they managed to complete.

This phenomenon is called the Zeigarnik effect.

Forgetting– loss of memory, disappearance of previously memorized material.

As psychological studies have shown, material is forgotten faster in the first time after memorization than in the future; meaningless material is also forgotten faster than if it is connected by a logical chain.

Most often, forgetting is considered a negative phenomenon, but it should be remembered that this is a very expedient, necessary and natural process of memory, otherwise our brain would be overloaded with a mass of unnecessary or unimportant information.

Sometimes forgetting becomes painful, even to the point of complete memory loss.

This phenomenon is called amnesia.

S. Freud (the founder of psychoanalysis) paid much attention to the analysis of the mechanisms of forgetting.

He believed that the process of forgetting is largely explained by a person’s reluctance to remember unpleasant situations in his biography.

He forgets about those things that may remind him of psychologically unpleasant circumstances.

So, memory includes a number of components that determine the success of its development.

4. The process of memory development is carried out in the following directions:

1) ontogenetically earlier mechanical memory is gradually replaced by logical memory;

2) with age, memorization becomes more conscious, the active use of mnemonic techniques and means begins;

3) involuntary memorization, which predominates in childhood, becomes voluntary.

Based on the listed areas, we can determine the following ways and means of improving memory.

1. Use the repetition process correctly.

The most appropriate is repetition as close as possible to the perception of the material.

It has been experimentally proven that forgetting is prevented by repetition 15–20 minutes after memorization.

It is advisable to do the next repetition after 8–9 hours, and then after 24 hours.

It is also advisable to repeat in the morning with a fresh head and before bed.

2. Remember about the “edge effect”, that is, spend more time repeating the material that is located in the middle of the information series.

Also, when repeating, material in the middle can be placed at the beginning or end.

3. To quickly and reliably remember a sequence of events or objects, you can perform the following series of actions:

1) mentally connect what is being remembered with some easily imaginable or well-known object, after which this object is connected with the one that is at hand at the right moment;

2) connect both objects in the imagination with each other in the most bizarre way possible into a single fantastic image;

3) mentally recreate this image.

4. To remember the sequence of events or actions, you can imagine words as characters in a story.

5. The material will be remembered more easily if you use the association technique. To do this, you should ask yourself questions like: “What does this remind me of?”, “What does this look like?” as often as possible. “What other word reminds me of this word?”, “What episode in life does this episode remind me of?” etc.

When implementing this rule, the following pattern applies: the more diverse associations that arise when memorizing the source material, the more firmly this material is remembered.

6. A sequential chain of events or objects can be remembered if these objects are mentally placed along the daily route to work or school.

Walking along this path, we remember these objects.

Any techniques are good only if they are adapted by a specific person to his own life experience and characteristics of the psyche and behavior.

Therefore, what suits one person may not be suitable for another.