Page 32 - Personality Development_Neat

UNIT – IV
MEMORY AND STUDY SKILLS
MEMORY DEFINITION
Memory is our ability to encode, store, retain and subsequently recall information

and past experiences in the human brain. It can be thought of in general terms as the use
of past experience to affect or influence current behaviour.
IMPORTANCE OF MEMORY

2. Memory plays a big role in our life. It allows us to remember skills that we’ve
learned, or retrieve information that is stored in the brain, or recall a precious
moment that occurred in the past.
3. Memory also organizes information so that when we retrieve it, we can apply that
information in the proper context and use it in the current activity we are involved
in.

4. Memory is composed of complicated neural connections in your brain which are
believed to be capable of holding millions of data. The ability of your mind to
retain past experiences in a highly organized manner gives you the potential to
learn and create different ideas.
5. Memories are the stepping stones to greater accomplishments and at the same time

your guides and protectors from danger.
6. Memory is like a muscle – the more it is used, the better it gets. The more it is
neglected, the worse it gets. This is the reason why older people have more trouble
remembering than younger ones.
CAUSES OF FORGETTING

1. Faulty Memory Process:

Sometimes we listen to many details but we encode only portion of the
information in the form of gist- and not the actual words or details, and the same will be

stored. Constructive process at work during the process of encoding distorts what is
stored in memory and we remember the distortions. At that time we think we forget,
because what we remember is not an accurate representation of what has really happened.
Here our memory does not match events as they actually occurred.

2. Interference:

An important cause of forgetting in everyday life is interference of learnt material.
There are two kinds of interference:

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