Long-term memory is very important. Without it we would not be able to recall things from the past or learn from any of the mistakes we made. Essentially, without long-term memory we would have anterograde amnesia for our whole life. Anterograde amnesia is where you cannot create new memories. The movie Memento depicts this type of amnesia very well. Recalling memory is not always as easy as it would seem. Have you ever been asked a question and you know the answer, but can’t quite find the words? This is known as tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. Even though we might store something in our long-term memory, it does not necessarily mean that we will have an easy time recalling it. In the article by Katherine White and Lise Abrams they brought up some interesting points about tip-of-the-tongue phonomenons. Their report included a logical explanation as to why some things might be more prone to this phenomenon. "Words that are not activated frequently are more susceptible to TOTs. In addition, recent presentation of a word decreases the likelihood of later having a TOT for that word." (White and Abrams, 2002, 227)
Long-term memory stores our experiences and our information that we gain over our lifetime. Why is long-term memory so important? We develop schemas and scripts on what we expect and what we are suppose to do in certain situations. These schemas and scripts are stored in our long term memory. Imagine what would happen if you could not recall what to do to in situations because you had no prior knowledge. Simple tasks such as stopping at a red light or knowing not to touch a hot stove could cause dangerous consequences.
Long-term memory lets us recall information when we need it most. We encode it into our memory in ways so that we can recall it. Sometimes we can recall it instantaneously while other times it takes a lot of work to remember. As teachers we are trying to give our students knowledge that will be stored into long-term memory, so that they can recall it when they need it.
Some people develop an expertise for a specific skill or topic and are able to recall things easily. An example of someone who would have developed an expertise for a specific skill would be a master chess player. Experts have a strong connection to the memories that show the pieces on a chess board. They are able to search their memory and see when the pieces are in the right position to make certain moves.An article on long term memory that I found interesting was the article by Igor Sotgiu and Dario Galati. This article discussed the long term memory for traumatic events and more specifically discussing the memories of victims during the flood in Italy in the year 2000. The authors had members of the community complete a questionnaire three years after the flood to see how they remembered the traumatic events. The results came back with them recalling the most critical phases of the flood the most. “The emotions most strongly experienced by respondents – sadness, fear, and surprise – were associated with specific appraisals.” (Sotgiu and Galati, 2007, p. 91). Participants tended to remember the more personal experiences that occurred and especially the ones that occurred during the emergency phase of the disaster. They however did not remember as many experiences from the efforts of preparing for the flood. The efforts of preparing for a flood are not traumatic, but if you experience an event that causes such destruction and you are filled with a sense of surprise and fear, this is encoded into your memory. Flashbulb memory is your memory for the situation where you found out about something that was dramatic or surprising. Those that were actually there during the flood are going to have images that are stored into their memory that allow them to recall these events. I can remember certain events about the twin towers being hit in New York, but the long term memory of the events are going to be much clearer to those who had to experience it in person and saw the events unfold.
2 comments:
Any other articles you read on LTM?
Also in a literature review one would not make reference to an example given in class. You are to write a literature review for example for an audience which did not participate in our class. It is a theoretical production, then in the part of reflection you add examples, reflection on the theory.
Give more detail about LTM and some new information, new sources besides the textbook information.
The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon caught my attention. I have developed this problem more and more over the last few years. I attribute part of the problem to ‘right-click, synonyms’ in MS Word. Constantly, I am finding myself unable to come up with an “intelligent” word to use. It is “on the tip-of-my-tongue” but cannot come up with it. I have realized that I rely on using the thesaurus as I am writing papers or emailing, far too often. These words appear quickly, I choose which one sounds the best, and I am on my way with the paper. I never stop to think about the word long enough to process it. There is no chance the word from the thesaurus will stick with me. This goes along with the quote from the article “Words that are not activated frequently are more susceptible to TOTs.” Rarely do I use the words in normal, everyday conversation. I don’t bother to think about them, and relate or apply them to my life. Easy words that I should remember continue to rest “on the tip-of-my-tongue.” Not until I stop to think about and process the word and embed it in my long-term memory, will I be able to recall it.
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