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This next strategy is somewhat related to strategy # 3 in the previous post, in that they are both based on the importance of emotion for our memory. Information that is very important to us, or that has a lot of meaning to it typically has more intense emotion attached to it.
Most information we need to remember ...
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So now you have been practicing visualization/visual imagery (strategy # 1) and elaboration/connection (strategy # 2) for a couple of weeks. The next strategy is a little more fun.
Understanding the structures and functions and also the organization of the brain helps us learn how to use our memory more effectively. I won’t bore you with too much neuroscience, but we know that the emotional structures of the brain and the memory structures of the brain are very close to each other. To be more accurate, our emotions are generated not by a single structure, but by a collection, or a circuit of structures. The same is true of our memory. As it turns out, the emotion circuitry and the memory circuitry ... The last post discussed improving memory by creating mental pictures of information that needs to be remembered. The second strategy builds upon that. Now, in addition to just creating a mental picture of the object or information itself, take a few steps further and elaborate upon that picture, connecting it with other, related information.
For example, using the paper towels from the previous post, I would first create the mental picture of the paper towels. Then I would elaborate by generating a mental picture of where the paper towels are located in the basement. That might include a specific shelf. I might also imagine what other objects are on the shelf next to the towels, including anything that I might have to move out of the way. I could elaborate further by ... Now that you have spent a week strengthening your attention and noticing your forgetfulness, we are ready to begin discussing additional strategies for reducing forgetfulness.
The brain takes in information through our senses. When talking about memory problems and forgetfulness, we are usually referring to memory for information that has entered our brain through the sensation of hearing, such as information that has been told to us by our friends or family. The strategy of visual imagery works on the idea that our brain will memorize and store information more securely when it is experienced through more than one sense: information that is both heard and seen will be remembered better than information that is just heard. The skill of visual imagery ... Just the other day, my wife asked me to return a few books to the public library on my way to work the following morning. They were due back, and she would not have a chance to get there herself. I, of course, said “no problem,” with every intention of being helpful to her in this way. She then laid them on the corner of the table, where I would pass them as I headed for the door the next morning.
After work the next evening, ... |
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