Table of contents:
- It turns out that this is the reason humans forget easily
- 1. Information is not stored in long-term memory
- 2. Replaced with new information
- 3. A lot of similar information
- 4. Information disappears by itself
- Is there a way to avoid forgetting easily?
Meeting someone but forgetting their name, ever telling someone but forgetting to whom, or even forgetting the birthday of a close person are just a few of the complaints of many people whose roots are actually only one - forgetting. Yes, it seems very easy for humans to forget things. Have you ever wondered what actually causes forgetfulness?
It turns out that this is the reason humans forget easily
The brain is filled with a large number of memories that have been formed during your lifetime. Starting from deep memories to the most trivial ones. Research conducted by cognitive psychologists in recent decades has revealed that there are at least two main memory systems in the human mind, namely short-term memory and long-term memory.
Apart from having differences in the time to remember information, the two systems are also believed to have different levels of their ability to remember in detail the information that has been received. This means that while you can store a lot of things in your memory, the details of the memory are not always "clear" and are often quite limited.
Maybe you yourself have often heard sayings like, "His name is human too, it's only natural to forget something." However, humans actually forget easily because they have limited abilities or just because they are lazy to remember? To answer this question, continue to see the explanation of why humans forget easily below.
1. Information is not stored in long-term memory
Without you knowing it, one of the reasons you often forget is that this information is not stored as long-term memory. This results in some information you cannot remember in detail.
Put simply, an experiment of researchers asked a group of participants to distinguish the correct coin from several images of the wrong coin. Then, the selected coins are compared with the correct coins. As it turned out, most of the participants were wrong when choosing the correct coin image.
Why could it be wrong? Chances are, you tend to remember more about the shape and color, but have difficulty remembering other features of the coin in detail. This is because the details of the coin have not been properly processed into your long-term memory.
2. Replaced with new information
While chatting with friends, suddenly a part of the chat seems to have disappeared from your memory. In fact, you may actually have remembered it, but then have forgotten it without realizing it. Well, this condition is one of the most common causes of forgetfulness.
The most likely reason for this phenomenon is known by name d ecay theory . According to this theory, memory strands are created every time a new memory is formed. Over time, these memory lines may fade and then disappear. Especially if the memory flow has never been "brought back to life" by remembering the incident or seeing photos that can remind you of certain memories.
Finally, the memory flow of information that has never been turned on will be replaced with a new memory flow. This memory flow naturally contains fresher new information.
3. A lot of similar information
Another theory related to memory viz interference theory. This theory explains that some memories seem to be in competition with each other. This usually occurs when you receive information that is very similar to other information that has already been stored in memory.
Then this similar information will mutually "defend itself", who will be stored in long-term memory, which will be stored in the short term, and which will be immediately discarded.
4. Information disappears by itself
The human brain can actually work actively to forget something, especially memories or traumatic experiences. How can?
Yes, as reported by the Psychology Today page, this is believed to be due to the cannabinoid neurotransmitter system in the brain, which plays a role in supporting the work of sensory nerves. These neurotransmitters, aka brain chemicals, are responsible for focusing your attention on sensory stimuli in the present, not on the past.
That way the brain is able to function normally to carry out daily tasks such as thinking logically, making decisions, composing sentences, and maintaining focus on the present. This is the brain's way of reminding humans of the importance of living in the present, not to be trapped in the past.
Over time, traumatic or irrelevant memories will get more "buried", although they may not disappear completely.
Is there a way to avoid forgetting easily?
In fact, forgetting can be said to be a natural condition that occurs in humans. However, just because the human brain is limited does not mean that you just give up. Every now and then try to train your brain's ability to remember something.
According to dr. Adam Gazzaley, Ph.D., a director and founder of the Neuroscience Imaging Center at the University of California, San Francisco, the brain can perform better when it is "challenged".
So that, dr. Adam advises always trying to focus your attention on the task or activity you are currently working on. It's better, do it until it's completely finished, then you can do the next activity. In other words, it's best to avoid it multitasking which makes it hard for you to focus so it's easy to forget.
