Memory

Memory

To the best of my knowledge the Good Lord gave me a brain to think and reason. On a separate occasion He gave me memory. Now isn't that the darnedest thing?

Seems most grade school, secondary school and to a lesser extent university have the general opinion that things taught must also be remembered. They twist these two separate things together, and I'm sure it is only to make examinations hard.

It is much simpler to teach a process, system or piece of knowledge to full conceptual understanding. 'Memory', per se, is therefore not required!

Now, bear with me a moment: what at first may appear a convoluted digression into not-much-ness (viz. naval gazing) on closer inspection reveals a basic truth.

Different kinds of memory have been described in the literature: instinct, short term recall, learned helplessness and long term memory. Study of the field shows that memory, be it short or long term, instinctual or educated, lies on a gradient scale from no-memory to perfect-recall-at-will-with-minimal-time-delay-memory.

Now, I think most people are like me and when we hear someone utter the phrase "memory game" we tend to react, "Oh, no!", or, "Oh, I'm good at those", or, "That sounds hard" or "Have I got time to get a pen and paper?"

The key word here is "game" if only we can get that far. Don't get caught up on a word like memory, just because you don't understand it. (If this statement provokes a slight twinge of insult in you read on; you're on to something here. Keep going!)

To clear up the word memory, let's look at a dictionary definition:

memory [ˈmɛmərɪ]

n pl -ries

1.

a. the ability of the mind to store and recall past sensations, thoughts, knowledge, etc. he can do it from memory

b. the part of the brain that appears to have this function

2. the sum of everything retained by the mind

3. a particular recollection of an event, person, etc.

4. the time over which recollection extends within his memory

5. commemoration or remembrance in memory of our leader

6. the state of being remembered, as after death

7. (Electronics & Computer Science / Computer Science) Also called RAM main store store a part of a computer in which information is stored for immediate use by the central processing unit See also backing store, virtual storage

8. the tendency for a material, system, etc., to show effects that depend on its past treatment or history

9. the ability of a material, etc., to return to a former state after a constraint has been removed

[from Old French memorie, from Latin memoria, from memor mindful]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

To effectively clear the word 'memory', use it in a sentence or three:

• The student recited the poem from memory.
• The professor demonstrated that despite his age he had an excellent memory.
• Our memory is known to have no practical limitations to the amount of information it can store and recall, notwithstanding environmental effects directly related to pain.

Returning to our original text we are interested in "Memory Games".

Many memory games are available online, both for free and by subscription. These generally may be found by searching for "Cognitive Training". Here are a couple of links to sites with edutaining memory games:

• http://cognitivefun.net/ free
• http://www.lumosity.com/ free 7 day trial
• http://www.mindsparke.com/ purchase only

Now with full conceptual understanding is memory not required?

Yes and No.

The active process of trying to remember something as distinct from recalling something are two different activities.

The old adage, "Use it or lose it" applies to memory and many references relating to illnesses like dementia indicate that active use of our memory is a vital ingredient to preserving our mental faculties.

The distinction that 'memory is not required' refers to the Natural State where our memory performs perfectly: it recalls accurately on demand with minimal time-delay from the point of request. Both playing games to try and improve one's memory plus the attempt to attain one's Natural State both require effort.

So, use it or lose it! Train your brain, play memory games and do what you can to find out about the Natural State of Man. Your abilities to survive and thrive in this world depend on it!

(c) Paul Heffer 7 July 2010