Why am I forgetting things? You have probably asked yourself this sometime in your life (or many times). Have you tried to remember something and suddenly when you wanted to retrieve the information you realized that you did not remember how you thought? The password for your mobile phone or bank account, the name of a person from our past, a word that you knew and that you want to use but 'does not come out', the birthday of a friend ... Why and how do we forget the information?
This happens much more commonly than we think, That is why it is necessary to be aware of why it happens and to have the appropriate strategies so that it does not happen to you, at least as many times as it happens until now. There are some reasons that make you forget things, below you can know them and learn to do things about it.
The theory of decay into oblivion
If you have ever felt that there is information in your mind that seems to have disappeared, it is that you have had a failure to retrieve it. You may know that the information is in your mind but you are not able to find it no matter how much you think and try to remember. The inability to recall and recall from memory is the most common cause of forgetfulness.
Forgetfulness can occur because of the theory of decay. In this theory, a memory trail is created each time a new theory is formed. With the theory of decay he suggests that over time, these memory traces begin to fade and disappear. If the information is not recovered through rehearsal or rehearsal, it will be lost.
Although there is research that makes it clear that there are memories that, although not rehearsed or repeated, can remain stored in long-term memory, especially when they have a strong emotional charge.
The interference theory
In the theory of interference it is suggested that there are some memories that compete and interfere with other memories. When the information is similar to another that is already stored in memory, interference is more likely to occur. There are two types of interference that are worth highlighting:
- Proactive interference: It occurs when an old memory makes it more difficult or impossible to remember a new memory.
- Retroactive interference: It occurs when new information interferes with your ability to recall previously learned information.
Coding failures
Sometimes when information cannot be retrieved, it has less to do with forgetting and more to do with the fact that that information never passed into long-term memory. These encoding flaws sometimes prevent information from entering long-term memory.
Do the following experiment to understand it better: try to visualize a coin in your memory, and then compare the results with a real coin. How did it turn out for you? Chances are, you were able to remember the shape and color, but you forgot the minor details. This occurs because the details necessary to distinguish the coins have been encoded in long-term memory, and the rest, forgotten.
Provoked forgetfulness
Sometimes you can consciously forget things, that is, you actively work to forget memories, especially those experiences that have been traumatic. The two basic forms of this provoked or motivated forgetting are usually suppression (the conscious way of forgetting) and the repression (an unconscious way of forgetting).
This type of repressed memory can have problems such as that repressed memories are difficult to study or to know if they have really been repressed or not. Also keep in mind that mental activities such as rehearsal and recall are important ways to strengthen a memory and that memories of painful or traumatic life events are less likely to be recalled, discussed, or rehearsed.
How to improve memories
Although there are times when forgetting is inevitable, there are things you can do to fight your own forgetfulness. If you want to improve your memory capacity then do not miss these suggestions that can help you.
- Write a to-do list each day and you see crossing out what you are doing. Write the list of tasks prioritizing at the top the most important ones and at the bottom those that can wait if you do not have time to do them.
- Take advantage of applications on your mobile with calendars or other functions to write down the things that seem important to you. You can also have a notebook for this purpose and write things down by hand.
- Forget being multitasking, focus on only one task at a time. This way you will do a more efficient and faster job than if you do it in 'multitasking mode'.
- Take mental photographs. If you often forget where you keep your keys or if you have locked the car door, when you do these routine activities, take a mental photograph and look at the element you want to remember and the elements that surround it. Identify details such as the color of the surface, so if later you do not know where the keys are, you will more easily remember where you left them, it will be easier for you to retrieve that information.
- Repeat the information they give you, This also serves to let the other person know that you are listening, to better retain the information.
- Look at the small details, It will help you memorize things and allow you to better understand the information you receive.
- Keep your mind, your life and your things well organized. Separate the notes, have the documents in order, have a coherent decoration at home, a good organization in the closet ... everything is important so that by having your life organized, you also have your mind organized and you can remember things better.
- Always have a notebook with you to write down the things that come to mind and that you want to remember later. At first it may seem heavy but you will soon take it as a habit.