Blog Post #9

Memory is probably the most important thing that defines individuals as human beings. It distinguishes humans from others. Humans have the ability to learn, retain information, and accomplish new tasks because of memory. Animals have basic instincts which just allow them to live. If we did not have memory, we wouldn't be able to do nearly as many of the things we know how to do. We would be like animals having suvival insticts like knowing how to eat and dress, but we wouldn't be able to work or do anything really productive. We would not recognize people or really know who we are. Everything we do or see would be like our first time doing or seeing something just like Clive Wearing. Clive Wearing doesn't really know who he is. He is confused and thinks he has never eaten, tasted, touched, or smelled anything. He has no regognition of being alive. Clive was a great musician. One day he got a headache that didn't go away. After a few days he started losing his memory. There is damage to his temporal lobes which are responsible for memory. There is also damage to his frontal lobe, which causes him to repeat himself and have emotional outbursts. Now he has a moment to moment memory. After 20 seconds his memory restarts. He thinks he is awaking for the first time. She handles it very well. She is patient with him even when he gets worked up and yells at her. She stays patient and stands by him even though he has no idea who she is. You can tell she loves him a lot. She acts normal with him but comforts him when he needs it. I don't think I would be able to act the same way she does. I would probably lose my patience with him and be frustrated with him. I feel very grateful that my memory is as good as it is. It seems like you only think about your memory when you forget something and are criticizing it. Clive's story makes me realize how thankful I am that my family and I have good memories.

Yes, I think memory works differently. I didn't realize that a lot of our memories have made up details. I also didn't know you could make a person remember something that never actually happened just by asking them about it repeatedly. I do see my memories differently. I don't think they are as accurate as I used to believe, and I think I may make up a lot of the details. I also don't recognize the details on common objects I see everyday. I did the recognition activity, and it took me around 8 guesses before I finally picked the right penny. For these reasons I don't trust all of my memories.

In this section I learned about chunking. Chunking is organizing items into familiar, manageable units and it often occurs automatically. It is important because it helps to remember things. People remember information best when it can be organized into personally meaningful arrangements. Chunking can be used as a mnemonic techniqueto recall unfamiliar material. I use chunking all the time in my Spanish class to help me learn new vocabulary. I also use chunking in all of my other classes to help me learn new concepts.