Basic principles and techniques for organizing memory. Memorization: types, conditions for effective memorization Conditions for successful reproduction

Patterns of memory (conditions for successful memorization and reproduction) are associated with forms of memory.

Involuntary memorization

The conditions for successful involuntary memorization are:

• strong and significant physical stimuli (the sound of a gunshot, bright spotlight);
• what causes increased orientation activity(cessation or resumption of an action, process, unusualness of the phenomenon, its contrast in relation to the background, etc.);
• stimuli that are most significant for a given individual (for example, professionally significant objects);
• stimuli that have a special emotional connotation;
• what is most related to the needs of a given person;
• something that is the object of active activity.

Thus, the conditions of a problem that we have been solving for a long time are remembered involuntarily and firmly.

Voluntary memorization

But in human activity, more often there is a need to specifically remember something and reproduce it under appropriate conditions. This is voluntary memorization, in which the task is always to remember, i.e., special mnemonic activity is carried out.

In the process of human development, voluntary memorization is formed relatively late (mainly during the period of schooling). This type of memorization is intensively developed in teaching and.

Conditions for successful voluntary memorization are:

• awareness of the significance and meaning of the memorized material;
• identification of its structure, logical relationship of parts and elements, semantic and spatial grouping of material;
• identifying the plan in verbal and textual material, supporting words in the content of each part of it, presenting the material in the form of a diagram, table, diagram, drawing, visual image;
• the content and accessibility of the memorized material, its correlation with the experience and orientation of the subject of memorization;
• emotional and aesthetic richness of the material;
• the possibility of using this material in professional activity subject;
• setting the need to reproduce this material under certain conditions;
• material that acts as a means of achieving significant goals, plays a significant role in solving life problems, and acts as an object of active mental activity.

When memorizing material, a rational distribution of it over time and active reproduction of the memorized material are essential.

Mnemonics

If it is impossible to establish semantic connections in heterogeneous material, use artificial methods to facilitate memorization - mnemonics(the art of memorization): the creation of auxiliary artificial associations, the mental placement of memorized material in a well-known space, a familiar pattern, and an easily memorized rhythmic tempo. So, from school, everyone knows the mnemonic technique for memorizing the sequence of colors of the light spectrum: “Every Hunter Wants to Know Where the Pheasant Sits.”

Voluntary memory is purposefully organized. Research shows that a person can easily hold and reproduce only three or four isolated objects (with their simultaneous perception). The limited scope of simultaneous retention and reproduction of material is due to retroactive and proactive inhibition (inhibition arising, respectively, from subsequent and previous influences).

Edge factor

If the subject is given a series of 10 syllables, then the first and last syllables are remembered more easily, and the middle ones - worse. What explains this fact? The first elements do not experience inhibition from previous impressions, and the last members of the series do not experience inhibition from subsequent elements. The middle members of the series experience inhibition both from the preceding ones (proactive inhibition) and from the subsequent elements (retroactive, inverse inhibition). This pattern of memory (better memorization of extreme elements) is called edge factor.

If the memorized series consists of four elements, then the first, second and fourth are remembered first, the third is worse. Therefore, in the quatrains you should pay attention to the third line - the “Achilles heel” of the structure. It is characteristic that it is in the third lines of quatrains that poets often allow violations of meter in order to attract increased attention to it. This is what, for example, the first quatrain of N. M. Yazykov’s poem “Muse” sounds like:

The goddess of strings survived

Gods and thunder and damask steel.

She didn't let her beautiful hands into chains

Centuries of tyranny and debauchery.

It's hard to remember a list of 18 different items. But the listing of the hero's purchases " Dead souls"Nozdryov does not turn out to be too difficult to remember. The author himself helps us with this, providing the necessary contrasting organization of the list. “If he [Nozdryov] at the fair was lucky enough to attack a simpleton and beat him, he bought a bunch of everything that had previously caught his eye in the shops: clamps, smoking tar, calico, candles, nanny scarves, a stallion, raisins, a silver washstand, Dutch canvas, fine flour, tobacco, pistols, herrings, paintings, sharpening tools, pots, boots, earthenware - as much as there was enough money.”

When moving from memorizing one complex material to memorizing another, it is necessary to take breaks (at least 15 minutes), which prevent retroactive inhibition.

The assumption that traces do not disappear at all, but are only inhibited under the influence of other influences, is confirmed by the phenomenon of reminiscence (Latin reminiscentia - memory). Often, when reproducing material immediately after perceiving it, the number of elements retained in memory is less than the amount that a person can reproduce after a pause. This is explained by the fact that during the rest period the effect of braking is removed.

To expand the volume of voluntary memory, it is necessary to attach to the memorized material certain structure, group his. It is unlikely, for example, that anyone will be able to quickly remember a series of 16 isolated numbers: 1001110101110011. If we group this series in the form of two-digit numbers: 10 01 11 01 01 11 00 11, then they are easier to remember. In the form of four-digit numbers, this series is remembered even easier, since it no longer consists of 16 elements, but of four enlarged groups: 1001 1101 0111 0011. Combining elements into groups reduces the number of those elements that experience proactive and retroactive inhibition, allowing you to compare these elements, that is, to include intellectual activity in the memorization process.

Rice. 1. Techniques for organizing a voluntary mnemonic action

The productivity of semantic memory is 25 times higher than mechanical memory. Establishing connections, structure, principle, and patterns of constructing an object is the main condition for its successful memorization. It is difficult to mechanically remember the numbers 248163264128256, but it is very easy to remember these same numbers if you establish a certain pattern in a number of numbers (doubling each subsequent digit). The number 123-456-789 is easy to remember by finding the principle of its construction (Fig. 1).

Voluntary memorization of figurative material is also facilitated by identifying the principle of its organization (Fig. 2).

In experimental studies, it is found that subjects “remember” more information than what was presented to them for memorization. If, for example, the sentence “Ivanov chopped sugar” is given for memorization, then when reproducing it, subjects often reconstruct this material as follows: “Ivanov chopped sugar with tongs.” This phenomenon is explained by the involuntary connection to memorization of an individual’s judgments and conclusions.

So, memory is not a repository of static information. It is organized by systematizing processes of perception and thinking.

Rice. 2. Remember and reproduce this series of figures in the same sequence (the task can be completed only after establishing the principle of arrangement of the figures)

At playback material, those objects that structurally organized the field of perception and regulated the activity of the subject of memorization should be used as support.

A special type of reproduction is memories. Memory- the individual’s attribution of figurative ideas to a specific place and moment in his life. Localization of memories is facilitated by the reproduction of complete behavioral events and their sequence.

Reproduction associated with overcoming difficulties is called recollection. Overcoming difficulties in remembering is facilitated by the establishment of various associations.

Reproducible images of objects or phenomena are called representations. They are divided into types corresponding to the types of perceptions (visual, auditory, etc.).

The peculiarity of the representations is their generality And fragmentation. Representations do not convey with equal brightness all the features and characteristics of objects. If certain ideas are connected with our activity, then in them those aspects of the object that are most significant for this activity are brought to the fore.

Representations are generalized images of reality. They preserve the constant attributes of things and discard the random ones. Ideas are a higher level of cognition than sensation and perception. They are a transitional step from sensations to thoughts. But ideas are always paler, less complete than perceptions. When imagining an image of a well-known object, for example, the facade of your house, you may find that this image is fragmentary and somewhat reconstructed.

The past is restored with the participation of thinking - generally and indirectly. Consciousness of reproduction inevitably leads to a categorical, conceptual embrace of the past. And only specially organized control activities - comparison, critical assessment - bring the reconstructed picture closer to the real events.

The material of reproduction is a product not only of memory, but also of the entire mental uniqueness of a given person.

The material is remembered in the context of human activity. First of all, what is stored in memory is what was most relevant and significant in human activity, how this activity began and ended, what obstacles arose on the way to its implementation. At the same time, some people remember better the facilitating factors, while others remember the hindering factors of activity.

In interpersonal interactions, what affects the most significant personal characteristics of an individual is more firmly remembered.

There are also personal tendencies towards the reconstruction of material stored in memory. A person remembers events in the form in which he comprehends them in the process of perception. Already the elementary act of synthesis of perception and memory—recognition—is distinguished by a number of individual characteristics. Poor memory for faces can be combined with good memory for other objects.

The accuracy and completeness of reproduction depend on the suggestibility and conformity of the individual, his tendency to fantasize. Significant deformations of cognitive processes occur in emotionally stressful states.

So, memory is not a warehouse finished products. Her material is subject to personal reconstruction. Personal reconstruction of the reproduced material can manifest itself in distortion of the semantic content of the source material, illusory detailing of the reproduced event, combination of disparate elements, separation of related elements, replacement of content with other similar content, spatial and temporal mixing of events or their fragments, exaggeration, emphasis on personally significant aspects of the event, confusion functionally similar objects.

A person’s memory stores not only the factual side of events, but also their corresponding interpretation. Meaningful memorization is characterized by the inclusion of material in the semantic (categorical-conceptual) field of the individual. Reproduction, restoration of past influences is not a “result” of these influences. The degree of discrepancy between ideas and real events among different people not the same. It depends on the type of higher nervous activity of the individual, the structure of individual consciousness, value systems, motives and goals of activity.

It functions intensively even beyond the threshold of consciousness. Currently, it is modeled using electronic computers. However, these machines provide only information storage, while human memory is a constantly self-organizing process, a mental mechanism that integrates the results of all mental processes, a mechanism for storing directly perceived and logically processed information.

Some people may have complete, vivid ideas after a single and involuntary perception of an object. Such representations are called eidetic(from Greek eidos - image). Sometimes there is an involuntary, obsessive, cyclical emergence of images - perseveration(Latin perseveratio - perseverance).

Memory is based on those mental processes that occur during the initial meeting with the memorized material. Accordingly, during reproduction, the main role is played by updating the material according to the functional connections of its elements, their semantic context, and the structural relationship of its parts. And for this, the material in the process of imprinting must be clearly analyzed (divided into structural and semantic units) and synthesized (conceptually united). The reserves of human memory are inexhaustible.

According to the calculations of the famous cybernetician J. Neumann, the human brain can accommodate the entire amount of information stored in the largest libraries in the world. Alexander the Great knew by sight and name all the soldiers of his army of thousands. A. A. Alekhine could play from memory (blind) with 40 partners at the same time.

A certain E. Gaon knew by heart all 2.5 thousand books he had read during his life, and could reproduce any passage from them. There are numerous cases of outstanding figurative memory of people of the artistic type. W. A. ​​Mozart could record a large piece of music after listening to it only once. Composers L.K. Glazunov and S.V. Rachmaninov were distinguished by the same musical memory. The artist N. N. Ge could accurately depict from memory what he had seen only once.

A person involuntarily remembers everything that attracts his attention: the captivating colors of spring evenings, the graceful outlines of ancient cathedrals, the joyful faces of people close to him, the smells of the sea and pine forest. All these numerous images constitute the figurative and intellectual fund of his psyche.

Every person has the opportunity to significantly expand their memory capacity. At the same time, it is necessary to discipline the intellect - to highlight the essential against the background of the secondary, to actively reproduce required material, make extensive use of mnemonic devices. The habit of remembering what you need is reinforced, like any other skill. School folklore about “Pythagorean pants” and about “every hunter who wants to know where the pheasant sits” testifies to the ineradicable desire of our mind to find a pattern, an association, even where it is impossible to establish logical connections.

Each person has characteristics of his memory: some people have a strong verbal-logical memory, others have a strong figurative memory; Some people remember quickly, while others need more careful processing of the memorized material. But in all cases it is necessary to avoid what causes proactive and retroactive inhibition. And at the first difficulties of reproduction, the phenomenon of reminiscence should be used.

Memory is an integral mental process, but a number of subprocesses can be distinguished within it. Remembering is perhaps the most important subprocess of memory. At least the main function of memory is to retain information coming from external environment- impossible without memorization. The work of memory with each new object that is to be retained in memory begins with memorization.

As is known, memory in general has a number of certain characteristics:

Imaging speed

Reproduction fidelity

Duration of storage

Readiness to use stored information.

All these characteristics of memory depend on the work of memorization. Memory capacity, the most important integral characteristic of memory, is associated with the ability to remember information. When talking about memory capacity, the number of remembered units of information (observed objects) is usually used as an indicator.

The speed of imprinting characterizes a person’s ability to quickly remember information. The speed of memorization depends on a number of factors, including mobility nervous system, the general tone of a person at the present time (mental state). The method of memorization is very important for the speed of imprinting. Some methods slow down this process, but make it better, others do the opposite.

Perhaps, most people make a requirement for their memory - that it work as accurately as possible, without failures, that is, that the memory characteristic - accuracy of reproduction - be at its best. The accuracy of reproduction is greatly influenced by a number of factors. For example, organic brain lesions can significantly reduce the accuracy of reproduction. The accuracy of reproduction, as noted above, is also greatly influenced by the method of memorization. So, if, when memorizing a certain piece of information, a person used one or another mnemonic technique, the accuracy of reproduction can be guaranteed for many years to come.

The most important characteristic of memory is the duration of information storage; it reflects a person’s ability to retain the necessary information for a certain time. The process of memorization also has a significant impact on the duration of information storage. For example, if a student is in a hurry, “swallowing” chapter after chapter from a textbook, without pausing and without thinking about what he read, then, obviously, such information cannot be retained in memory for more than two or three days. This circumstance may seem funny to some, but if you imagine how many such “specialists” are walking around, who have successfully passed all the exams at their university, but remember practically nothing from textbooks and lectures...

However, this does not mean at all that for a better memorization process you need to dose knowledge like medicine. Yes, regularity and consistency are necessary, but, nevertheless, sometimes it is very useful to organize “brainstorming” to penetrate deeply into the problem. For many disciplines, especially for precision and natural sciences, it can be very useful to delve deeply into the problem. This greatly facilitates understanding and, accordingly, memorization.

The conditions under which memorization occurs are of great importance for the subsequent reproduction of information. Everyone knows when at first you can’t remember some information for a long time, it seems to you that you have forgotten it well, but then it pops up in your consciousness as if by itself, often when the need for it has already disappeared. To make memorization easier, you can use associations with environment. There is a well-known oratorical technique - in order to remember a speech, you need to walk around the rooms, stopping at certain household items. Then, when the time comes to make a speech, you need to imagine in your mind the process of walking around the apartment.

If a person remembers some information in a calm environment, it will later be more difficult for him to remember it in a stressful situation. When consolidating information (for example, repeating a poem in your mind), it would not be superfluous to, say, walk along a noisy street and repeat this poem there.

Memorization is the process of imprinting and subsequently storing perceived information. Based on the degree of activity of this process, it is customary to distinguish two types of memorization:

Unintentional (involuntary) memorization,

Intentional (voluntary) memorization.

Involuntary memorization

Unintentional memorization is memorization without a predetermined goal, without the use of any techniques or manifestation of volitional efforts. This type of memorization could also be called aimless, because this memorization is very much random, although it is often associated with our habits, interests and inclinations. So, for example, a dentist, by virtue of his personal characteristics can remember the characteristics of the teeth of a random passerby. However, even in this case, such memorization will be aimless, although not without reason.

Unintentional memorization is due to the fact that our eyes are usually open when we are awake, and our ears are always open, including when we are asleep. Therefore, what influenced the sense organs without the involvement of our voluntary attention retains some trace of excitation in the cerebral cortex. For example, after a walk in the forest or after visiting the theater, we can remember much of what we saw, although we did not specifically set ourselves the task of remembering. In principle, every process that occurs in the cerebral cortex as a result of the influence of an external stimulus leaves behind traces, although the degree of their strength varies. What is remembered best is what is of vital importance to a person:

Associated with habits, interests and inclinations,

Associated with mental state (if we are upset, we are more likely to notice an upset face in the crowd),

Related to current goals and objectives of the activity,

Simply associated with some other significant situations.

Voluntary memorization

Voluntary (intentional) memorization is characterized by the fact that a person sets himself a certain goal related to memorization, that is, to remember certain information. Arbitrariness is associated not only with goal setting, but also with the choice of method. If a person uses mnemonic techniques to remember this or that information, this clearly indicates that the memorization process is arbitrary.

Voluntary memorization is not just an antonym to involuntary memorization. It represents a special and complex mental activity, subordinate to the task of remembering what is needed. It happens that a person strains all his thinking abilities for the sake of memorization. Voluntary memorization includes a variety of activities performed in order to better achieve a set memorization goal. The most typical action is memorization, that is, repeated repetition of memorized information. This could be a repetition of some text, or a musician repeating a musical opus, or a dancer repeating a memorized dance. Memorization is a purely human achievement. Only a person consciously uses this mechanism, because he knows that “repetitio is mater studiorum” (“repetition is the mother of learning”).

A characteristic feature of voluntary memorization is the manifestation of volitional efforts in the form of setting a memorization task. Repeated repetition allows you to reliably and firmly remember material that is many times greater than the capacity of individual short-term memory. Much of what is perceived in life a large number of times is not remembered by us if the task is not to remember. But if you set this task for yourself and perform all the actions necessary to implement it, memorization proceeds with relatively great success and turns out to be quite durable.

Setting specific tasks plays a significant role in memorization. Under its influence, the process of memorization itself can change. S. L. Rubinstein believed that memorization very much depends on the nature of the activity during which it is performed. He believed that it was impossible to draw clear conclusions about the greater effectiveness of voluntary or involuntary memorization. The advantages of voluntary memorization are clearly evident only at first glance. Research by the famous Russian psychologist P.I. Zinchenko has convincingly proven that the orientation towards memorization, which makes it the direct goal of the subject’s action, is not in itself decisive for the effectiveness of the memorization process. In certain cases, involuntary memorization may be more effective than voluntary memorization.

Mnemonic activity

The vast majority of our systematic knowledge arises as a result of special activities, the purpose of which is to remember relevant material in order to retain it in memory. Such activity aimed at remembering and reproducing retained material is called mnemonic activity.

Mnemonic activity is a specifically human phenomenon, because only in humans does memorization become a special task, and memorizing material, storing it in memory and remembering becomes a special form of conscious activity. At the same time, a person must clearly separate the material that he was asked to remember from all side impressions. Mnemonic activity, therefore, is always selective.

Meaningful and rote memorization

If a person learns a poem without thinking about the meaning of the words he is learning and the ideas of the author, if he learns some physical law by simply stupidly repeating: “The force of action is equal to the force of reaction,” such memorization is called mechanical. Meaningful memorization is always accompanied by understanding and modeling in one’s mind of what is being remembered. To meaningfully memorize a poem, it is necessary to imagine what is being said, to imagine the author, how and why he wrote this poem, what he wanted to tell his readers. To meaningfully memorize physical laws, you need to have an idea of ​​​​the other laws associated with this, you need to understand what exactly this physical law prohibits (after all, any law prohibits something), imagine what would happen if this law ceased to operate (the third one will not operate Newton's law - if you hit a wall with your hand, the wall will break, and you won't even feel anything).

Meaningful memory should not be confused with voluntary memorization. Voluntary memorization can be both mechanical and meaningful.

The basis for rote memorization is association by contiguity: one piece of material is associated with another only because it follows it in time or space. In order for such a connection to be established, the material must be repeated many times.

Meaningful memorization is usually more productive than mechanical memorization. However, this is not always possible. If you just need to remember a few addresses to which letters are to be sent, then no matter how you understand, you still won’t understand what the connection is between “Lenin Street, building 119, apt. 22” and “Petrov-Vodkin Avenue, building 7, apt. 84". Willy-nilly, you will have to repeat these addresses many times so as not to forget. You can use “pseudo-understanding”, that is, the same mnemonic techniques. For example, one can “understand” that the former Lenin Avenue was demoted to a street, and this was done by “service 911” (but only the other way around) on the 22nd, before Defender of the Fatherland Day...

Rote memorization is usually wasteful, requires a lot of repetition, and does not guarantee that important information turned out to be remembered. It may seem to us that we remember the phone number well (fortunately it is not complicated), but then this number completely “flies” out of our heads. If we use understanding or pseudo-comprehension (mnemonics), it is not difficult for us to check whether we have remembered the information correctly.

Experiments have shown that with mechanical memorization, only 40% of the material remains in the memory after one hour, and after a few hours - only 20%. In the case of meaningful memorization, 40% of the material is retained in memory even after 30 days.

Understanding the material

A useful technique for understanding the material, for example, is comparison, i.e. finding similarities and differences between objects, phenomena, events, etc. One of the options for comparison as a method of memorization is to compare the material being studied with what was previously obtained. So, studying with children new material, the teacher often compares it with what has already been studied, thereby including new material in the knowledge system. For successful understanding, comparison should not be based on formal characteristics, but in essence (“Everything is known by comparison”).

Comprehension of the material is also helped by its specification and explanation. general provisions and rules with examples, solving problems in accordance with the rules, making observations, laboratory work etc. There are other methods of comprehension.

A form of mental reflection, which consists in consolidating, preserving and subsequently reproducing past experience, making it possible to reuse it in activity or return to the sphere of consciousness. Memory connects a subject’s past with his present and future and is the most important cognitive function underlying development and learning.

The basis of mental activity. Without it, it is impossible to understand the basics of behavior, thinking, consciousness, and subconsciousness. Therefore, it is necessary to know more about our memory. Its absence is called amnesia.

The main memory processes are:

• memorization;
• conservation;
• reproduction;
• recognition;
• forgetting.

There are also the following types of memory:

1. Involuntary memory(information is remembered by itself - without special memorization, during the performance of activities, work on information). Strongly developed in childhood, weakens in adults.
2. Arbitrary memory(information is remembered purposefully using special techniques).

The effectiveness of random memory depends on a number of conditions; these include:

1. Memorization goals (how firmly, for how long a person wants to remember). If the goal is to learn in order to pass the exam, then soon after it a lot will be forgotten. If the goal is to learn for a long time, for future professional activity, then the information is rarely forgotten.
2. Learning techniques.

They are like this:

Mechanical verbatim repetition. Mechanical memory works, a lot of effort and time are spent, but the results are poor. Mechanical memory is based on repeating material without understanding it.

• Logical retelling, which includes: logical comprehension of the material, systematization, highlighting the main logical components of information, retelling in your own words. Works logical memory(semantic). It is based on establishing semantic connections in the memorized material. The efficiency of logical memory is 20 times higher than mechanical memory.
• Figurative memorization techniques (translation of information into images, graphs, diagrams, pictures). In this case, it is used figurative memory. It happens different types: visual, auditory, motor-motor, gustatory, tactile, olfactory, emotional.
• Mnemonic memorization techniques (to facilitate memorization).

There are also short-term, long-term, operational, and intermediate memory. Any information first enters short-term memory, which ensures that information presented once is remembered for a short time (5-7 minutes), after which the information can be completely forgotten or transferred to long-term memory, but subject to repetition 1-2 times.

Short-term memory (KP) limited in volume, with a single presentation and CP, an average of 7 ± 2 units of information are placed. This is a magic formula for human memory, i.e., on average, at one time a person can remember from 5 to 9 layers, figures, figures, figures, pictures, etc., and the main thing is to ensure that these “elements” are more information-rich for grouping, combining numbers, layers into a single holistic “image”. The capacity of short-term memory varies from person to person. Using it, you can predict the success of training using the formula: OKP/2 + 1 = predicted educational grade.

Long-term memory (DP) ensures long-term storage of information.

It comes in two types:

1. DP with conscious access (i.e. a person can voluntarily extract and remember the necessary information).
2. DP closed (person in natural conditions does not have access to it, but only with hypnosis, with irritation of parts of the brain, can he gain access to it and actualize in all details images, experiences, pictures of his whole life).

RAM manifests itself in the course of performing and servicing a certain activity, which occurs due to the storage of information coming from both the CP and the DP necessary to perform the actions.

Intermediate memory ensures storage of information for several hours. It accumulates during the day, and the body uses the time of night sleep to clear intermediate memory, categorize information received over the past day, and transfer it to long-term memory. After sleep, intermediate memory is again ready to receive new information. In a person who sleeps less than 3 hours a day, intermediate memory does not have time to be cleared, as a result, the performance of mental and computational operations is disrupted, attention and short-term memory decrease, and errors appear in speech and actions.

Long-term memory with conscious access is characterized by a pattern of forgetting: everything unnecessary, secondary, as well as a certain percentage of necessary information is forgotten. To reduce forgetting, it is necessary to perform a number of operations. Firstly, understand, comprehend the information (mechanically learned, but not fully understood, it is forgotten quickly and almost completely - forgetting curve Ia (Fig. 3.21). Secondly, repeat the information (the first repetition is necessary 40 minutes after memorization, since after an hour only 50% of the mechanically memorized information remains in the memory). 2, from the third to the seventh - one repetition, after that one repetition with an interval of 7-10 days. Remember that 30 repetitions within a month are more effective than 100 repetitions per day. Therefore, systematic, without overload, studying in small portions. over the course of a semester with periodic repetitions every 10 days is much more effective than concentrated memorization of a large amount of information in a short session, causing mental and mental overload and leading to almost complete forgetting of information a week after the session.

Forgetting largely depends on the nature of the activity immediately preceding and following memorization. The negative impact of the first was called proactive braking, and the second - retroactive inhibition. It is especially pronounced in cases where, following memorization, an activity similar to it is performed or if it requires significant effort.

Reproduction forms:

• recognition- a manifestation of memory that occurs when an object is re-perceived;
• memory, which occurs in the absence of perception of the object;
• recollection, which is the most active form of reproduction, largely dependent on the clarity of the tasks assigned, on the degree of logical ordering of the information remembered and stored in the DP;
• reminiscence- delayed reproduction of previously perceived, seemingly forgotten;
• eidetism is a visual memory that retains a vivid image for a long time with all the details of what was perceived.

To make memorization easier, you can resort to mnemonic techniques.

Among them:

1. Formation of semantic phrases from the initial letters of memorized information (“Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant sits” - about the sequence of colors in the spectrum: red, orange, etc.).
2. Rhythmization- translation of information into poems, songs, lines connected by a certain rhythm or rhyme.
3. Memorizing long terms using consonant words (for example, for foreign terms they look for Russian words that sound similar; so, in order to remember the medical concepts of “supination” and “pronation”, they use the consonant humorous phrase “carried and spilled soup”).
4. Finding bright, unusual images, pictures that “ linking method"connected with information that needs to be remembered. For example, we need to remember a set of words: pencil, glasses, chandelier, chair, star, beetle. This is easy to do if you imagine them as “characters” of a bright, fantastic cartoon, where a slender dandy in “glasses” - a “pencil” - approaches a plump lady, a “chandelier”, at which a “chair” looks playfully, on whose upholstery sparkles “ stars." It is difficult to forget or confuse such an invented cartoon. To increase the efficiency of memorization using this method, you should greatly distort the proportions (a huge “bug”); imagine objects in active action (“pencil” is suitable); increase the number of items (hundreds of “stars”); swap the functions of objects (“chair” to “chandelier”). Try to memorize a list of words in this way, spending 3 seconds on each: grass, house, peacock, dress, glasses, paperclip, nail, glue. Was it successful?
5. Visualization method: figuratively, in various details, mentally imagine (“see”) the memorized information.
6. Cicero's method. Imagine walking around your room, where everything is familiar to you. Place the information you need to remember in your mind as you move around the room. You will be able to remember everything again by imagining your room - everything will be in the places where you placed it during the previous “walk-through”.
7. When memorizing figures and numbers, you can use the following techniques:
   • identify an arithmetic relationship between groups of digits in a number: for example, in the phone number 358954 the relationship is 89 = 35 + 54; highlight familiar numbers: for example, in the number 859314, select 85 - the year of birth of your brother, 314 - the first digits of the number “pi”, etc.;
   • « hook method"- replacing numbers with images: for example, 0 - circle, 1 - pencil, 2 - glasses, 3 - chandelier, 4 - chair, 5 - star, 6 - beetle, 7 - week, 8 - spider, etc. Can be replaced numbers letters and words. For example, replacing the numbers 1,2,3,8 with the last consonant letters in the names of these numbers: 1 - one - H, 2 - two - B, 3 - three - R. And replace the numbers 4,5,6,7,9 with the initial ones consonants in their name: 4 - Ch, 5 - P, 6 - Sh, 7 - S, 9 - D.
   • Replacement with words: 0 - L (iL), 1 - N (Noah), 2 -V (Howl), 3 - R (aRiya), 4 - Ch (oChi), 5 - P (Pa), 6 - Sh (uShi), 7 - S (usy), 8 - M (yama), 9 - D (yaD), 10 - NiL, 11 - NeoN, 12 - NiVa, 13 - NoRa, 14 - Night, 15 - aNaPa, 16 -NiSha, 17 - NoS, 18 - NeMoy, 19 - ANoD, 20 - Vol, 21 - ViNo, 22 - Vi-Va, 23 - VaR, 35 - RePa... 44 - ChaCha... 56 - PaSha... 67 - iShiaS... 78 -SoM... 84 - Ball... 93 - DaR... 99 - Soul, 100 - Na-LiL, etc. For example, if you need to remember the phone number 9486138, then 94 - DaCha, 86 - Mysha, 13 - NoRa, 8 - Yama. The image “at the dacha a mouse made a hole and a hole” is easy to remember - you won’t confuse this number. 8. Training method visual memory- Aivazovsky's method. Look at an object, or landscape, or at a person for 3 seconds, trying to remember the details, and then close your eyes and mentally imagine this object in detail; ask yourself questions about the details of this image, then open your eyes for 1 s, complete the image, close your eyes and try to achieve the most vivid image of the object. Repeat this several times.

They also try to influence memory processes by pharmacological and physical methods.

Rice. 3.22.

Many scientists believe that searches in the field of memory management should be aimed at creating biologically active compounds - substances that affect changes in cell proteins (from protoplasm to soma), learning processes (such as caffeine, biogenic amines), short-term or long-term memory (substances that inhibit DNA and RNA synthesis, affect protein metabolism, etc.), creation and formation of engrams.

Nowadays, the study of pharmacological agents that affect memory is proceeding at a rapid pace. It has been established that the long-known hormones of the pituitary gland can serve as its stimulants. “Short” chains of amino acids - peptides, especially vasopressin and corticotropin, significantly improve short-term and long-term memory.

According to the hypothesis about the physical structure of memory, it is based on the spatiotemporal pattern of bioelectrical activity of nerve populations - discrete and electrotonic. Therefore, to manage memory, it is more adequate to influence the brain and its subsystems by electrical and electromagnetic methods. Success can be achieved due to the influence of physical factors - electrical and acoustic.

All this speaks to the real possibility of managing memory.

To summarize, we emphasize that memory ensures the integrity and development of a person’s personality and occupies a central position in the system of cognitive activity.

Information entering the human brain is better remembered if a connection is established between events. So, in a memorization exercise, establish semantic connections between two phenomena. Preliminary determination of what the semantic connection may be between these phenomena, events or actions contributes to stronger memorization. Associative connections, even when they are completely incredible in meaning, are remembered for a long time. Structural connections also help with memory: if the number 683429731 is placed like 683-429-731, it will be easier to remember. For easier memorization, information can be divided into groups A, B, C, D, etc. You can rhyme some words.

Association method. Exists the simplest way creating your own exercises to help memory using associations. For this purpose, you should write 20 numbers and randomly associate them with certain persons or objects (similar to the training for memorizing logically unrelated text described here) according to the verbal-numerical memorization system.

This exercise should be followed by another similar one, thereby increasing the mnemonic abilities of the brain. This method can develop phenomenal memory.

Remembering faces. To remember a face, you need to look at it carefully, paying attention to the shape, distinctive features(objects) that are rarely found in other people, etc.

Remembering names. The first condition for remembering a name is that it must be pronounced loudly and clearly. It should be repeated once or twice in order to commit it to memory. Some people use the method of associating a name with a visual image of the person to whom it belongs, with its characteristic features, etc.

General conditions for successful memorization.

• 1. When the material is interesting for the rememberer.
• 2. When the memorizer already has a large amount of knowledge in the area to which the memorized material relates.
• 3. When the memorizer has formed an attitude towards duration, completeness and strength of memorization.
• 4. When the material is meaningful, extremely clear, and subject to classification.
• 5. When memorizing material up to 1000 words (i.e. 3-4 pages of a book of normal size), it is carefully read once or twice, breaking it down into semantic fragments and then reproduced through active and peeping repetitions.
• 6. When the number of such repetitions is 50% greater than the number required for the first error-free reproduction. (With average memory, a person can accurately reproduce 7-9 words immediately, 12 words after 17 repetitions, 24 words after 40 repetitions).
• 7. When a pause of 24 hours is introduced between individual repetitions.
• 8. When the learning process, divided into segments of 45-60 minutes, is interrupted by rest pauses of 10-15 minutes.

Chapter 3. Psychology of cognitive processes

2. Patterns of memory

Memory is a form of mental reflection that consists in consolidating, preserving and subsequently reproducing past experience, making it possible to reuse it in activity or return to the sphere of consciousness.

Memory connects a subject’s past with his present and future and is the most important cognitive function underlying development and learning.

Memory is the basis of mental activity. Without it, it is impossible to understand the basics of the formation of behavior, thinking, consciousness, and subconsciousness. Therefore, to better understand a person, it is necessary to know as much as possible about our memory.

Images of objects or processes of real reality that we previously perceived and now mentally reproduce are called representations.

Memory representations are a reproduction, more or less accurate, of objects or phenomena that once acted on our senses. Representations of the imagination are ideas about objects that we have never perceived in such combinations or in such a form. Representations of the imagination are also based on past perceptions, but these latter serve only as material from which we create new ideas with the help of imagination.

Memory is based on associations or connections. Objects or phenomena that are connected in reality are also connected in human memory. We can, having encountered one of these objects, by association remember another associated with it; to remember something means to connect what you want to remember with something already known, to form an association.

From a physiological point of view, an association is a temporary neural connection. There are two types of associations: by contiguity, by similarity and by contrast. Association by contiguity combines two phenomena related in time or space. Such an association by contiguity is formed, for example, when memorizing the alphabet: when naming a letter, the one that follows it is remembered. Association by similarity connects two phenomena that have similar features: when one is mentioned, the other is remembered.

Association by contrast connects two opposite phenomena.

In addition to these types, there are complex associations - associations in meaning; they connect two phenomena that in reality are constantly connected: part and whole, genus and species, cause and effect. These connections, associations in meaning, are the basis of our knowledge.

To form a temporary connection, the repeated coincidence of two stimuli in time is required; to form an association, repetition is required. But repetitions alone are not enough. Sometimes many repetitions do not produce results, and sometimes, on the contrary, a connection occurs in one go, if a strong focus of excitation has arisen in the cerebral cortex, facilitating the formation of a temporary connection.

A more important condition for the formation of an association is business reinforcement, i.e. inclusion of what needs to be remembered in the actions of students, their application of knowledge in the process of assimilation.

The basic processes of memory are remembering, retention, recognition and recall.

Memorization is a process aimed at preserving received impressions in memory, a prerequisite for preservation.
preservation is a process of active processing, systematization, generalization of material, and mastery of it.
reproduction and recognition are processes of restoration of what was previously perceived. The difference between them is that recognition takes place when the object is encountered again, when it is perceived again. reproduction occurs in the absence of the object.

Types of memory:

Impairment of immediate memory, or “Korsakov's syndrome,” manifests itself in the fact that memory for current events is impaired, a person forgets what he just did, said, saw, so the accumulation of new experience and knowledge becomes impossible, although previous knowledge may be preserved.

Disturbances in the dynamics of mnestic activity may be observed (B.V. Zeigarnik): a person remembers well, but after a short time he cannot do it, for example, a person memorizes 10 words. And after the 3rd presentation, he remembered 6 words, and after the fifth, he could only say 3 words, after the sixth, again 6 words, i.e. fluctuations in mnestic activity occur. This memory impairment is often observed in patients with vascular diseases brain, as well as after brain injury, after intoxication as a manifestation of general mental exhaustion. Quite often, forgetfulness, inaccurate assimilation of information, and forgetting of intentions occur as a consequence of a person’s emotional instability.

There are also disorders of indirect memory, when indirect methods of memorization, for example, drawings, symbols associated with certain information, do not help, but complicate the functioning of memory, i.e. hints do not help in this case, but hinder.

If, with full functioning of memory, the “Zeigarnik effect” is observed, i.e. unfinished actions are remembered better, then with many memory disorders there is also a violation of the motivational components of memory, i.e. unfinished actions are forgotten.

Interesting facts about memory deceptions, which usually take the form of extremely one-sided selectivity of memories, false memories (confibulation) and memory distortions. They are usually caused by strong desires, unsatisfied needs and drives. The simplest case: a child is given candy, he quickly eats it, and then “forgets” about it and quite sincerely proves that he did not receive anything. It is practically impossible to convince him (like many adults) in such cases. Memory easily becomes a slave to human passions, prejudices and inclinations. That is why unbiased, objective memories of the past are very rare. Memory distortions are often associated with a weakening of the ability to distinguish between one’s own and someone else’s, between what a person actually experienced and what he heard or read about. With repeated repetition of such memories, their complete personification occurs, i.e. a person quite naturally and organically considers other people’s thoughts and ideas, which he himself sometimes rejected, to be his own, and recalls the details of events in which he never participated. This shows how closely memory is related to imagination, fantasy and what is sometimes called psychological reality.

It turned out that the same subcortical areas (primarily the limbic system) that are responsible for affective and motivational activation of the psyche play a major role in consolidating information.

It was found that damage to the occipital lobes of the brain causes visual impairment, the frontal lobes - emotions, destruction of the left hemisphere negatively affects speech, etc. But, to everyone’s surprise, until very recently it was necessary to acknowledge the fact that not only animals, but also people can endure extensive brain damage without obvious memory impairment. The only pattern discovered was of a very general nature: the more extensive the brain damage, the more serious its consequences for memory. This situation is called the law of mass action: memory is destroyed in proportion to the weight of the destroyed brain tissue. Even removing 20% ​​of the brain (with surgical operations) does not lead to memory loss. Therefore, doubts arose about the existence of a localized memory center; a number of psychologists unequivocally argued that the entire brain should be considered a memory organ.

With direct influence on certain areas of the brain, complex chains of memories can emerge in consciousness, i.e. a person suddenly remembers something that he had long forgotten, and easily continues to remember what was “forgotten” after the operation. Secondly, if not a memory center, then at least a section was found that regulates the transfer of data from short-term memory to long-term memory, without which memorizing newly received new information is impossible. This center is called the hippocampus and is located in the temporal lobe of the brain. After bilateral hippocampal ablation, patients retained memory of what happened before surgery, but no new data were observed.

They also try to influence memory processes using pharmacological and physical factors. Many scientists believe that searches in the field of memory management should be aimed at creating biologically active compounds that selectively affect learning processes (for example, caffeine, biogenic amines), short-term or long-term memory (substances that inhibit the synthesis of DNA and RNA, affecting protein metabolism etc.), on the creation and formation of engrams - substances that influence the change in cell proteins (from protoplasm to soma).

Nowadays, the study of pharmacological agents that affect memory is proceeding rapidly. It has been established that long-known pituitary hormones can serve as memory stimulants. “Short” chains of amino acids - peptides, especially vasopressin and corticotropin, significantly improve short-term and long-term memory.

According to the hypothesis about the physical structure of memory, the basis of the memory phenomenon is the spatiotemporal pattern of bioelectrical activity of nerve populations - discrete and electrotonic. Therefore, to manage memory, it is more adequate to influence the brain and its subsystems by electrical and electromagnetic factors. Success can be achieved by influencing the brain with various physical factors - electrical and acoustic.

All this speaks to the real possibility of memory management.

Memory can be developed, trained, significantly improved, and its productivity increased. Memory productivity consists of the following parameters: volume, speed, accuracy, duration, readiness for memorization and reproduction. Memory productivity is influenced by subjective and objective reasons. Subjective reasons include: a person’s interest in information, the chosen type of memorization, the memorization techniques used, innate abilities, the state of the body, previous experience, the person’s attitude. Objective factors influencing memory productivity include: the nature of the material, the amount of material, the clarity of the material, its rhythm, meaningfulness and intelligibility, its coherence and the particularity of the environment in which memorization occurs.

To summarize, we emphasize that memory ensures the integrity and development of a person’s personality and occupies a central position in the system of cognitive activity.

TEST QUESTIONS

1. Is intelligent activity possible without attention? What types and qualities of attention do a person exhibit?
2. What practically needs to be done to prevent forgetting important material? What factors influence forgetting?
3. How is it different? RAM from short-term? What types and processes of memory are you most effective at?
4. What are mnemonics?
5. How do memory disorders manifest themselves?
6. Why is memory central to cognitive activity?
7. What methods exist for influencing human memory?

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