WHY DO WE FORGET? – SECRETS OF HAVING GOOD MEMORY

Memory plays various tricks on us throughout our lives. Have you ever felt helpless or anxious because everything you studied the previous day before taking your examination has suddenly become unavailable? Or ever felt excited because you flawlessly wrote everything in exam without forgetting anything? We wish we could fit a memory card in our brain for exams so that we do not forget any information. But why this happens; Why we often forget the learnt material?
There are numerous mistakes which we make while learning and registering the information which leads to forgetting.
All of us are familiar with this statement- Practice makes a man perfect. Our teachers and parents often say that we should practice what we have learnt on regular basis. Because when we learn something, it leads to certain physical changes in the brain known as memory traces. When these memory traces are not used for a long time, they fade away and become unavailable.
Many of us try to learn as much information as we can just one night before the exam. Cramming increases our chances of forgetting the information learnt because in order to register information in our long-term memory we need to engage in elaborative rehearsals.
Another reason why we often forget or fail to recall the information learnt is when we keep on learning similar kind of material one after the other. This leads to interference which comes about at a time of retrieval.
So now the question arises how can we enhance our memory? Are there some secret tips which can help us! Well, yes. There are some effective strategies which can help us.
Do you know that teaching the learning material to others can improve one’s memory..When you explain study material to others, it reinforces your understanding. This is known as Protégé Effect.
Another important trick is to space out your study sessions i.e.Spaced Repetition. Each time you visit the information, it becomes more encoded in the brain and harder to forget.
Minimizing Interference-Interference is caused when we learn very similar concepts in a sequence. Because of this interference, we often forget or get confused about the concepts learned.
Organizing the information in as many ways as possible will lead to elaborative rehearsals and will decrease the chances of forgetting. Having good memory is an advantage and it feels like having some kind of superpower which can helps us to retain and recall lot of information. And every student wants to have this superpower, specially when it comes to exams. By understanding what mistakes we are making while learning the information, we can prevent our brain from forgetting the information learnt.