The main types of human memory and their main characteristics

Hello dear blog readers! Memory is a type of mental activity and one of the mental functions, the work of which resembles the work of a computer, because first the information is encoded, then stored, and then, if necessary, the desired file is opened. And today I will talk about what types of memory a person has, so that you know how to use them in order to effectively memorize and manage information.

Introduction

To be efficient, conscious, feel good both physically and emotionally, we need a good memory. After all, how will we fulfill our duties if we forget a lot of things? For development and advancement, we simply need to be able not only to capture information in different ways, but also to store it in order to use it at the right time. Otherwise, we would be like babies, or, according to the myth, like fish, who can only remember something for 3-4 seconds. It has many faces, so be sure to add an adjective that explains its direction and type, and is also unique, because, in fact, with its help we can connect the past, present and future together.

Classification

Their characteristics are determined by the following features:

By the nature of mental activity

1. Figurative

This is the process of memorizing, reproducing and saving images and ideas directly and has the following types:

• Visual — who is well developed, usually they have no problems with imagination. Necessary for people with a creative profession, for example, artists, composers …
• Auditory — memorization of sounds. When the level is low, it becomes difficult to learn foreign languages ​​and generally perceive material by ear.
• Flavoring
• Tactile
• Olfactory

The last 3 types are necessary only to satisfy natural, biological needs (you can read about them in this article). They should be emphasized only by people whose profession is directly related to them, for example, tasters or perfumers.

There is an interesting fact, studies were conducted during the educational process, during which it was revealed that the number of those students who listened to the lecture and could retell it the next day was only 10%. At the same time, the percentage increased to 30 with independent reading, when vision was involved. If they also repeated it, having reproduced it to someone, then the figure was already 50%. And the practical development of the material, in order to consolidate it in the form of a skill, reached 90% success.

2.Motor

This is an opportunity to memorize and reproduce movements. In a child, it appears before the rest. With its help, he learns to know the world and develop. Thanks to her, we, having not practiced cycling for 15 years, sit down, are afraid, and at the same time pedal confidently, because the body remembers how it is done.

3. Emotional

In fact, the most reliable, and already manifests itself in six-month-old babies who rejoice at the approach of pleasant, close people and cry if someone who once scared and so on appears. The psyche is so arranged that pleasant moments are postponed more reliably than negative ones. But there are people who are called touchy, due to the fact that they have the opposite.

4. Verbal — logical

Attention is paid to words, thoughts, as well as logic. I talked about this type of thinking and that it is unique to humans in an article about abstract logical thinking. It is easier for such people to memorize formulas, terms, read books … Appears in a child already at the age of 3-4 years and worsens with age. May be:

• Mechanical — when you have to memorize some set of words, or simply by repeating the text, not being included in its meaning.
• Logical — when you have to involve associations or previously studied terms.

By the duration of the preservation of the material

1. Instantaneous — retains material that has been received by the senses without processing it.
2. Short-term, is working, and stores data for 20 seconds, but in the future it will be possible to reproduce them. It is very valuable for us, as it makes it possible to process and weed out unnecessary material. A prerequisite for memorization is paying attention. For example, you could look at your watch many times, but if you ask a question about what kind of numbers are there, Arabic or Roman, you will find it difficult to answer until you specifically focus on this nuance. Also, the storage duration depends on the volume, and when the short-term memory is full, new data replaces the old ones, which are permanently deleted. Have you ever met someone and then couldn’t remember the name? Exactly. But, if this name is important to you, you can repeat it several times, and it will be postponed to the next type.
3. Operational. A certain period of data storage is set, which are deleted after the task execution. Remember how it used to be during your student days, when you were preparing for an exam overnight, and after passing it, it was as if amnesia set in?
4. Long-term. Its features lie in the fact that it does not start its work immediately, but after some time has passed. In addition, data is more securely fixed if it is frequently played back.

By degree of awareness

• Implicit — arises without the participation of consciousness. For example, a person learns the values ​​of society and the family, not quite understanding how he behaves and what principles he is guided by in life. That is, he does not realize the knowledge that he has.
• Explicit — respectively, the conscious use of one’s knowledge.

By the nature of the participation of the will

1. Arbitrary — we are trying to remember something, applying efforts, diligence.
2. Involuntary — automatically, sometimes without paying attention. Have you ever been in a situation where you wondered how you know about something? And all because they once became interested in something, but did not attach much importance, and the material was postponed.

From research goals

• Genetic — thanks to it we have instincts, reflexes …
• Episodic — stores parts of information, fixing the situation in which it was received. To make it clearer, let me give you an example. You find yourself in a new city, and while walking, you pay attention to shops, sellers, signs, which you will then navigate when returning back so as not to get lost.
• Reproductive is the reproduction of something by remembering. For example, an artist paints a portrait of a girl who impressed him on the bus.
• Reconstructive — restores the original form of something. The woman, having lost the recipe, is trying to remember what and in what order to put the products in the borscht.
• Associative — when we establish connections in order to reproduce the necessary information. For example, when talking to a friend who tells you that she was at a new restaurant and had a wonderful dessert, it occurs to you that you forgot to buy cookies for tea.
• Autobiographical — these are events from life that are held in the head and manifested with the help of memories.

Devices

I will give here the main processes that everyone has to go through daily:

1. Memorization is a process in which the new is fixed by linking it with the old, already acquired. Is selective.
2. Preservation — processing and retention of the necessary data.
3. Playback is the retrieval of stored information.
4. Forgetting is getting rid of what is not needed, or what has not been used for a very long time. It can be both positive when, for example, it erases events that caused discomfort, prevented moving forward, or simply overloaded. And also, negative ones, when useful and necessary data are erased in whole blocks, and it becomes necessary to study them back.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to say that not only psychology pays attention to these complex processes in order to study the nature and orientation of the personality, but also physiology with biochemistry explores the formation of nerve connections and changes in the composition of our RNA (ribonucleic acid).

You can read about how to develop your memory in the article: “TOP 10 exercises for developing memory in humans”.

And in general, I recommend training your memory every day in order to keep your brain in good shape and keep your activity in old age. Here are the best online trainers, on the territory of Russia on the development of memory.

That’s all, dear readers! Subscribe to the blog so as not to miss interesting recommendations on how to pump and improve your memory. I wish you success!