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Memory is a Habit State:
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All the processes we have been
discussing so far in language
operate against the background
of this, the biggest process of
all…memory.
It is the most precious
commodity in our lives.
Without it, our life span would
be reduced to a fleeting
moment-by-moment existence,
not much richer than that of an
ant.
So what is this process?
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We might start by defining
memory as the replication of
a criterion response. We
demonstrate memory by
repeating something.
This has been referred to as
a Habit State. Right off the
bat, we can see that other
variables may creep into this
definition. The ability to
repeat something can be
effected by factors other
than memory.
Memory Performance includes Non-Habit
States
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Hence, performance on a
memory task must be accounted
for by at least two variables:
The Habit State and NonHabit States. One example of
a Non-Habit state effecting
memory performance is fatigue.
Fatigue, of course itself is
complex. It can be caused by
the depletion of the nutrients
necessary for neural
processing; and/or by sleep
deprivation.
Another Non-Habit stage is
motivation.
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Undergraduate psychology
majors often have to ask
busy peers, as part of a
class assignment, to
memorize lists of associated
nonsense words.
They often find the memory
capacities among their
college comrades to be at an
alarmingly low ebb.
Had they been able to offer
their subjects $1000 for
the same task, they would
have had different results I
suspect (hope).
Memory is a Complex Process with many
sub-processes
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Distractions would be a third
example of a Non-Habit state.
I'm sure you can think of many
more that must be considered.
Dedicated researchers have,
and are spending their lives
studying memory, and still the
answers to exactly what it is,
are not yet known.
I think it is safe to say,
however, that memory like
language, is not a single
process but a composite of
many processes in the brain,
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and ultimately some outside
of the brain. Hence, the
word "memory" is a simple
term for a very complex
phenomenon.
What does it mean to
memorize something? A
series of very different
memory functions are
involved.
Let's say the task is to
remember a word--a basic
need for developing our
vocabulary.
Short-term Memory
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This would include at least
three processes: Short-term
memory; Long-term memory;
and the conversion of
information from Short-term to
Long-term memory.
(Check the notes for further
discussion on memory processes
and the types of memory)
Short-term memory is of
particular importance in the
auditory modality, where the
stimulus doesn't hang around
very long. Speech, for
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example, as we discussed
earlier, is a discursive
stimulus--strung out in time.
It is impossible to have a
Gestalt experience of a
single spoken sentence.
Unlike a picture, the
stimulus for the beginning of
sentence is gone before half
of the first phrase is
expressed.
Yet we need the whole
sentence to understand the
significance of the individual
words.
Sensory Short-term memory
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Actually, we never hear a
word all at once either, or
for that matter, not even a
phoneme. What we actually
hear is a sustained crackling
noise.
It takes a battery of shortterm memory processes to
achieve recognition. This
first of these processes in
the battery is what I would
call Sensory Short memory.
The auditory modality in
particular includes a process,
which provides an experience
analogous to the afterglow
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of the blips on a radar
screen. This process holds
on to the blips long enough
(in milliseconds) to show
relationships. Similarly
patterns of overtones can be
discerned through Sensory
Short-term memory.
Hence, we can recognize
phonemes as if we heard
them in their entirety.
Here, in the Notes, are
other descriptions of sensory
memory:
Perceptual Short-term memory
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Particularly amazing and
crucial to recognizing words
and sentences is what I
would refer to as Perceptual
Short-term memory, which
lasts up to around 2
seconds.
Professors often speak 20 to
30 words in a sentence and
then keep on rambling
mindless of the fact that
the listener must retain the
whole litany of words in
their order before the
meaning of the sentence can
be determined. What is
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more, Professors give little
time for completion of this
process, and keep the words
coming for the next, and the
next and the next sentence.
It seems almost inhumane,
and yet students rarely yell,
"Slow down!"
In fact in one class, where
the speaking style of the
instructor was such that he
spoke at a rate of around
one word a second, the
students were literally falling
asleep.
The magical number 7
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For the normal human
listener, holding on to the
sentence in perceptual
short-term memory is no
problem. We are wired for
this (neurologically speaking)
and improve upon the
network as we mature.
We can easily hold the
sentences long enough to
abstract their meaning and
then, dismiss them and go on
to the next one.
The magic number for
memory length in perceptual
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short-term memory is 7
chunks of information. For
the five year old child, it
would be closer to 5 chunks.
Here are some interesting
notes on digit span on the
Web in the notes below.
We can typically pack more
into a message, however, by
using strategies to increase
the size of each chunk.
Reduced chunk capacity may impede our
ability to understand a sentence.
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Children who's brain
structure may be slow to
mature, or who have
neurological deficits; and
adults with brain pathologies
and/or advanced age related
cell loss may have as a
result, less chunk capacity.
This can ultimately impeded
their understanding of
sentences. Of course you
don't have to be immature
or brain damaged to
experience this problem.
You need only be a Latin
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student. When I was in the
sixth grade, for example, we
had to select a language. In
the private school I was
attending at the time, Latin was
the politically correct choice. I
suffered through the
declensions and conjugations and
survived to go on to Latin II in
High School.
Here Caesar described in short
sentences his exploits as he
divided Gaul into three parts,
and with his disciplined legions
subdued all of the "barbarians."
Cicero spoke of many things, but all of
them in the same sentence.
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By “barbarians,” I think
Caesar was referring to the
French, the Germans and the
English.
At any rate, buoyed by his
descriptions and my success
in being able to decode
them, in college I ventured
boldly where no Hall had
ever gone before…Latin III.
Talk about the threestrikes-rule and your out! I
should have stayed with
Latin II and the barbarians.
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Latin III was a disaster.
Here we studied Cicero,
one of Rome's outstanding
orators.
The signature of a good
orator, in those days was
one who spoke (wrote) in
long sentences. And Cicero
was not just good…he was
great!
I don't recall, for the two
weeks I lasted in the class,
coming across a sentence
that was less than two
pages long.
Perceptual Short-term memory span is
related to academic achievement.
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By the time I got to the end
of one of Cicero’s sentences,
with all it's conjoined,
embedded and subordinate
clauses and phrases, I had
totally forgotten what the
beginning was all about.
My comprehension of his
sentences was nothing more
than a series of wrong guesses
based on scattered words from
here and there that I could
remember.
I'm sure the experience for
children, who have limited
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perceptual memory skills,
may be similar, only they
are listening to the teacher’s
oral instructions.
Here, in the Notes, are
some examples of Shortterm memory tests and/or
training experiences.
Also, there is a Web Site in
the Notes that discusses the
relationship of digit span
memory to academic
achievement:
Working Short-term Memory
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There is another short-term
memory circuit that we
have. We use it to hold on
to information long enough to
commit it to long-term
memory; or to use it to
meet an immediate goal
(within 12 hours), like solving
a problem or for test taking
purposes.
I view this as Working
Short-term memory. This
usually requires repetition of
a stimulus many times to
retain the information.
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I have a poor working memory.
Yes, I noticed.
Repetition is the workhorse of Working
Short-term Memory.
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College students use Working
Short Term memory and
repetition by design to learn
lists of facts. They may
make a deck of study cards
and run through them many
times.
Small children use it by
serendipity to learn
vocabulary and grammatical
rules. They will ask their
parents to read a book to
them over and over and over
again.
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Here, in the Notes above, is
a further discussion of both
sensory and working memory.
The Conversion Process
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Just beneath each temporal
lobe is a little patchwork of
cells quite different in their
appearance from the typical
neurons.
These two networks are
responsible for converting
information in the Shortterm circuits to the Longterm memory bank. They
cover only a small area of
the brain, but for all intents
and purposes, they are our
life!
Should both these areas be
damaged by something like
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anoxia or brain trauma, our life,
as we remember it would end at
that instant.
We could remember the past up
to that point, and we could
remember the present as far as
long a Short-term memory
permits, but everything beyond
that point would be totally
forgotten in a matter of hours.
If such a thing occurred to me,
for example, before President
Kennedy's death, my
conversation to this day would
still be about that president and
his times.
How sweet it is to be able to learn!
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Without the conversion
process, I would be totally
amazed each time I was
brought up to date by
friends, but would quickly
loose all memory of these
conversations and be left to
eternally contemplate how
the Cold War is going.
Because of the structural
differences of these
conversion cells from regular
neurons, their operation
cannot be surrogated by the
typical surrounding nerve
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cells when they are
damaged. Hence, there is a
poor prognosis for my ever
learning anything new.
In other words, my life
stopped at the point the
conversion process was
impaired. There is one tiny
window left open, however,
and we will discuss that next
under Long-term memory, if
it doesn’t slip my mind.
As you have come to expect,
no doubt, Long-term memory
is no simple processes
Long-term memory is a bundle of sub
processes.
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Included among the Longterm memory processes are:
episodic memory, the
memory of our past;
language memory with its
vocabulary and grammar;
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semantic memory, our
understanding of the world
(concepts);
motor-memory for motor
patterns (the mixer);
and implicit memory, in which
some researchers also
include motor memory.
Although they obviously
communicate with each other,
in many ways these processes
seem to lead separate lives.
Episodic Memory: This is the
memory of our past. Like in a
movie we can envision the
communities of our youth; see
the faces of our family and
friends and hear their voices.
It is one of the joys of life
that we take for granted.
Episodic Memory holds the past, and
Language Memory holds the key to tell it.
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We all have heard accounts
of amnesia victims who have
lost all memory of their
past. They don’t know
where they were born and
raised, or even where they
live now.
Strikingly, what they have
not lost is their knowledge
of the world around them
(semantic memory), nor their
language to express all their
confusion.
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Language Memory: A person
with amnesia can’t recall the
past but can discuss it with
no problem. A person with a
language problem, on the
other hand, can remember
the past but can’t recall
his/language to talk about it.
This, as we have discussed
earlier, is called aphasia. Of
course, Language memory
itself isn’t a single separate
entity either.
Language Memory is a bundle of processes.
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There are, for example,
separate language processes
in the brain for naming
things; for applying
grammatical rules; and for
handling the symbols of
mathematics.
I may have grammar but not
be able to recall the names
of things or visa-versa. Or,
I may not be able to
recognize numbers.
There are typically language
processes in the visual and
auditory modalities, so that
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if a person can not speak,
he may be able to
communicate through writing.
There are receptive, inner
and expressive language
processes. I may not be
able to say a word, but I
may understand most
everything that is said to
and around me.
How frightening it would be
to lose both episodic and
language processes ! And
yet, I am sure there are
people who have experienced
this.
Motor Memory (procedural memory):
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We don’t often realize how
much we rely on motor
memory in our daily lives. But
almost every act from
brushing our teeth to speaking
depends upon this memory
bank.
When things go wrong and we
can’t find these motor
patterns or we continually
retrieve the wrong ones, we
have what is called apraxia.
This can be severe enough to
preclude ever learning to
speak, or to use sign language
or to just plain walk or crawl.
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On the other hand, learning
new motor patterns involves
some unique features. One is
that the learning process
seems to somehow bypass the
conversion process from
Short-term to Long-term
memory.
Hence, if the conversion
process is disrupted and we
can no longer learn anything
new, we can still learn new
motor patterns! Happily, the
opportunity to learn new
crafts, sports and music skills
is not beyond reach.
Semantic Memory
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Our recognition of things
around us is yet another
isolated memory process. I
have seen an aphasic, who
couldn’t say a word,
demonstrate his knowledge of
the world by repairing a
television set.
When it is severe and we lose
recognition of things, which
would hamper such an activity,
we are said to have agnosia.
It can be almost global so that
we appear to be deaf or blind,
or it can be very mild and
transient.
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To a lesser extent we may
lose learned knowledge. This
is an understanding of worldly
processes and abstract
concepts such as we may learn
in school.
This may include things like
our understanding of molecular
structure, democracy, anatomy
or how to repair a television
set etc.
There is one other not so well
understood memory process
called implicit memory.
Implicit Memory
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Aside from procedural
memory, Implicit Memory is
the “new kid” on the block,
in that not too much is
known about it.
It appears we are capable
having experiences where we
learned something, and then
losing all recollection of the
experience.
The only traces that would
be evident would be our
responses on a test, which
would be more correct than
could be accounted for by
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random choice. This is
compatible with a process of
forgetting, we will talk about
shortly, called trace
inhibition.
Below in the notes is a web
site which discusses implicit
memory as it relates it to
motor learning.
In the meantime, we will
turn our attention to my
favorite activity-forgetting.
Forgetting: Trace Decay, Trace
Transformation and Trace Inhibition
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All these memory functions
we have been discussing are
semi separate processes.
We can fail to remember
(actually fail to learn) if
these processes are
disrupted, no doubt.
And of course, as we
mentioned earlier, memory
performance can falter
because of the effects of
the Non Habit States.
But what seems unexpected,
is that forgetting can also
be the result of a process.
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In fact, like memory, there
are a number of processes
associated with forgetting.
We will talk about three
here (although there are
probably more):
Trace Decay, Trace
Transformation and
Trace Inhibition.
Trace Decay: Although I
have seen references to
Long-term memory, Trace
Decay seems to be more
relevant to the Short-term
memory process.
Trace Decay--More than 50% of
information learned is lost in the first hour.
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Anyone who has scurried
around searching to find a
pencil while trying to retain
a phone number in their head
knows the fragility of the
perceptual short term
memory.
Experiments by Hermann
Ebbinghaus showed that the
greatest amount of memory
loss (over 50%) occurs within
one hour after learning
(providing there are no
variables like organization,
meaning or association
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involved). By the end of the day
we may loose a whopping 75%.
One antidote against the
forgetting curve is what is called
Rehearsal—repeating the
information to ourselves.
This works because the memory
trace, if the stimulus is not
repeated, will quickly dissipate.
By rehearsing, we keep the
memory loop active until we
either use the information (and
then let it fade) or commit it to
working-short term memory.
Rehearsal counteracts the forgetting curve.
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Most children will
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spontaneously adapt a
rehearsal strategy. Some,
however, need coaching in this
regard.
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In studying information by
rote (repetition), rehearsal
well beyond the point where
the information is committed
to memory actually has been
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found to retard the forgetting
curve significantly.
Here in the Notes are further
discussions of Trace Decay and
the role of rehearsal.
Another set of antidotes, as
you can imagine, are
Organization, Meaning and
Association.
Through these strategies,
particularly organization
which we will discuss later,
the forgetting curve can be
significantly diminished.
Here is an interesting web
site providing some further
discussion of the role of
organization as a way of
counteracting memory loss.
Reminiscence, Primacy and Recency Effects
are processes that retard Trace Decay.
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There are other important
processes that mitigate
against the forgetting curve.
One is called the
Reminiscence Effect, which
occurs anywhere from
seconds to minutes and
longer after learning.
It is a brief spike in the
curve in which the recall of
learned material actually
increases. This is believed
to be a result of a
consolidation process, which
involves reinforcement and
integration of the new
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material with data already
stored. Others include the
Primacy and Recency Effects
where you retain the first and
last bits of data learned in a
series.
Taken together (i.e., 1.
Reminiscence, and 2. The
Primacy and Recency Effects)
the wisdom of many short
breaks in learning becomes
clearly evident!
They provide time for the
first process to occur, and
proliferate the opportunities
for the second to take place.
Warm-ups, and the Von Restorff Effect are
also processes that retard forgetting.
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The Warm-up Effect is yet
another antidote to the
forgetting curve. The effect
is not unlike warming up for an
athletic activity.
It is an excellent reason to
have a review at the beginning
of each new lesson!
And last but not least is the
Von Restorff Effect. Please
quickly read and try to
remember the following list of
words: “talk, tree, fish, cake,
monumental, pea, cup, dog, ran,
jaw, cool, dumb, make, ship,
fight, ring, and zip.”
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You will probably remember
“talk” and “zip” because of
the Primacy and Recency
effects; but you would also
typically remember
“monumental” because it
stands out from the rest.
That is the Von Restorff
Effect and can be used to
good advantage for
important things we want
someone to remember. For
example we can exaggerate
it, make it bizarre, make it
unique, bold and underline it,
and you name it!
Trace Transformation--another way to
forget.
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Did anyone ever tell you about
the “good old days”? You
usually find it wasn’t so good if
you investigate it little
further.
I once gave my eight-year old
a birthday buddy-slumber
party. The kids (guests) came
early and argued and
complained all night about the
accommodations. The next
day we all went to Griffith
Park to ride the merry-goround. The kids argued in the
car over things like window
seats and leg space etc.
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Because it was raining the
Merry-go-round wasn’t
working. Ultimately we fed
everybody soggy-cold-hotdogs, which the kids all said
they hated.
Because everyone was bored,
we went home, but not before
several got lost and needed to
be found.
They fought in the car again,
and when we got home, they
argued over the TV programs,
which they wanted to watch
until their parents came.
Hence, I was very surprised...
The “Good Old Days” are a product of
Trace Transformation.
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...when the next year, my
eight-year old asked if we
could have another “fun”
slumber party for his coming
birthday.
He sited all the great
experiences they had had in
the previous party--”sleeping
with friends over-night,
having an exiting ride to the
park, experiencing fun games
and great food at the park,
and then having a real cool
TV marathon when they got
home.”
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That’s not how I
remembered it! What
happened?
Trace Transformation
happened. The memory
wasn’t forgotten, but was
changed, according to the
Laws of Pragnanz, just as it
is in perception.
As we discussed earlier, the
Laws of Pragnanz change
percepts, and now memories,
for the better.
Trace Inhibition-- Old memories are never
lost, they just can’t be found.
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In the game of pick-upsticks, if I place a single
stick in a cardboard box, I
can retrieve it from the box
with no difficulty.
If I subsequently place a
hundred more in the box on
top of the first stick, I may
not only find it impossible to
retrieve the first, but I may
loose all sight of it.
This is analogous to what
happens to old memories in
Long-term memory. When
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we have a single experience,
it is easy to recall. But
once there have been many
similar experiences, the first
may be out of consciousness.
A child will have learned an
entire language system (let’s
say Russian) by five years of
age. But let that five year
old come to the United
States for the rest of his
life and not hear his native
language, he will learn the
new one totally, and lose any
recollection of the first.
Recent memories may be destroyed first by
a brain pathology.
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After many years of drinking
American diet colas, and fast
foods, our English speaking
Russian child (now an adult)
could actually have a serious
stroke.
It’s not uncommon for strokes
to wipe away the most
recently acquired knowledge.
So after his recovery in the
hospital, much to the
amazement of everyone
including himself he may lose
the ability to speak English,
but find himself speaking in
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Russian??! How can this be?
Trace inhibition suggests
that nothing is lost from
Long-term memory, but is
obliterated by new
experiences.
It works more noticeably in
daily living. Taking classes
back-to-back, for example,
not only creates fatigue but
triggers an inhibition process
in Long-term memory.
The result is a decreased
ability to recall the learned
material in both classes!
Trace Inhibition is both retroactive and
proactive
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Here is one small experience
I had with proactiveretroactive Inhibition.
I am very familiar with the
English pronoun “You.” Why
not, since I am an native
English speaker. But when I
studied Russian, the pronoun
“Ya” which means “I,” always
gave me pause for thought,
because I confused it with
“You.”
Later in vain attempt to
learn Spanish, I was
hopelessly lost and still am
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with the pronoun “Yo!”
“You” inhibited “Ya”
(proactive) where as “Yo”
also dealt a death blow to
“Ya” (retroactive) which
likewise weakened my recall
of “Yo” (proactive inhibition).
It’s a wonder I can still
speak English considering all
the languages I have failed
at.
On the other hand I am sure
yo ( I mean you) have all
experienced without realizing
it the absence of inhibition.
To sleep is to forget not…which is why, I suppose,
students never forget a thing in my lectures.
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If you have ever studied at
night before you go to bed,
you have without realizing it
tested the inhibition
hypothesis.
Because there were few, if
any, experiences for you
before you awoke, your
recall in the morning will be
almost total.
On the other hand, if you
study in the morning and
then are exposed to the
experiences of the day your
memory loss over the next
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six hours will be significantly
greater.
The factors of emotion and
stress,of course, play
important roles in learning and
forgetting. Also, the
interactions between Longterm memory and working
memory is as complex as it is
important.
Some of these issues are
touched upon in the links we
have provided along the way.
For now, lets switch our focus
to what can be done to
improve memory.
There are Two Schools of Thought on how
to Improve Memory
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I see two approaches to the
problem of improving memory.
The first, I call the Arnie
Schwarzenegger approach because
it advocates exercises and drill to
make physical changes in body
structure.
If I need to change the tire on
my car, for example, I could
choose, like Arnie, to build my
body so I could lift the car up
with my left hand while I change
the tire with my right.
(I was going to insert a picture of my self above and call it the Ed
Hall approach, but my wife says my physique is more like the Jack
under the car in the next picture, so we are left with Arnie.)
If you can’t be like Arnie, hit the road Jack.
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Of course, our discussion
here, is not about the
muscular system but
rather the neural infrastructure for memory.
This is what we are
talking of developing
through mental exercises.
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The second approach involves using the body structure I have now,
and employing some kind of strategy.
For example, a car jack would provide leverage for me to lift the car
while my wife changes the tire. The job gets done although there
has been no change in my neurological infra-structure.
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Which Approach Works Best
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The question is, which
approach works best? The
answer to this question, if it
appears on the Topic Quiz,
is “Yes” and “No.”
Well, it wasn’t a brain
surgeon who wrote the quiz,
so what can I say.
Actually, it all depends on
the age of the individual and
the goals we establish for
training.
For the old folk (22 years
and aging), if memory loss is
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a real problem (particularly if
it results from some kind of
brain trauma), research
suggests that Strategies are
the best way to go.
These will provide gains in
memory performance that are
more meaningful for them to
deal with the routines of daily
living.
The Arnie Schwarzenegger
approach seems to bring
results that are too minimal
to be useful to significantly
improvfe performance on daily
tasks.
Strategies are the best way to go for the
geriatric set, but don’t sell Arnie short.
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This does not mean, however,
that the Arnie Schwarzenegger
approach is of no value to the
geriatric set.
Although the gains through
memory practice may be
minimal, it is better to make
progress in inches than to
recede in miles.
I would do it (I do do it) just
for the neural health of it.
Especially since it has been
recently demonstrated that the
adult has the capacity to
regenerate new nerve cells!
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This takes place in the
hippocampus, which is also a
neural center for learning.
To insure the best growth
environment for this trickle of
new cells, stimulation of this
area may be very important.
Learning new things would
seem highly appropriate for
this purpose. Here, in the
Notes, is an interesting and
relevant discussion on memory
rehabilitation and Lymes
disease in adults.
The Arnie Schwarzenegger Approach is the
best way to go for the baby set
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For the very young set (birth
to puberty), I would strongly
favor the exercise and drill
approach—not physical but
mental, of course.
We have discussed how an
integral part of the neural
growth process is stimulation.
We have seen evidence of
retarded brain growth in
Rumanian orphans who have
been relatively deprived of
stimulation.
We know that stimulating the
young brain brings very large
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gains. In other words we know
what to do and when to do it!
Now comes the how.
Any activity that exercises
memory in the infant is worth
its weight in gold.
I TOLD YOU WE SHOULDN’T
CALL HER ARNIE!
Experiences are the name of the Game
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Having many objects pass by
the infant’s eyes, ears and
hands, gives them the
opportunity to recognize (learn)
objects. This is exercising the
memory tracts and making
neurons expand like popcorn.
We are talking toys here. Not
just an amorphous array of
plastic objects, but objects of
many textures, (cloths, wood,
plastic, paper etc.) and many
shapes (balls, squares,
rectangles, polygons, dolls,
imitation fruits and vegetables,
etc.) and sizes!
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This requires considerable
monitoring on the part of the
caretakers. Objects have to
be selectively placed within
the infant's (toddler's) reach,
and the infant (toddler) must
be monitored at all times for
safety's sake.
Games: Playing little games
with the infant, like pattycake and many others
(available in many baby type
books) is an excellent way to
start. Later on most games
that have parts and
procedures will stimulate the
memory tracts.
Games are the name of the experiences.
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The game of concentration is a
classic. This is where you have
a matrix of cards face down.
You turn them face up two at a
time and try to select pairs.
Those that are not pairs are
placed face down again.
I once met a four year old boy
(a student's son) who was an
aficionado of the game and
could beat the pants off an
adult (unfortunately me).
Of course, most children’s
activities will provide some
memory stimulation. “Simon
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Says,” for example, is a good
drill for executive memory.
The child has to hold the
criteria for a response in
working memory while he
processes the commands in
perceptual short-term
memory.
To me the ultimate memory
game, for older children over
4 years, is chess. Here is a
classic memory game with
retention and recall tasks
abounding on many levels.
We can’t read too much into this, nor can
we read too much to the child of any age.
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Reading: Of course, the “big
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gun” is reading to the infant
(toddler or child). Nursery
Rhymes serve well, at first, and
as the infant grows into a
toddler, short simple stories
and then longer and more
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complex stories become
appropriate.
The activity of reading to an
infant (a toddler, or a child)
has it all! It provides
opportunities to remember many
things from the prosody of
language, to phonemes,
morphemes syntax and
vocabulary; and later details
about the book itself, from
the pictures in the book, to
the characters, their names
and the story line.
Each time we read to a
child, no matter how young
or old, it is a mega-shot of
growth vitamins in the arm
(or more appropriately in
the brain) like we wish
ginka-baloba would be for
us adults.
“To Be or Not to Be,” that is the recitation
that stretches men’s minds. “Et Tu Brute?”
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Recitation: For children who
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have acquired expressive
language, memorizing poems,
documents (eg., The Declaration
of Independence) and stories
are excellent memory exercise
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activities.
Also valuable for developing
memory is the process of
memorizing parts in short skits
and plays (drama classes). Even
the undertaking of learning
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another language is a excellent
source for engaging in memory
drills.
Latin, which was a dead-end
for me academically, was
probably a significant factor
in giving me what little
memory power I do possess.
The process of memorizing
the vocabulary, the many
declensions of the nouns and
the conjugations of verbs,
required a vigorous a regime
of mental exertion.
I still get a headache thinking
about it.
There is more to Sports and Music than
meets the ear.
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Sports and Music: These
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activities are interesting
because they exercise both
implicit and explicit memory.
The implicit memory involves the
learning of motor patterns for
the musical instrument and/or
the sport; and the explicit
memory involves such things as
learning the notes of music and
the rules of the game.
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In terms of music, I have
always been partial to starting
children with piano. I would
begin exposure around 2 years
of age and move toward
lessons/fun experiences as
soon as the child can handle
them. There are those who
would warn of burnout, but I
believe the opportunity to
develop neural infra-structure
during this window of neural
hyper-growth is well worth
the risk!
In the area of motor
activities, I have always been
impressed with ballet (for
both boys and girls. It is the
ultimate sport).
Developing Memory can be a drilling
experience.
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Ballet’s requirements to
remember the sequences of
drills at the bar, and the
combination of steps in center
floor is excellent memory
stimulation. It is impressive to
see young students develop this
capability.
Of course, most sports will
provide exemplary drill for
improving memory skills.
Drill: Of course, there are
activities that are nothing but
drill. Practicing recalling
increasing strings of digits or
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letters or both would be one
example. Reciting poems like
“This is the house that Jack
built” would be another (Try
putting this in audio);
or playing the short-term
memory game where one
person says, “I went to the
store to buy… a loaf of
bread;” the next person says
“…a loaf of bread and
carrots;” the third person
says, “a loaf of bread,
carrots, and milk;” and so
forth till the list becomes a
struggle to remember.
The big gun for developing memory is a
“Magnum 44” aimed at the TV Set.
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Some computer programs
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provide excellent memory
practice for older children.
Destroying the TV Set: The
anti-Christ of memory growth
(and language and cognitive
development as well) for
children under five is TV.
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Time watching TV is worse
than being mentally “dead-inthe-water,” because it gobbles
up time that should have been
devoted to brain growth.
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Instead, we get at best
mental stagnation. I
particularly find useless, the
mindless cartoons that spout
violence. The emphasis is on
brief bursts of sensationalism
using sounds and sights, which
provide immediate gratification
and little need for memory (“Mr.
Roger’s Neighborhood” is a
shinning exception to this rule).
Show me a family whose TV is
kept in the closet and I will show
you some kids with excellent
memory (and language skills).
I would limit the child over five to
1/2 hour a day of carefully
selected educational shows devoid,
if possible, of any commercials.
Increasing memory performance through
strategies
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There are things we can do to
obtain an immediate increase in
our memory performance.
Sometimes they involve using a
tool, and sometimes they involve
creating a mind-set. For an
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interesting analysis of mindsets, check-out the site in the
Notes below,
Strategy Tools for Memory:
The tool perhaps most known to
students is the time-honored
custom of taking notes.
In view of the sharp decline
of short-term memory curve,
it seems we are all at great
risk for remembering little of
class lectures, if not the
whole semester of classes.
But because we write notes
that provide details and
trigger other memories by
association, we are able to
retain a lot more information
from these experiences than
would normally be the case.
Organization is the bases for most memory
strategies.
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Modern technology has provided
tape recorders, video cameras
and computers to enrich the
note taking process.
Appointment books serve a
similar purpose. Other
strategies involve asking
someone else to remind us to do
something; or employing some
bizarre activity, like tying a
string around a finger to serve
as a reminder of something.
While many of these strategies
are inappropriate for young
children, video cameras and
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tape recorders may help them
to remember and more fully
enjoy recent events, like
birthday parties or
excursions, for example, to
the zoo or to the country etc.
Strategy Mind-sets for
Memory: For the most part, a
single word forms the bases
for most strategies-organization.
Organizing information,
whether realistically or
artificially is very helpful to
recall. One form of
organization is called chunking.
Miller’s magical number was 7 chunks.
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Chunking: It is estimated that
the human Short-term memory
process can take in information
at about 2 bits per second.
That is interesting, but not too
helpful from a practical standpoint.
What is more practical is
Miller’s magical number 7. This
suggests that “perceptual”
Short-term memory can handle
7 “chunks” of information at one
time.
Through special organization, we
can increase the amount of
information in each chunk.
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The phone company put this
into use when first they
limited phone numbers to 7
digits (for example 6772828);
and then broke it up into two
chunks (viz. 677 2828) and
later three (viz. 818, 677
2858).
Mnemonic devices are another
form of chunking. Supposed
one had to remember a
useless array of 9 letters,
for example:
H M L T S F T H R
It would be a bit of a pain.
Mnemonic devices are chunk crunchers.
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Remembering the letter sequence
H M L T S F T H R would
become easier if you hit on some
kind of scheme to remember it
as:
– HAMLETS FATHER
This reduces the number of
chunks of information to be
remembered from 9 to 2 !
(H M L T S) (F T H R)
Now, you will remember this
trivial bit of information probably
for the rest of your life!
In the world of music, students
who are struggling to remember
the names of the spaces between
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the lines, often employ the
mnemonic device, “face,” to
reduce five chunks of
information to one.
See the Notes below for
more discussion on mnemonic
devices
Visual Memory Pegs are something to hang
memories on.
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Here, in the Notes below is
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another very detailed site to
check out on mnemonics, which
includes memory pegs which we
will be discussing next.
Visual Memory pegs: For
individuals, who want to
remember lists of items, visual
memory pegs are often found to
be useful. The organization
here exists in a set of mental
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pictures which are often
committed to Long-term memory
through wrote learning.
The organization is then
disrupted in bizarre manner to
create a resistant memory
trace. For example, here is a
short excerpt from a web
advertisement of a book
called “Remember This Book,”
by Mark Shouldice:
To go to the original site for
Mark Shouldice click on the
Notes below.
It takes memory to learn Grammar, but then
Grammar facilitates memory performance.
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Verbal Memory Pegs: Concepts
by the virtue of their
organization and their verbal
labels improve memory
performance.
If you need to remember
animals, you may classify them
as “farm” animals, or “domestic
pets” etc., which in essence
reduces the number of chunks
necessary to be processed..
Grammar: The rules of
morphology and syntax supply
organization to the flow of
words in speech (or Sign
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Language). Hence words (or
signs) presented in
grammatical order will be
easier to remember: For
example, in the following lists
of 18 words each, which is
list is easier to recall:
1. Cat, to, paper, singing,
sits, sheep, cards, lovely, is,
sun, paper, cutting, some,
his, in, who, a, friend.
– OR
2. A cat sits in the sun singing
to his lovely sheep friend who
is cutting some paper cards.
Enough of this...
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For further discussions on Memory, please explore the sites
provided in the notes below.
And now to the last Topic, which discusses some milestones of
speech and language development.