All living beings have memory, but the most high level it develops in humans. No other creature in the world has such mnemonic possibilities as a human being. Animals have only two kinds of memory: genetic and mechanical.

The first is manifested in the transmission by genetic means from generation to generation of vital, biological and behavioral properties.

The second acts in the form of the ability to learn, i.e. to the acquisition of life experience, which cannot be preserved anywhere else but in the organism itself, and disappears along with the departure of the corresponding animal from life.

Comparative anthropological data show that the structure of the human body, including its brain, has practically changed over the past few hundred thousand years. At the same time, in the memory of people only in the last 50-60 thousand years there have been radical, incomparable changes. It manifested itself in the fact that such indicators as the amount of people's memory, the speed of remembering or recalling information, the time of its storage and access to the necessary information stored almost anywhere in the world increased by orders of magnitude.

In addition, man has many types of memory that animals do not have. This is arbitrary, mediated, logical and other types of memory.

The processes of memorization, preservation and reproduction are the main processes of memory.

Memory is one of the mental functions and types of mental activity designed to store, accumulate and reproduce information. The ability to store information about the events of the external world and the reactions of the body for a long time and repeatedly use it in the sphere of consciousness to organize subsequent activities.

Memory processes

The founder of the scientific psychology of memory is the German scientist G. Ebbinghaus, who experimentally studied the processes of memory. The main processes of memory are memorization, preservation, reproduction and forgetting.

memorization

The original form of memorization is the so-called unintentional or involuntary memorization, i.e. memorization without a predetermined goal, without the use of any techniques. It is a mere imprint of what has acted, the preservation of some trace of excitation in the cerebral cortex. Each process that occurs in the cerebral cortex leaves traces behind itself, although the degree of their strength is different.

Much of what a person encounters in life is involuntarily remembered: surrounding objects, phenomena, events Everyday life, the actions of people, the content of movies, books read without any educational purpose, etc., although not all of them are remembered equally well. It is best to remember what is of vital importance for a person: everything that is connected with his interests and needs, with the goals and objectives of his activity. Even involuntary memorization is selective, determined by the attitude to the environment.

Arbitrary (deliberate) memorization, characterized by the fact that a person sets himself a specific goal - to remember what is planned, and uses special memorization techniques, must be distinguished from involuntary memorization. Voluntary memorization is an activity aimed at memorizing and reproducing retained material, called anemic activity. In such an activity, a person is faced with the task of selectively remembering the material offered to him. In all these cases, a person must clearly separate the material that he was asked to remember from all side impressions and, when reproducing, confine himself to it. Therefore, mnemonic activity is selective.

Preservation

What a person remembers, the brain stores more or less long time. Preservation as a process of memory has its own laws. It is established that saving can be dynamic and static. Dynamic storage manifests itself in RAM, and static - in long-term. With dynamic preservation, the material changes little, with static preservation, on the contrary, it necessarily undergoes reconstruction, processing.

The reconstruction of the material stored by long-term memory occurs under the influence of the information that continuously comes in again. Reconstruction manifests itself in various forms: in the disappearance of certain details and their replacement by other details, in the change in the sequence of the material, in its generalization.

Recognition and reproduction

Recognition of an object occurs at the moment of its perception and means that there is a perception of the object that a person has previously formed either on the basis of personal impressions (memory representation) or on the basis of verbal descriptions (imagination representation).

Reproduction differs from perception in that it occurs after it. Reproducing the image of an object is more difficult than recognizing it. Thus, it is easier for a student to recognize the text of a book when reading it again (with repeated perception) than to reproduce, recall the content of the text when the book is closed. The physiological basis of reproduction is the renewal of the neural connections formed earlier during the perception of objects and phenomena.

Reproduction can take place in the form of sequential recall; this is an active volitional process. Recall in a person occurs according to the laws of association, in short, while the machine is forced to go through all the information until it “stumbles upon” the necessary fact.

Forgetting

Forgetting is expressed in the inability to remember or in erroneous recognition and reproduction. The physiological basis of forgetting is some types of cortical inhibition that interferes with the actualization (revival) of temporary nerve connections. Most often, this is an extinctive inhibition that develops in the absence of reinforcement.

One reason for forgetting is negative influence activities following learning. This phenomenon is called retroactive (reverse acting) inhibition. It is more pronounced if the activity follows without interruption, if the subsequent activity is similar to the previous one, and if the subsequent activity is more difficult than the activity of memorization.

To combat forgetting, you need to know the patterns of its course.

Memory processes and their characteristics

Parameter name	Meaning
Article subject:	Memory processes and their characteristics
Rubric (thematic category)	Art

Memory- ϶ᴛᴏ mental cognitive process, which consists in memorization, preservation, subsequent recognition and reproduction by a person of various information. Τᴀᴋᴎᴍ ᴏϬᴩᴀᴈᴏᴍ, memory is a complex mental process consisting of several private processes associated with each other.

Separate processes can be distinguished as part of the memory. The main ones are - memorization, preservation, reproduction, recognition and forgetting.

The activity of memory begins with remembering.

memorization - this is the process of imprinting and subsequent preservation of the perceived information, i.e., from fixing those images and impressions that arise in the mind under the influence of objects and phenomena of reality in the process of sensation and perception. According to the degree of activity of this process, it is customary to distinguish two types of memorization: unintentional (or involuntary) and intentional (or arbitrary).

unintentional memorization is memorization without a predetermined goal, without the use of any techniques and the manifestation of volitional efforts. This is a simple imprint of what has affected us and has retained some trace of excitation in the cerebral cortex. For example, after a walk in the woods or after visiting the theater, we can remember much of what we saw, although we did not specifically set ourselves the task of remembering.

In principle, every process that occurs in the cerebral cortex as a result of exposure to an external stimulus leaves behind traces, although the degree of their strength is different. It is best to remember what is of vital importance for a person: everything that is connected with his interests and needs, with the goals and objectives of his activity. For this reason, even involuntary memorization, in a certain sense, is selective and is determined by our attitude to the environment.

Unlike involuntary memory arbitrary(or intentional) memorization is characterized by the fact that a person sets himself a specific goal - to remember some information - and uses special memorization techniques. Arbitrary memorization is a special and complex mental activity, subordinate to the task of remembering. At the same time, arbitrary memorization includes a variety of actions performed in order to better achieve the goal.

It is customary to allocate meaningful and mechanical memorization.

Mechanical memory - this is memorization without awareness of the logical connection between the various parts of the perceived material. An example of such memorization is memorization, memorization of statistical data, historical dates, etc. The basis of rote memorization is the repeated repetition of material.

In contrast to this meaningful memorization based on an understanding of the internal logical connections between separate parts material. Two positions of which one is a conclusion from the other are remembered not because they follow each other in time, but because they are logically connected. For this reason, meaningful memorization is always associated with the processes of thinking and relies mainly on generalized connections between parts of the material at the level of the second signal system.

Comprehension of the material is achieved by the following methods:

o highlighting the main thoughts in the studied material and grouping them in the form of a plan;

o highlighting semantic strong points;

o comparison;

o repetition method: concentrated and distributed;

o method of reproduction during memorization;

The advantages of arbitrary memorization are obvious only at first glance. The studies of the well-known Russian psychologist P.I. Zinchenko convincingly proved that the mindset, which makes it the direct goal of the subject’s action, is not in itself decisive for the effectiveness of the memorization process. In certain cases, involuntary memorization may be more effective than arbitrary. In Zinchenko's experiments, unintentional memorization of pictures in the course of an activity whose goal was their classification (without the task of remembering) turned out to be definitely higher than in the case when the subjects were tasked with specifically remembering the pictures.

Preservation - this is the retention of what has been learned in memory, that is, the preservation of traces and connections in the brain. In the brain, the establishment of nerve connections between cells occurs, due to which a neural pathway is formed.

Forgetting - disappearance, loss from memory, i.e., the process of extinction, elimination, ʼʼerasingʼʼ of traces, inhibition of connections. These two processes, opposite in character, are in fact different characteristics one process: we speak about the preservation of material in memory when there is no forgetting it, and forgetting is a poor preservation of memory material. For this reason, retention is nothing more than a fight against forgetting.

Forgetting is a very expedient, natural and necessary process and should not always be evaluated negatively. If we did not have the ability to forget, our memory would be filled with a mass of small and unnecessary information, facts, details, details. Our brain would be overloaded with information. And forgetting allows the brain to get rid of redundant information. Many people with a phenomenal (outstanding) memory complain that their brain is literally "clogged" with a lot of unnecessary facts and this often prevents them from remembering the necessary and necessary information.

Rice. 1 ʼʼForgetting curveʼʼ Ebbinghaus

Forgetting is expressed either in the inability to remember or recognize, or in erroneous recall and recognition. First of all, what is forgotten is that which is not of vital importance for a person, does not arouse his interest, does not occupy a significant place in his activity and, therefore, does not receive sufficient reinforcement. The physiological basis of forgetting is some types of cortical inhibition that interferes with the actualization of temporary neural connections. Most often, this so-called extinctive inhibition, ĸᴏᴛᴏᴩᴏᴇ develops in the absence of reinforcement. It should be noted that forgetting proceeds unevenly over time. The greatest loss of material occurs immediately after its perception, and further forgetting is slower (Fig. 1). This can be confirmed by an experiment conducted by the American psychologist M. Jones. The experiment boiled down to the following: before the lecture on psychology began, Jones warned the students that at the end they would receive leaflets with questions on the content of the lecture, to which they had to give written answers. The lecture was delivered at a speed of 75 words per minute, clear and accessible.

The written survey was conducted five times at different time intervals. The results were as follows: immediately after the lecture, students correctly reproduced 65% of the basic ideas of the lecture, three to four days after the lecture - 45.3%, one week later - 34.6%, two weeks later - 30.6% and after Eight weeks - 24.1%.

Considering various options manifestations of forgetting, it is impossible not to say about cases when a person cannot remember something in this moment(for example, immediately after receiving the information), but remembers or recognizes it after some time. Such a phenomenon is called reminiscences(vague memory). The essence of reminiscence essentially lies in the fact that the reproduction of material that we could not immediately fully reproduce, a day or two after perception, is replenished with facts and concepts that were absent during the first reproduction of the material. This phenomenon is often observed when reproducing verbal material of a large volume, which is due to fatigue. nerve cells. Reminiscence is found more often in preschoolers and younger schoolchildren.

recognition and reproduction. The results of memorization and preservation are manifested in recognition and reproduction.

So, reproduction - the process of recreating the image of objects, phenomena of the surrounding reality, perceived earlier, but not perceived at the moment.

Τᴀᴋᴎᴍ ᴏϬᴩᴀᴈᴏᴍ, the physiological basis of reproduction is the renewal of neural connections that were previously formed during the perception of objects and phenomena.

Like memorization, reproduction must be unintentional(involuntary) and deliberate(arbitrary). In the first case, reproduction occurs unexpectedly for ourselves. For example, passing by the school where we studied, we can suddenly reproduce the image of the teacher who taught us, or the images of school friends. A special case of unintentional reproduction is the appearance of persevering images, which are characterized by exceptional stability.

With arbitrary reproduction, unlike involuntary, we remember, having a consciously set goal. Such a goal is the desire to recall something from our past experience, for example, when we set ourselves the goal of recalling a well-learned poem. In this case, as a rule, the words ʼʼ go by themselvesʼʼ.

There are cases when reproduction proceeds in the form of a more or less prolonged reminiscences. Remembrance - the most active reproduction, associated with tension and requiring certain volitional efforts. In these cases, the achievement of the goal - to remember something - is carried out through the achievement of intermediate goals that allow solving main task. For example, in order to remember an event, we try to remember all the facts that are in some way connected with it. Moreover, the use of intermediate links is usually conscious character.
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We consciously map out what might help us remember, or think about how it relates to what we are looking for, or evaluate everything that we remember, or judge why it does not fit, etc. Therefore , the processes of recall are closely related to the processes of thinking.

At the same time, remembering, we often encounter difficulties. At first we remember the wrong thing, reject it and set ourselves the task of remembering something again. It is obvious that all this requires certain volitional efforts from us. For this reason, remembrance is at the same time a volitional process.

Recognition - classification of the perceived object to the category of already known. Recognition is, of course, a simpler process than reproduction. It is easier to learn than to reproduce. This is evidenced simple experiments. A person was presented with 50 different objects (words, pictures). After a thorough acquaintance with them, the subject had to reproduce all the remembered objects. After that, he was already offered 100 objects (also words, drawings), among which 50 were the same ones that were presented earlier, and 50 were unfamiliar. It was necessary to find out among 100 objects those, which have been presented before. The average reproduction rate was 15 objects, recognition - 35 objects.

It follows from this that recognition should not be an indicator of the strength of memorization, and when evaluating the effectiveness of memorization, one should focus on reproduction. A lack of understanding of this explains the frequent cases of an unsuccessful student's answer on the material that he, as it seems to him, conscientiously taught. The fact is that, when deciding on the assimilation of the material, the student was guided by recognition. He reads the material from the textbook again, and everything is familiar to him. Familiar means learned, the student believes. But the teacher demands from the child not recognition, but reproduction. For this reason, when memorizing, it is extremely important to check yourself for reproduction and consider the material learned only when, having closed the textbook, you can accurately tell the contents of the corresponding distribution, prove the theorem, and solve the problem.

Memory processes and their characteristics - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Memory processes and their characteristics" 2017, 2018.

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

Memorization is a process of memory, which results in “imprinting”, fixing new information by encoding it (in the form of “memory traces”) and linking it with previously acquired experience.

The original form of memorization is the so-called unintentional or involuntary memorization, i.e. memorization without a predetermined goal, without the use of any techniques. It is a mere imprint of what has acted, the preservation of some trace of excitation in the cerebral cortex. Each process that occurs in the cerebral cortex leaves traces behind itself, although the degree of their strength is different.

Much of what a person encounters in life is involuntarily remembered: surrounding objects, phenomena, events of everyday life, people's actions, the content of films, books read without any educational purpose, etc., although not all of them are remembered equally well. It is best to remember what is of vital importance for a person: everything that is connected with his interests and needs, with the goals and objectives of his activity. Even involuntary memorization is selective, determined by the attitude to the environment.

It is necessary to distinguish from involuntary memorization arbitrary (deliberate) memorization, characterized by the fact that a person sets himself a specific goal - to remember what is planned, and uses special memorization techniques. Arbitrary memorization is an activity aimed at memorizing and reproducing retained material, called mnemonic activity. In such an activity, a person is faced with the task of selectively remembering the material offered to him. In all these cases, a person must clearly separate the material that he was asked to remember from all side impressions and, when reproducing, confine himself to it. Therefore, mnemonic activity is selective.

Preservation is the process of keeping information in memory, its processing and transformation.

What a person remembers, the brain stores more or less for a long time. Preservation as a process of memory has its own laws. It is established that saving can be dynamic and static. Dynamic storage is manifested in RAM, and static - in long-term. With dynamic preservation, the material changes little, with static preservation, on the contrary, it necessarily undergoes reconstruction, processing.

The reconstruction of the material stored by long-term memory occurs under the influence of the information that continuously comes in again. Reconstruction manifests itself in various forms: in the disappearance of certain details and their replacement by other details, in a change in the sequence of material, in its generalization.

Reproduction is the actualization in the mind of a previously formed psychological content (thought, image, feeling) 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, due to the goals and objectives of the activity performed.

Reproduction differs from perception in that it occurs after it, outside of it. Reproducing the image of an object is more difficult than recognizing it. Thus, it is easier for a student to recognize the text of a book when reading it again (with repeated perception) than to reproduce, recall the content of the text when the book is closed. The physiological basis of reproduction is the renewal of the neural connections formed earlier during the perception of objects and phenomena.

Reproduction can take place in the form of sequential recall, this is an active volitional process. Recall in a person occurs according to the laws of association, in short, while the machine is forced to go through all the information until it “stumbles upon” the necessary fact.

The playback process has several varieties:

recognition,

actual reproduction,

remembrance (will-directed extraction from long-term memory images of the past).

memory.

Recognition is the process of recognition based on memory data of an already known object that is in the center of actual perception. This process is based on the comparison of perceived features with the corresponding traces of memory, which act as standards for the identification features of the perceived.

Remembrance is the reproduction of images from the past, localized in time and space, i.e. associated with certain periods and events of our lives.

Forgetting is an active process, consisting in the loss of access to previously memorized material, in the inability to reproduce or learn what was once learned. First of all, that which does not meet the urgent needs of the subject and is not updated in the context of the tasks he is solving is subject to forgetting. This process is carried out most intensively immediately after the end of memorization. At the same time, meaningful and important material, which acquires a more generalized and schematic character during storage. Minor details are forgotten rather than significant ones.

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

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

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

The structures of the hippocampus and the limbic system of the brain are involved in short-term memory. This is due to the implementation by these nerve formations of the function of distinguishing the novelty of signals and reading incoming afferent information at the input of the waking brain. The realization of the phenomenon of short-term memory practically does not require and is not really associated with significant chemical and structural changes in neurons and synapses, since the corresponding changes in the synthesis of messenger (messenger) RNA require more time.

Despite the differences in hypotheses and theories about the nature of short-term memory, their initial prerequisite is the occurrence of short-term reversible changes. physical and chemical properties membranes, as well as the dynamics of neurotransmitters in synapses. Ionic currents across the membrane, combined with short-term metabolic shifts during synaptic activation, can lead to a change in the efficiency of synaptic transmission lasting several seconds.

Mechanism of long-term memory

Converting short-term memory to long-term memory consolidation) in general view due to the onset of persistent changes in synaptic conduction as a result of re-excitation of nerve cells. Consolidation of memory is due to chemical and structural changes in the corresponding nerve formations. According to modern neurophysiology and neurochemistry, long-term (long-term) memory is based on complex chemical processes of the synthesis of protein molecules in brain cells.

Changes in the mediator mechanisms that ensure the process of chemical transmission of excitation from one nerve cell to another have a certain significance in the mechanisms of long-term memory. Plastic chemical changes in synaptic structures are based on the interaction of mediators, such as acetylcholine, with receptor proteins of the postsynaptic membrane and ions (Na+, K+, Ca2+). The dynamics of transmembrane currents of these ions makes the membrane more sensitive to the action of mediators. It has been established that the learning process is accompanied by an increase in the activity of the cholinesterase enzyme, which destroys acetylcholine, and substances that inhibit the action of cholinesterase cause significant memory impairment.

A possible basis for long-term memory is some peptides of a hormonal nature, simple protein substances, and a specific S-100 protein. Such peptides that stimulate, for example, the conditioned reflex mechanism of learning, include some hormones (ACTH, somatotropic hormone, vasopressin, etc.).

1) Memorization (imprinting)

memorization is the process of capturing and then storing the perceived information. Memorization depends on the properties, interests, knowledge of the individual.
The effectiveness and strategy of memorization is influenced by the volume of material, the degree of its homogeneity and the sequence of memorization.

To assess memorization, its productivity and duration, two paradigms are used: memorization from one time and memorization after multiple repetitions (saturated). Therefore, we can talk about different duration of memorization: short-term, operational and long-term.

According to the degree of activity of the process, it is customary to single out 2 types of memorization:
a) intentional (arbitrary);
b) unintentional (involuntary).

Involuntary memorization- preservation in memory of repeatedly perceived material without volitional efforts and the goal of remembering.
Arbitrary memorization- special activity, memorization in order to preserve the material in memory.

When studying memorization, such characteristics of the material as its meaningfulness and meaninglessness are used. Since the productivity of memorization depends on the meaningfulness or meaninglessness of the material, these characteristics of the material are used when describing mental process, speaking of meaningful or rote memorization.

Rote This is the repetition of material.
Meaningful memorization is the linking of material with past experience.

2) Preservation

All the information that was perceived, we not only remember, but also save.
Preservation - this is a more or less long-term retention in memory of some information.

The strength of preservation is ensured, on the one hand, by the meaningfulness of the memorized material, and, on the other hand, by repetitions, which should be varied in content and form. A certain time of saving experience provides an opportunity for learning.

The strength of preservation protects against forgetting.

3) Playback (remembering)

Playback - this is the appearance in the field of consciousness of the image of an object without repeated this object.

As a result of this process, information is retrieved from long-term memory and translated into RAM. Images and ideas about previously perceived objects appear in the field of consciousness.

According to the amount of information reproduced, it is divided into complete or incomplete (partial) reproduction.
According to the degree of activity of the process, they distinguish random play(i.e. purposeful; can happen easily or with difficulty) and spontaneous reproduction(images arise by themselves, for example, associations).
According to the delay between memorization and reproduction, the latter is divided into immediate and delayed playback.
Depending on the nature of the goals (intentionality or unintentionality), direct and indirect reproduction procedures are distinguished ( remembrance and recognition).

Recognition - this is the reproduction of an object in the conditions of its repeated perception. It is a genetically earlier manifestation of memory.

Recognition is of great vital importance. It always connects our experience with the perception of surrounding objects and thus gives us the opportunity to correctly orient ourselves in the surrounding reality.

The accuracy and speed of recognition depend on the familiarity and meaningfulness of the material: familiar material is recognized more accurately, and meaningful material is recognized faster.

If difficulties arise in the process of reproduction, then the process of recall is underway.
Remembrance - these are mental actions associated with the search, restoration and extraction of the necessary information from long-term memory. Associated with the need for willpower.

Achieving the goal of remembering something is carried out through the achievement of intermediate goals that allow solving the main task. Moreover, the use of intermediate links is conscious. We consciously map out what might help us remember, or think about how it relates to what we are looking for, or evaluate everything that we remember, or judge why it does not fit.

Scientists have identified a feature of these processes: the amount of recall is less than the amount of recognition.
Memory quality is determined by playback. The success of reproduction is the ability to restore connections about the text and in it.

4) Forgetting

Forgetting - this is a process characterized by a gradual decrease in the possibilities of recalling and reproducing the memorized material. This phenomenon was first studied by the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus.

The main factors of forgetting- this is the time and degree of activity of using the available information (i.e., something that is not constantly needed and needed is forgotten).
The selectivity of forgetting is also manifested in the fact that details are forgotten sooner, and general provisions and the findings are stored in memory longer.

Forgetting is uneven. During the first 5 days after memorization, forgetting goes faster than in the next 5 days.
Forgetting implies the loss of the ability to reproduce, and sometimes recognize, previously memorized. Most often, the unimportant is forgotten.

Forgetting can be partial or complete.
partial forgetting- this is the inability to reproduce information, but the ability to know it (information seems familiar).
Complete forgetfulness- the material is not only not reproduced, but it is also not recognizable.

Forgetting can also be temporary or long term.
Forgetting depends on time. It is especially intensive immediately after memorization, and then it slows down.

Classification of memory according to the object of storage:

1) figurative memory

figurative memory - this is a memory for ideas, pictures of nature and life, as well as sounds, smells, tastes, i.e. it is the memory of the early perceived through.

The bottom line is that what was previously perceived is then reproduced in the form of representations. Reproduction of what was previously perceived often diverges from its original. And over time, these differences can deepen.
Used to meet biological needs and needs related to the safety or self-preservation of the body. Figurative memory is more pronounced in children and adolescents.

2) emotional memory

emotional memory It is a memory for feelings, emotions, mood.
This type memory lies in our ability to remember and reproduce feelings. A person can rejoice again, remembering a happy event, blush, remembering an awkward act.

Emotions always signal how our needs and interests are satisfied, how our relations with the outside world are carried out.Experienced and preserved feelings act as signals either inciting to action or restraining from actions caused in the past by a negative experience.Therefore, emotional memory is important in the life and work of every person.

3) Motor (motor) memory

motor memory - this is the memorization, storage and reproduction of various movements.

Motor memory is the basis for the formation of various practical and labor skills, as well as walking and writing skills. Without memory for movement, we would have to learn to carry out the appropriate action every time. Motor memory in a child occurs by the first month of life.

4) Verbal-logical memory

Verbal-logical memory is the memorization and reproduction of our thoughts.
We remember and reproduce the thoughts that have arisen in us in the process of thinking, thinking, we remember the content of the book we read, talking with friends. Thoughts do not exist without language, therefore memory for them is called not just logical. the main role is assigned to the second signal system, therefore this type of memory is specifically human, unlike other types.

One of the main characteristics of verbal - logical memory is that memorization can occur in the same verbal form that was perceived (literally), but can also be carried out in a different speech expression (in your own words). It depends on the task that the person faces, and on the methods of memorization formed in him.

Classification of memory according to the degree of volitional regulation:

1) involuntary memory

involuntary memory - this is memorization and reproduction, which is carried out automatically, without the volitional efforts of a person, without control by consciousness.
Involuntarily, one remembers better that material with which interesting, complex mental work is associated, and which is of great importance for a person.

2)Arbitrary memory

Arbitrary memory - this is memorization and reproduction, which is carried out in the presence of a task, as well as volitional efforts.
A person intentionally, at his own discretion, remembers and reproduces something, that is, directs his activity to achieve the goal.

Classification of memory according to the duration of information storage:

1) Instantaneous (iconic, sensory) memory

instant memory - this is the retention of an accurate and complete picture of what has just been perceived by the senses without any processing of the information received. This is memory-image. Its duration is from 0.1 to 0.5 seconds.

2) short term memory

short term memory is a type of memory characterized by a very brief retention of perceived information.
Reproduction in this case is characterized by high accuracy, however, after a short time, the impressions disappear, and the person usually turns out to be unable to remember anything from the perceived. The duration of retention of mnemonic traces is on average about 20 seconds (without repetition).

The amount of information a person can store in short-term memory is limited. As Miller established, it is measured in structural units and is equal to 7 ± 2. This value changes with age.

From instant memory to short-term memory, only that information that is realized, correlates with the interests and needs of a person, and attracts attention, gets.
Generalization, schematization visibility - natural ways expanding the operational field of short-term memory, through it all information enters long-term storage.

3) RAM

RAM - This is a mnemonic process that serves actual actions and operations directly carried out by a person. That is, it is a process that determines the existing situation (“memory now”).
An example is when we keep "in mind" intermediate answers in a problem.

Includes elements of short-term and long-term memory that are updated to perform a specific operation (action, activity) within a certain period of time (from several tens of seconds to several days). The shelf life is designed to solve the problem. After that, the information can be erased from the RAM.

4) long term memory

long term memory - this is a type of memory characterized by the duration and durability of the perceived material for an unlimited period of time.
Transfer from short-term memory to long-term memory is carried out with the help of volitional efforts. Moreover, much more information can be transferred into long-term memory than short-term memory allows. Achieved through repetition.
The amount of long-term memory is considered to be infinite.

5)genetic memory

genetic memory - this is a type of memory that is determined by the mechanism of heredity and is expressed in instincts, reflexes.
Genetic memory began to be singled out by researchers relatively recently. The biological mechanism for storing information is mutations and related changes in gene structures.

Information is stored in the genotype, transmitted and reproduced by inheritance. It is impossible to influence genetic memory through training and education.

Classification of memory according to the degree of awareness:

1) Explicit (perceived) memory

Explicit memory - this is memory with awareness of the subject of memorization.
It manifests itself already in the second year of life. This kind of memory requires a conscious attempt to recall something previously learned.

2) Implicit (unconscious) memory

implicit memory - this is memory without awareness of the subject of memorization, or unconscious memory.
The action of implicit memory is manifested in the spontaneous attribution of an example to a prototype, in the classification of objects according to an implicitly learned basis, etc. The trace of implicit memory is more powerful than the trace of explicit memory, but at the same time it is more vulnerable. When the semantic context changes, the productivity of implicit memory sharply decreases.

Implicit memory is sensitive to modality changes, especially when moving from visual to auditory, while explicit memory productivity is not affected by modality changes.
The sensitivity of implicit memory to modality underlies the sense of familiarity. It is shown that the assessment of stimuli as "familiar" or "unfamiliar" is largely based on this feeling, and it itself can be unconscious.

The phenomena of implicit memory have been found not only in motor learning, but in a wide class of tasks that is used in the imprinting paradigm.

For example, Leviki offered the subjects a series of photographs depicting women with long and short hair. Demonstration of photographs of women with long hair was always accompanied by a story about their kindness. In a test series, subjects were asked to make a judgment about the "kindness" of a previously undemonstrated woman: the subject rated the latter as kind if she had long hair.

Effects and phenomena of memory

1) Specially allocated reminiscence phenomenon is delayed involuntary reproduction. Reminiscence means that the reproduction of the learned material does not worsen over time, but, on the contrary, improves. This is due to the awareness of information (poorly comprehended after a while becomes conscious).
Reminiscence depends on the quality of prior learning. Most often, it occurs when memorizing a large amount of material. Experiments have shown that this phenomenon is more common in children than in adults.

2) If the subject is offered a series of stimuli for memorization, and then asked to reproduce these stimuli in random order, then the probability of reproducing the first and last stimuli will be higher than the stimuli located in the middle of the row. This phenomenon has been named "Effect of primacy and recentness" .

3) Bluma Vulfovna Zeigarnik, Soviet psychologist, founder of Soviet pathopsychology, discovered the memory effect, called the Zeigarnik effect.

Zeigarnik effect implies that it is better to remember an incomplete action - an interrupted action.
If people are offered a series of tasks and some of them are allowed to be completed, while others are interrupted unfinished, then it turns out that subsequently the subjects are almost twice as likely to recall incomplete tasks than those completed by the time of interruption. This is due to the fact that when receiving a task, the subject has a need to complete it, which intensifies in the process of completing the task. This need is fully realized when the task is completed, and remains unsatisfied if it is not completed. Due to the connection between motivation and memory, the former affects the selectivity of memory, preserving traces of unfinished tasks in it.

4) In 1885, a German scientist G. Ebbinghaus opened forgetting curve , which shows what part of the read a person remembers at different intervals.

To conduct an experiment, he came up with lists of pseudowords formed by two consonants and one vowel (ZAC, BOK, SID). After learning several lists, he checked how many words from each list would be played after 20 minutes, 1 hour, 7-9 hours, 1, 2, 6 and 31 days.
In the first hours, the volume of learned information quickly falls and after 10 hours it is only 35% of what has been learned. Further, the process of forgetting goes slowly and after 6 days 20% of total number originally learned syllables, the same number remains after a month.

The value additional to the number of correctly reproduced words, Ebbinghaus called the forgetting index and built the famous forgetting curve, which could be called the recall curve.

Memory disorders

1. Memory disorders can be based on a variety of factors that give rise to different kinds disorders, most of which are related to a number of amnesias.

Amnesia - this is a violation of memory in the form of a loss of the ability to preserve and reproduce previously acquired knowledge.

Thus, one of the most studied disorders of involuntary memory is a violation of memory for current events while maintaining a relatively good memory for past events. It is called fixation amnesia. Such patients can correctly name events from their childhood, past life but can't remember if they had lunch today.

Memory disorders are not only for current events, but also for past ones. Patients do not remember the past, confuse it with the present, shift the chronology of events, i.e. they are disoriented in time and space. In such patients, memory impairments are often progressive in nature: first, the ability to remember current events decreases, events are erased in memory recent years and partly a long time ago. This phenomenon is called progressive amnesia.

Sigmund Freud, an Austrian psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, once noticed a very interesting phenomenon, which he called childhood amnesia.
childhood amnesia - this is a phenomenon of the psyche, which consists in the fact that an adult does not remember the events of the first 3-4 years of life.

In the course of his research, Freud discovered that his patients were unable to remember the events of the first 3-5 years of their lives. He believed that this was the result of the suppression of sexual and aggressive feelings experienced by a small child in relation to his parents. But this does not explain the fact that there is a complete forgetting of the first years of life, and not partial (associated with sexual or aggressive sensations). At the same time, if the memory is very vivid, emotionally colored, then it can remain in memory until a later period of life.

More probable cause this process There is a huge difference between the experience of encoding information in young children and the organization of memories in adults. In adults, memories are built according to categories and patterns (he is such and such a person, this is such and such a situation), while small children encode their experiences without embellishing them, without connecting them with adjacent events. Once the child begins to assimilate the connections between events and categorize events, early experiences are lost.

2. G hypomnesia - these are memory impairments that occur with age or as a result of any disease of the brain (atherosclerosis of the cerebral vessels, injuries, tumors, intoxications, etc.).

Memory deficit in this case applies mainly to current events in the present, as well as to information of a reference nature (dates, names, faces, etc.). So, for example, in the first stage of hypomnesia, when reading a book, the patient must constantly return to the previous page in order to restore the course of the story in memory. In the future, the patient has difficulty remembering events and data from past experience.

Most often, hypomnesia occurs as a result of organic damage to the brain of a different nature - with injuries, vascular pathology, as well as with acute or chronic intoxication. In addition, hypomnesia can be observed in healthy people as a result of overwork or strong feelings.

3. Hypermnesia - this is an abnormal sharpening of memory compared to normal indicators.

As a rule, it is congenital. Hypermnesia is in particular to remember information in a larger (than normal) volume and for a longer period. Often occurs in manic states and the initial stages of alcohol and drug intoxication.

4. paramnesia - This false or distorted memories, as well as the displacement of the present and the past, the real and the imagined.

With these diseases, what is seen, experienced or told for the first time is perceived by a person as something familiar that happened to him before. With the development of this pathology, a person cannot reliably remember certain events from a past life. False assumptions may appear, which are fixed instead of true events.

Theories of memory

Biochemical theory of memory

The authors of this theory put forward a hypothesis about the two-stage nature of memorization. At the first stage, in their opinion, a short-term (on the order of several seconds) reaction occurs in the brain, which causes physiological changes. These changes are reversible and are the mechanism of short-term memorization.

At the second stage - actually biochemical - the formation of new protein substances (proteins) occurs. Under the influence of an irritant, chemical changes occur in nerve cells. Cells RNA and DNA change due to chemical reaction, which underlies the processes of memory.
Thus, DNA is the carrier of genetic memory, and RNA is the carrier of individual memory.
This stage leads to irreversible changes in nerve cells and is considered the mechanism of long-term memory.

Associative theory of memory

The essence of the associative theory is that our brain classifies it before memorizing information so that it becomes possible to create associative links. If certain mental formations arose in consciousness simultaneously or immediately after each other, then an associative connection is formed between them and reappearance any of the elements of this connection necessarily causes in the mind the representation of all its elements.

Gestalt theory of memory

The initial concept is not an association of objects or phenomena, but their original, integral organization -. Memory processes are determined by the formation of the gestalt.

Investigating memory, supporters of this theory proceeded from the fact that during memorization and reproduction, the material with which we are dealing appears in the form of an integral structure, and not a random set of elements that has developed on an associative basis.

A prominent representative of this trend was B. V. Zeigarnik, who discovered the memory effect named after her.

Some, relevant at a given moment in time, the state creates a certain setting for memorization and reproduction in a person. An appropriate attitude revives some integral structures in the mind, on the basis of which, in turn, the material is remembered or reproduced. This setting controls the course of memorization and reproduction, determines the selection of the necessary information.

mnemonics

mnemonics - specially designed techniques and methods that facilitate the memorization of certain types of information.

Receptions and methods of memorization:

1.Letter code- the formation of semantic phrases from the initial letters of the memorized information.
2. Associations- a method that involves finding vivid associations to memorized information.
3. rhymes- creating rhymes or short poems that include memory material.
4. Consonance- remembering terms or foreign words with the help of friends consonant words.
5. Roman room method- this is the assignment of objects that we want to remember, separate places in a room that is familiar to us.

If you are interested in the development of memory, learning foreign languages, then I advise you to watch this video. In this video you will learn how to apply the Roman room method in practice. If the video turned out to be useful, then feel free to subscribe to this channel and develop your memory!

The quality of memory depends on many factors:
1. the relationship of the individual to activities that are associated with memorization;
2. emotional mood;
3. the degree of activity of mental work;
4. installation;
5. degree of completion of activities;
6. distribution of information for memorization;
7. repetitions at certain intervals;
8. combinations of repetition and reproduction, etc.

Definition of memory

A feature of our psyche is that the images of the outside world that arise in the cerebral cortex do not disappear from our consciousness without a trace. They leave a certain trace, are preserved, consolidated, and, if necessary and possible, are reproduced. These processes are called memory. Memory – necessary condition mental activity. So, for example, a person speaks using words that are well known to him, without thinking that these words are reproduced by him from past experience. But, if a person speaks a foreign language that he has poorly mastered or recalls new terms for him, the process of reproducing traces of previously acquired words is perceived by him precisely as a recollection or recollection.

Memory- renewing reflection of reality, reflection or reproduction of the experienced, reproduction of both sensual and generalized semantic content. Memory is a form of mental reflection, which consists in imprinting, saving and subsequent reproduction by a person of his individual experience.

Memory is the most important characteristic of a person's mental life; it ensures the unity and integrity of the human personality. No actual action is conceivable outside the processes of memory, since the flow of any, even the most elementary act, necessarily implies the retention of each of its given elements for “linking” with the next one. Without the ability for such "cohesion", the development of man would be impossible, and he would forever remain in the state of a newborn. Without memory, a person would be a creature of the moment, devoid of any knowledge, skills, abilities, incapable of accumulating life experience and using it in new and difficult situations. Such a being, devoid of memory, could not be called a person.

Memory processes not only provide necessary for man baggage of knowledge and skills, but also allows you to form an individual life experience, which is a condition and component of the mental adaptation of the individual.

The main processes of memory are: memorization, storage, reproduction and forgetting.

imprinting (remembering) is the process of encoding incoming information, which begins already at the stage of sensory memory. This is where recognition and retention takes place. physical characteristics the incentives presented. During the translation of information into short-term memory, information is usually recoded into an acoustic form. In long-term memory, the analysis and identification of the received information takes place. Memorization of certain material is associated with the accumulation of individual experience in the process of life. Memorization is the linking of the new with the already existing in individual experience. Memorization is always selective: far from everything that affects our senses is stored in memory. Even with involuntary memorization, when we do not set ourselves a specific goal of memorization, objects and phenomena that arouse interest and affect emotions are better remembered. Arbitrary memorization is always purposeful, and if special techniques are used for better assimilation of the material (mnemonics), then such memorization is called memorization.

Memorization can proceed with varying degrees of meaningfulness and depth of understanding. In the case of rote memorization, simple single temporal connections are established between parts of new material and existing knowledge through repeated repetition, which mainly reflect outside phenomena. Logical memorization is based on the allocation of semantic links between the elements of the memorized material, reflecting the essential aspects and relationships of phenomena.

Memorization depends on many factors: on the attitude of the individual, on the mood of the person and his mental state, from the holistic context of ongoing events. Thus, unfinished business stimulates a stronger memorization (the Zeigarnik effect).

The use in further activities of what is remembered requires reproduction. The loss of certain information from activity leads to its forgetting. The preservation of material in memory depends on its participation in human activity, since every given moment a person's behavior is determined by all his life experience.

Preservation (retention)- the process of accumulation of information in memory, its structuring and organization. Episodic memory stores information about the events of our lives (autobiography). The repository of knowledge, expressed in words, symbols, meanings and relationships between them in formulas and algorithms, Tulving called semantic memory. Information can be organized in memory different ways. One way to organize information can be spatial organization, which allows you to establish links and "reference points" in the physical space and social environment. Another way is the associative organization, i.e. grouping of elements with some common features. Finally, a hierarchical organization can act as a way of organizing information, in which each element of information belongs to a certain level, depending on which category - more general or more specific - it corresponds to.

Reproduction (remembering, reproduction) - extraction from the memory reserves into the conscious field of the necessary material. Information is always reproduced on the basis of the structure in which it was remembered. When unintentionally reproduced, some stimulus, according to the principle of association, revives previously perceived images in the mind, which, as it seems to us, emerge by themselves. Intentional reproduction is a process when we set ourselves the goal of restoring past thoughts, feelings, actions in our minds. Its feature is a planned character, and not an accidental association.

Reproduction can be carried out in two ways: recognition and recall. Since context plays a very important role in extracting information, it is always easier for a person to recognize any element against the background of others presented along with it (feeling of familiarity). Recall - conscious reproduction, associated with overcoming some difficulties in reproduction, requires volitional efforts, and sometimes distraction from the remembered thought.

One of interesting effects memory is a reminiscence, an improved, delayed reproduction of the material stored in the memory, which usually does not happen immediately after memorization, but usually after 2-3 days. Both are due to the removal of protective inhibition from nerve cells. That is why, for example, it is recommended to finish preparing for an exam at least a day before it.

Forgetting is the process required for effective work memory, also of a selective nature: countless specific details are forgotten more quickly, and usually general provisions and conclusions are retained longer. The process of forgetting proceeds unevenly: at the beginning quickly, and then slowly ("forgetting curve" of Ebbinghaus). The process of forgetting is difficult to manage.

In old age, the ability to remember is limited. It is pronounced in children, but their ability to retain information is weaker.