Short-term memory allows us to perform many different actions here and now. In the process of washing dishes, the hostess automatically remembers which plates have already been washed and which have yet to be rubbed with a soapy washcloth. But remembering this all your life or for many years is not at all necessary. Therefore, memories from the working storage cell are erased absolutely painlessly for a woman.

Short Term Memory: What is it?

Short-term memory, which we need for daily, momentary work, is the ability to keep in mind information received from life experience, a short time. It is limited to a small amount of memories. Moreover, these images are usually connected and stored in one cell of the brain.

Miller's law states that short-term memory can store no more than 7 objects or words. Permissible error - plus, minus two. When going to the store, we will more easily remember 5 necessary products than 9. When do we need to write down a list of necessary products on a piece of paper? When there are more than 5. This suggests that short-term memories are very limited.

Usually they are related. In this example, these are the products needed for dinner. Remembering that guests are invited to you today, it is easy to use the chain of long-term memory and then all the products will float in your head, due to what dish they are intended for. Now they are easy to transfer to a working cell and buy.

Operational thinking is able to look into long-term storage, extract the necessary information from there, combine it with the momentary and make the right decision. In this example, the hostess remembered what dish she needed to cook and, without a list, remembered what she needed to buy for this.

Each new variable information erases from the working memory that first component that is no longer needed right now. The operational cell of thinking actively works during reading, storytelling, it cuts off distracting and incorrect information. Helps to understand the current reality.

How to improve short term memory

How to improve short term memory? Various exercises have been developed for this. Why do we need large working memory? In order to more successfully solve their professional and domestic tasks. In general, a person constantly uses the short-term or working cell of his memories: when he cooks borscht, does the cleaning in the apartment, develops a drawing of a complex detail.

Of course, if during the course of the working day you use a large amount of information at your fingertips, the faster you complete your tasks. Naturally, if the salary depends on the number of tasks completed, each employee will strive to complete the work faster. A large amount of knowledge stored in an operational cell will improve the performance of work, speed it up.

Therefore, even adults are interested in increasing the amount of their operational knowledge.

The operational reservoir of knowledge helps us to cut off unnecessary, distracting information, to focus attention on doing one thing. This improves productivity.

In adults

Adults can train the ability to remember without spending too much time on it. For example, during a long trip in a trolleybus, it is enough to close your eyes and try to remember what color your neighbor's hat is.

Reading books, learning poetry, learning foreign languages, solving puzzles - all this strengthens the ability to memorize new information. This includes not only auditory memory, but also visual. This further enhances the effect. After all, it is known that the optic nerve is much thicker than the auditory. This means that a greater number of neurons are involved in the process of figurative thinking.

There is a special training that allows you to train RAM. In the process of training, a person is asked to follow a number of images, determining which one appeared first. Improvement will come if you practice 25 minutes daily.

In children (schoolchildren, preschoolers) and adolescents

A child with a large stock of knowledge is easy to learn and understand adults. He is less stressed, has good grades and happy parents.

How to develop a large stock of current memories in a child? It's all about educational toys and games. Buy him a modern miracle - a LEGO constructor. Collecting more and more new models of cars, planes, starplanes, the child learns to remember the current creative process and develops his hands.

Light gymnastics with simple movements of the arms and legs, tilts and squats turn on the brain. Physical and logical exercises improve the baby's thinking.

If a boy's operative memory deteriorates with age, this should be treated. Failure to study can be avoided if you consult a doctor in time. Often in boys there is increased intracranial pressure at the age of 13-16 years, due to too rapid growth.

The drugs will stop the aggravation. A teenager recovers quickly if he eats well and sleeps enough. He still has time to train his abilities. Further disorders can be avoided if you lead a correct lifestyle: do not smoke, do not drink alcohol and read. Ordinary reading strengthens imaginative thinking and increases the volume of memories.

Restoration of memory in a student occurs gradually if he learns lessons, adheres to the correct daily routine and nutrition.

Exercises for training short-term memory

Development short term memory important to a person. Yogis recommend meditation to lower blood pressure, avoid depression, and improve working memory. Scientists say that this is due to the fact that in the process of meditation a person focuses on one thought, sweeping aside others.

8 minutes of meditation per day is enough to increase the volume of the cell of working memories.

Sports activities improve not only the functioning of the whole body and muscles of the body, but also the functioning of the brain, the ability to remember a lot of information.

You need to sleep at least 8 hours a day. Experience shows that students who sleep 8-9 hours a day perform current tasks 60% faster and more accurately.

Adults sometimes show symptoms of impaired short-term memory. In this case, you must consult a doctor. If it turns out that a person is healthy, he just needs to do certain exercises. Read prose aloud, memorize poems, declare them loudly, tell fairy tales to grandchildren, walk in the garden with children and friends. Such training the best treatment for the brain and its abilities.

When studying new information, systematize it, read it in rhyme, divide it into common parts. Then the volume of memorable moments will increase.

Try to use short words in your conversation. They are remembered more precisely and better. Playing checkers and corners, volleyball and tennis is very useful for developing short-term memory.

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1. Genetically primary is ... memory.
motor
figurative
emotional
verbal

2. The type of memory based on the establishment of semantic connections in the memorized material is called ... memory.
mechanical
logical
emotional
auditory

3. Not a form of imagination
dreams
dreams
illusions
hallucinations

4. An increase or decrease in an object, a change in the number of its parts or their displacement is known as ...
hyperbolization
schematization
typing
agglutination

5. Creative activity based on the creation of new images is called ...
perception
thinking
imagination
attention

6. The fact that incomplete actions are remembered better expresses the effect of ...
halo
placebo
B.V. Zeigarnik
recent

7. Such characters as Thumbelina, Serpent-Gorynych, giants are created using the technique ...
hyperbole
schematization
typing
agglutination

8. "Gluing" various qualities, properties, parts that are not connected in everyday life is called ...
hyperbolization
schematization
typing
agglutination

9. The basis for the division of memory into motor, emotional, figurative and verbal is ...
lead analyzer
object of perception
subject activity
Kind of activity

10. The amount of information stored in short-term memory ...
7±2
not limited
limit unknown
average 10

11. From the process of memorization depends (yat) in the preservation of the material ....
only completeness
only precision
only strength
completeness, accuracy and strength

12. The highest kind of memory is ... memory.
motor
figurative
emotional
verbal-logical

13. The basis for the division of memory into involuntary and arbitrary is ...
lead analyzer
object of reflection
subject activity
Kind of activity

14. The type of memory in which memory representations are as close as possible to perception images is called ....
eidetic
visual-figurative
emotional
verbal-logical

15. Memory based on the repetition of material without understanding it is called ...
long-term
emotional
arbitrary
mechanical

16. Two opposite phenomena are connected by an association for ...
adjacency
speed
contrast
meaning

17. For the first time, ideas about associations were formulated ....
Socrates
Aristotle
Democritus
R. Descartes

18. Such images as sphinxes, garcules, centaurs are created by the following method of imagination….
hyperbolization
schematization
typing
agglutination

19. Two phenomena connected in time or space are united by an association by ...
adjacency
speed
contrast
meaning

20. The type of memory in which, first of all, the feelings experienced by a person are stored and reproduced is known as memory ...
visual-figurative
phenomenal
emotional
verbal-logical

21. The type of memory, including the processes of memorizing, storing and reproducing information processed in the course of performing an action and necessary only to achieve the goal of this action, is called memory ...
operational
iconic
short-term
echonic

22. The type of memory in which a person remembers visual images, color, faces, etc. especially well is memory ...
eidetic
visual-figurative
phenomenal
emotional

23. An early genetic form of memory is ... memorization.
involuntary
arbitrary
post-voluntary
operational

24. Mediated and immediate memory differ in ...
lead analyzer
the use of aids in the process of memorization
degree of activity of the subject
activities

Short-term memory contains memories that are stored for only a few seconds. However, even in those situations where we need to remember information only for a short time, the memorization process includes three stages: encoding, storage and retrieval. Let's take a closer look at each of these three stages in relation to working memory.

Coding

To encode information in short-term memory, you need to focus on it. Since we selectively direct attention (see Chapter 5), only selected material will be stored in short-term memory. This means that much of what affects a person will never get into short-term memory and, of course, will not be available for later reproduction. Indeed, many of the difficulties referred to by the general term "problems with memory" are actually related to the weakening of attention. If, for example, you are buying something at a grocery store and someone later asks you what color the saleswoman's eyes were, you will not be able to answer, not because your memory failed you, but primarily because you did not pay attention to her eyes.

Phonological (acoustic) coding

When encoding stored information, it is translated into a specific code, or representation. For example, when you find the right phone number and keep it in your memory until you finish dialing, how do you imagine the numbers? Is such a representation visual - a mental image of numbers? Is it acoustic - sounding names of numbers? Or is it semantic (meaning based) and has some meaningful associations with numbers? Research shows that we can use any of these possibilities to encode information in short-term memory, but we prefer the acoustic code and, trying to keep the information active, we repeat it, that is, we repeat it to ourselves over and over again. Repetition is the most popular technique when information consists of verbal elements - numbers, letters or words.

So, when trying to remember a phone number, we most often encode this number in the form of sounding names of numbers and repeat these sounds to ourselves until we dial the number.

In a classic experiment that confirmed the use of an acoustic code, subjects were briefly presented with a set of 6 consonants (eg, RLBKSJ); when the letters were removed, the subject had to write all 6 letters in order.

Although the entire procedure took only a second or two, the subjects made mistakes at times. In case of errors, the incorrect letters were similar in sound to the correct ones. In the example above, the subject could write RLTKSJ, replacing V (“bi”) with a similar sounding T (“ti”) (Conrad, 1964). This result confirms that the subjects coded each letter acoustically (e.g., "bi" for the letter B), sometimes losing part of this code (only the "i" part of the "bi" sound was retained) and replacing it with a letter that matches the rest of the code ( "ti"). This also explains why it is more difficult to remember elements in order when they are acoustically similar (e.g. TBCGVE - "tee, bi, si, ji, vee, and") than when they are acoustically different (RLTKSJ - "ar, el, ti, kay, es, jay).

visual coding

If necessary, we can also store verbal elements in the form of a visual representation. However, experiments show that although we can use visual coding for verbal material, this code quickly fades away. In cases where a person needs to remember non-verbal information (for example, images that are difficult to describe and therefore difficult to repeat phonologically), visual coding plays an important role. Many of us can retain a visual image in our short-term memory, but few are able to retain images with near-photographic accuracy. This ability is found mainly in children. Such children can quickly look at the picture and, when it is removed, still feel its image in front of their eyes. They can hold this image for minutes, and when asked about the picture, they reproduce many details, such as the number of stripes on a cat's tail (Figure 8.2). Such children seem to read details directly from the eidetic image (Haber, 1969). However, persistent eidetic images are very rare. Some studies with children show that only about 5% of them report having long-lasting images with clear details. In addition, when the criteria for possessing truly photographic images are tightened—for example, they include the requirement to read a mentally imagined page from the bottom up as easily as from the top down—the frequency of occurrence of eidetic images becomes very low, even among children (Haber, 1979). Thus, the visual code in short-term memory is something like a photographic imprint.

Rice. 8.2. Tests for the eidetic image. This test picture was presented to elementary school children for 30 seconds. When the picture was removed, one boy saw in her eidetic image "about 14" stripes on the cat's tail. This is an abridged drawing by Marjorie Torrey for Alice in Wonderland by Josette Frank.

​Two systems of short-term memory

The existence of both acoustic and visual codes has led researchers to believe that short-term memory consists of two stores, or buffers. One buffer is acoustic, storing information in acoustic codes for a short time; the second storage is a visuo-spatial buffer that briefly stores information in visual or spatial codes (Baddeley, 1986). Some recent studies using brain scanners show that these two buffers are mediated by different brain structures.

In one experiment, the subjects in each trial saw a sequence of letters in which the name and position of the letter changed from element to element (Fig. 8.3). In some trials, the subjects had to pay attention only to the name of the letter, and they were tasked with determining whether each presented letter coincided with the one presented three letters earlier in this sequence. In other attempts, the subjects had to pay attention only to the spatial position of the letters, and the task was to determine whether the position of each presented letter coincided with the position of the letter presented three positions earlier (Fig. 8.3). Thus, in all cases, the stimuli were the same, but the type of information stored by the subjects changed - it was either verbal (letter name) or spatial (letter location) information. Presumably, verbal information is stored in the acoustic buffer, while spatial information is stored in the visuospatial buffer. In acoustic and spatial tests, brain activity was measured using a PET scanner. The results showed that, roughly speaking, these two buffers are located in different hemispheres. When the subjects had to store verbal information (acoustic buffer), most of the brain activity was in the left hemisphere; and when they needed to store spatial information (visual-spatial buffer), brain activity was greater in the right hemisphere.

Rice. 8.3. Experiment with acoustic and visual buffers. The subjects had to decide whether each presented element coincided with what was presented in this sequence three positions earlier. The upper part of the figure shows a typical sequence of events, when the subject had to pay attention only to the name of the letter, and the reactions in response to the presentation of each element. The lower part of the figure shows trials in which the subject had to pay attention only to the position of the letter, and reactions in response to the presentation of each element (after: Smith et al., 1995).

These two buffers appear to be separate systems (Smith et al, 1996). These results are not surprising given the tendency of the brain to specialize in the hemispheres discussed in Chapter 2.

Storage

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about short-term memory is its very limited capacity. On average, its limit is seven elements plus or minus two (7 ± 2). Some people can only store five elements; some hold as many as nine. It may seem strange that such an exact number is given for all people, although it is clear that individuals vary greatly in memory capacity. However, these differences relate primarily to long-term memory. Short-term memory in most adults has a capacity of 7 ± 2 elements. This constancy has been known since the early days of experimental psychology. Herman Ebbinghaus, who began an experimental study of memory in 1885, presented data according to which the volume of his short-term memory was 7 elements. Nearly 70 years later, this constant impressed George Miller (Miller, 1956) so much that he called it the “magic seven,” and today we know that this limit exists in both Western and non-Western cultures (Yu et al., 1985) .

Psychologists determined this number by presenting subjects with various meaningless sequences of elements (numbers, letters, words) with the task of subsequently reproducing them in order. The elements were presented quickly, and the subject did not have time to associate them with information stored in long-term memory; therefore, the number of items played reflects only the storage capacity of short-term memory. In the initial tests, the subjects had to reproduce only a few elements, say, 3-4 digits, which was not difficult. Then the number of digits increased with each trial until the experimenter determined the maximum number that the subject could reproduce in the correct order. This maximum number (almost always between 5 and 9) is the amount of memory for this subject. This is such a simple task that you can easily try it yourself. The next time you look at a list of names (an office or university phone book, for example), read the list once, then look away and see how many names you can name in order. Most likely five to nine.

Enlargement

As we have just noted, the procedure for determining the amount of memory does not allow subjects to correlate remembered elements with information in long-term memory. When such a correlation is possible, the performance of the subjects in the task of determining the volume changes significantly.

To illustrate this change, let's imagine that you are presented with the letter sequence SRUOYYLERECNIS. Since your memory capacity is 7 ± 2, you will not be able to repeat this whole sequence of 14 letters. But if you notice that these letters make up the phrase SINCERELY YOURS (eng. "Sincerely yours" is the standard letter ending. - Note. transl.), read in reverse order, your task will become easy. Using this knowledge, you reduce the number of elements that must be in short-term memory from 1.4 to 2 (two words). But where does this information about reading letters come from? Of course, from long-term memory, where information about words is stored. This way you can use long-term memory to recode new material into larger meaningful units and then store them in short-term memory. Such units are called blocks, and the capacity of short-term memory is best expressed as 7 ± 2 blocks (Miller, 1956). Combining into blocks can also be done with numbers. The sequence 149-2177-619-96 exceeds the allowable length, but the sequence 1492-1776-1996 (1492 - the discovery of America, 1776 - the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, - 1996 (year) - Note. transl.) fit perfectly into it. General principle is that the capacity of short-term memory can be expanded by rearranging sequences of letters and numbers into units that can be found in long-term memory (Bower & Springston, 1970).

Forgetting

We can hold up to 7 elements in short-term memory, but in most cases they will soon be forgotten. Forgetting occurs either because elements fade away with time, or because they are replaced by new elements.

Information can simply disintegrate over time. About the memory representation of an element, we can say that it is a trace, fading away in a few seconds. One of the best evidence for this is that short-term memory for words decreases as they get longer: for example, for such long words as "calculator" or "anticyclone", the volume will be less than for such short words, like "cassock" or "bench" (try pronouncing them yourself to feel the difference in duration). This effect can be explained by the fact that as words are presented, we say them to ourselves, and the longer this takes time, the more likely it is that some traces of words will fade before they can be reproduced (Baddeley, Thompson & Buchanan, 1975).

Another main cause of forgetting in short-term memory is the displacement of old elements by new ones. The concept of repression is consistent with a fixed amount of short-term memory.

Staying in short-term memory can be compared to an activation state. The more elements we try to keep active, the less activation each of them will have. Apparently, only about seven elements can be simultaneously held at such a level of activation that ensures their reproduction. After activating seven elements, the activation for the new element must be subtracted from the previously presented elements; therefore, the activation of these latter may fall below the critical level required for reproduction (Anderson, 1983).

Playback

Now again imagine the contents of short-term memory as an active part of consciousness. Intuition tells us that access to such information is immediate. You don't need to dig into it; she's right here. Then reproduction should not depend on the number of elements entering consciousness. But here our intuition failed us.

According to experimental data, the more elements are in short-term memory, the slower the reproduction occurs. This is confirmed in experiments, the typical version of which was proposed by Sternberg (Sternberg, 1966). In each trial of such an experiment, the subject is shown a set of numbers (it is called a memorized list), which he must keep in short-term memory for some time; it is easy for the subject to do this, since each list contains from one to six digits. Then this list is removed from sight and a test figure is presented.

Rice. 8.4. Reproduction as a search process. The decision time increases in direct proportion to the number of elements in short-term memory. Light circles show “yes” answers, dark circles show “no” answers. The time of making those and other decisions is located along a straight line. Since the decision time is very short, its measurement requires equipment with millisecond accuracy (up to thousandths of a second) (according to: Sternberg, 1966).

The subject must decide if the test digit was on the list. For example, if the list contained the numbers 3 6 1, and the test number was 6, then the subject must answer "yes"; if the list is the same, but the test digit is 2, the subject must answer "no". In this task, subjects rarely make mistakes; Of interest, however, is the decision time, defined as the time between the presentation of the test digit and the moment when the subject pressed the yes or no button. On fig. 8.4 shows the results of such an experiment, showing that the solution time increases in proportion to the length of the memorized list. These results are remarkable in that the reaction times are along a straight line. This means that each additional element in short-term memory increases the playback time by the same amount - by about 40 milliseconds, i.e. by 1/25 of a second. The same results were obtained when letters, words, sounds, or images of human faces were used as elements (Sternberg, 1975). These results have led some researchers to suggest that for reproduction it is necessary to conduct a search in short-term memory, during which the elements are checked one by one. It is likely that this sequential search in short-term memory occurs at a rate of 1 element per 40 milliseconds - too fast for a person to be aware of it (Sternberg, 1966). However, if we say that short-term memory is an activation state, we must interpret these results differently. It can be assumed that in order to reproduce an element from short-term memory, it is necessary that its activation reaches a critical level. That is, a person decides that a given test item is in his short-term memory if the representation of this item exceeds a critical activation level, and the more items are in short-term memory, the lower the activation of each of them (Monsel, 1979). Such activation models have been shown to accurately predict many features of short-term memory recall (McElree & Doesher, 1989).

Short-term memory and thinking

Short-term memory plays an important role in thinking. In consciously trying to solve a problem, we often use short-term memory as a mental workspace: we use it to store elements of the problem, as well as information from long-term memory that is essential for solving it. To illustrate, consider mental multiplication 35 x 8. Short-term memory is needed to store numerical data (35 and 8), the content of the operation being performed (multiplication) and arithmetic facts, i.e. that 8 x 5 \u003d 40 and 8 x 3 = 24. It is not surprising that mental calculations become noticeably more difficult when several words or numbers have to be remembered at the same time; try doing the indicated multiplication in your head while also remembering the phone number 745-1739 (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974). Given the role of short-term memory in mental computation, researchers are increasingly referring to it as "working memory", representing it as a kind of chalkboard on which the mind conducts its calculations and where it places intermediate results for further use (Baddeley, 1986).

Other studies have shown that short-term memory is needed not only for operations on numbers, but also for a whole gamut of other complex tasks. Among them are geometric analogies sometimes used in intelligence tests (see, for example: Ravens, 1955). An example of a geometric analogy is shown in fig. 8.5. Try this quiz to get an intuitive understanding of the role of working memory in problem solving. You will notice that working memory is used to store: 1) the similarities and differences you find among the figures in a row, and 2) the rules you use to explain those similarities and differences and which you then use to select the correct answer. It turns out that the larger the amount of working memory, the better a person copes with such tasks (despite the fact that people differ relatively little in terms of its size). In addition, when people solve problems like the one in Fig. 8.5 is simulated on a computer, one of the most important parameters that determine how good a program is is the amount of working memory specified by the programmer. There seems to be no doubt that the difficulty of solving many complex problems is partly due to the burden that this places on working memory (Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990).

Rice. 8.5. An example of a geometric analogy. The task is to examine the shapes that make up a 3x3 matrix whose bottom right element is missing and determine which of the eight options shown below is the missing one. To do this, you need to look at each row and determine by what law the figures change, and do the same for each column (after: Carpenter, Just & Shell, 1990).

Working memory also plays a crucial role in language processes such as participating in a dialogue or reading a text. When the task of reading is comprehension, we often consciously associate new sentences with previously read material. This linking of new to old is likely to occur in working memory, as people with larger working memory score higher on reading comprehension tests (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980; Just & Carpenter, 1992).

Transferring from short-term memory to long-term memory

As we learned in the previous section, short-term memory has two main functions. First of all, it stores material needed for a short time and serves as a working space for mental calculations. Another possible function is that it serves as a way station on the way to long-term memory. That is, while information is encoded or transferred to long-term memory, it can be stored in short-term memory (Raaijmakers, 1992; Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1971). Although there are various modes of such transfer, one of the most studied is repetition (rehearsal), the conscious repetition of information stored in short-term memory.

Repetition of an element not only keeps it in short-term memory, but also forces it into long-term memory. Thus, the term "conservative repetition" is used to refer to active efforts to retain information in working memory, and the term "developmental repetition" refers to efforts to encode information for transfer to long-term memory.

The best evidence for these ideas has come from experiments with free reproduction. In these, subjects were first shown words selected from a list, such as 40 incoherent words; words were presented one at a time. After presenting all the words, the subjects had to immediately recall them in any order (hence the name "free reproduction"). The results of one such experiment are shown in Fig. 8.6. On it, the probability of correct reproduction of the word is shown depending on the ordinal number of the element in the list. The left side of the curve refers to the first few elements, and the right side to the last.

It is assumed that during playback the last few words presented are still in short-term memory, while the remaining words are in long-term memory. This means that we should expect a high probability of recalling the last few words, since it is easy to reproduce elements from short-term memory. On fig. 8.6 shows that this is the case. But the reproduction of the first few elements is pretty good too. Why is that? This is where repetition comes into play. When the first words are presented, they are entered into short-term memory and repeated. Since the short-term memory is still almost not loaded, they are repeated frequently and therefore transferred to the long-term memory.

Rice. 8.6. The results of the experiment on free reproduction. The probability of reproduction varies depending on the ordinal number of the element in the list, with the highest probability being about the last five elements, followed by the probability of reproducing the first few elements, and the lowest probability for elements from the middle of the list. Reproduction of the last few elements is based on short-term memory, and the rest - on long-term memory (according to: Glanzer, 1972; Murdock, 1962).

As the remaining elements are presented, short-term memory quickly overflows, and the ability to repeat each given element and transfer it to long-term memory is significantly reduced. Therefore, only the first few items presented have an additional opportunity to pass into long-term memory, and this is why they are reproduced so well from it later.

Thus, short-term memory is a system capable of retaining 7 ± 2 blocks of information in either phonological (acoustic) or visual format. Information from short-term memory is lost due to extinction or replacement and is retrieved (reproduced) from this system through a process whose functioning is influenced by the total number of memory elements activated at any given time. Finally, short-term memory is used to store and process information needed to solve problems, and therefore plays an important role in the process of thinking.

long term memory

Long-term memory is needed when information needs to be retained either for just a few minutes (for example, a remark in a conversation made earlier) or for a lifetime (for example, an adult's memories of childhood). In long-term memory experiments, psychologists have generally studied forgetting after a few minutes, hours, or weeks, but there have been very few studies involving periods of years, let alone decades. Experiments spanning many years often involve replaying personal experiences (what is called autobiographical memory) rather than laboratory materials. In the following, we will not distinguish between studies using one or another material, since they reflected in many respects the same principles.

Reading time: 2 min

Short-term memory is a type of human memory that allows you to retain a small amount of information for a short time. The duration of information storage during its one-time perception is estimated at several seconds. Short-term memory is also called primary or active memory. Short-term and long-term memory are opposed to each other, they differ in the amount of time information is retained.

Short-term memory in children can simultaneously hold no more than 5-6 elements (various images, words or numbers). In an adult, it can save 7-9 elements for a short time. These figures are approximate, since there are individual characteristics of memorization.

Many scientists argue that short-term memory in children has the highest intensity of development at preschool age. Just this period is considered the basis of its further development.

Poor short-term memory may be associated with various violations. Such disorders are pathological conditions that are characterized by the inability to store and use the information received. Statistics show that problems with short-term memory occur in a quarter of the world's population. Most of all, problems with both short-term and long-term memory affect the elderly, they may experience both episodic disorders and permanent ones.

Short-term memory is quite vulnerable and suffers greatly from the development of pathological conditions that affect it. Memory problems are manifested in a decrease in the intensity of a person's learning, forgetfulness and the inability to concentrate on a particular subject. At the same time, a person remembers well what happened to him a year or even a decade ago, and tries, but cannot remember what he was thinking about or what he was doing a couple of minutes ago.

Problems with short-term memory occur with, or with the use of alcohol or drugs. There may be other causes of memory problems, for example, tumors of brain structures, trauma, or.

Signs of a short-term memory disorder can appear instantly, in the event of an injury, or appear gradually, from age-related changes or schizophrenia.

The amount of short-term memory

The volume of short-term is a characteristic that determines the amount of potentially memorized material.

The short-term memory capacity is quite limited, and on average it stores 7 +/- 2 units of memory. The breadth of the covered volume of short-term memory has an individual character and tends to be preserved throughout life. The volume first of all establishes the feature of mechanical memorization, which functions without the active involvement of thinking in memorization.

The feature of short-term memory, due to its limited volume, is called substitution. With the help of substitution, the process of partial displacement of already stored information with new material takes place. This can be expressed in a person's involuntary switching of his attention from memorization to some other process.

Short-term memory is capable of processing a significant amount of information, in which excess material is eliminated and, as a result, long-term memory is not overloaded with unnecessary information.

Short-term and long-term memory are dependent on each other. Long-term memory cannot function without short-term memory.

Short-term memory acts as a kind of filter that allows only the necessary information to pass into long-term memory, while at the same time making a strict selection.

One of the main features of short-term memory is that, under certain conditions, this type of memory has no memory limits in time. This condition consists in the possibility of continuous repetition of just heard numbers, words, and so on.

To store information in short-term memory, it is necessary to maintain activity aimed at memorization, without being distracted by other activities or complex mental work.

The term "short-term memory" speaks of the external, temporal property of a phenomenon without regard to its connection with human activity, goals and motives. Nevertheless, here one must remember the connection between the temporal characteristics of events and their importance for the organism.

The duration of an event is very significant for short-term memorization, even for memory itself, since a long-term impact contains the very possibility of repetition, which requires greater readiness.

Consolidation of traces is considered as a kind of assessment of the significance of the material for the fulfillment of the upcoming significant goals. But the influence of the time factor alone is not unlimited. Long-term repetition of one stimulus causes only protective inhibition, and not the transition of information into long-term memory.

Medical studies that are related to memory impairments demonstrate that short-term and long-term memory exist as independent ones. For example, with retrograde, a person does not remember recent events, but remembers those that happened a long time ago.

Poor short-term memory may be associated with anterograde amnesia, in which both short-term and long-term memory remain intact. However, this affects the ability to store new information in long-term memory.

Information first enters the department of short-term memory, which ensures the storage of information presented once for a short time (up to seven minutes), after which the information can be completely erased or transferred to the department of long-term memory, subject to single or double repetition.

The above recalled formula for the amount of short-term memory (7+/- 2) means that it is limited in its volume. But the main thing that is needed is to ensure that the parts of the memorized material (numbers, figures, pictures) are informationally saturated due to their grouping, combining and uniting into a coherent image.

Short-term memory is connected with the current state of human consciousness, therefore, to maintain information, it is necessary to maintain attention to the memorized information throughout the entire time of its retention, in the case of long-term memorization, this is not necessary.

In the process of filling the volume of short-term memory with information, the temporal coding mechanism operates, as a display of memorized information in the form of sequentially placed symbols displayed in the auditory and visual human systems.

Very often, when they need to remember something, people try to come up with an association and evoke an emotional reaction, which can be considered as a psychophysical mechanism that activates and integrates processes that serve as a way of remembering and reproducing information.

A person is able to increase the amount of short-term memory and memorized information through the recoding of material into new structural elements. The operational units of short-term memorized material depend on the ability of the individual to form the perception of information. It has been determined that one single letter is displayed much better than two letters, and two than three. When a combination of letters forms a word familiar to a person, then it is as well reproduced as a single letter.

It has also been shown that memorization improves not only when letters are organized into words, but also when nonsense syllables are pronounced as a rhythmically connected sequence. In this case, the average number of memorized objects increases. Any means of organizing information can reduce a significant amount of material into a much smaller number of operational or structural elements.

Limitations on the amount of short-term memory are considered not only the average depth of the presented phrase, but also the average length of the words themselves. The researchers found that in different languages ​​the most common (90-99% of the total frequency of all words) are words from one to four syllables. Words with a length of 5-9 syllables are much less common, which indicates the limited amount of short-term memory, and even longer words are used even less often. Thus, Braille (the creator of the font for the blind) came to the conclusion that it is impossible to use more than six dots when constructing an alphabet for blind people.

How to improve short term memory

There are several ways to improve short-term memory, which will be discussed below. Improving memorization is associated with the development of creative thinking and training when using associations. To better remember long multi-digit numbers, they can be represented in the form of animals or plants or some inanimate objects that come to mind. For example, the number two appears in the form of a swan or a hanger, one - a pole or nail, seven - braids, antennas, number eight - a bow, butterflies. Any round object can be associated with the number zero - a ball, an eye, a moon, and others. If it is difficult to keep the association in mind, then you can transfer the imaginary picture to a drawing, a sketch.

Training of short-term memory should be carried out under the guidance of certain principles. One of them is repetition. But the main thing is to observe the measure, otherwise frequent repetition will lead to cramming. You can memorize absolutely everything that is necessary, but the unpleasant moment here may be that all the memorized information will not be conscious and will be remembered for a short time. Therefore, it is best not to repeat the material many times in a row, but to consolidate the information by repeating it once for several days.

Another principle is the need to concentrate on the memorization process itself. All presented and stored information must be meaningful. If possible, analogies should be established with data already in the head, stored data or some specific life factors. The more extensive and strong the parallels being established, accordingly, the process of remembering something really significant will be better.

An active lifestyle, movement, positive mood favorably affect the improvement of short-term and long-term memory. Physical activity, sports, dancing, fitness stimulate blood circulation in the body, in particular in the brain, which in turn activates mental processes that are associated with the perception, processing and reproduction of information.

Proper diet and proper nutrition play an important role in improving memory. Foods such as vegetables, cereals, fish, seafood and eggs have a positive effect on the memory process.

To improve short-term memory, a mnemonic is used, with the help of which a certain reaction of the individual is determined. Mnemonics include images, colors, sounds, contact, language, tastes and smells. Almost all elements are associated with the senses and help people quickly remember what they need. For example, if you combine a color or sound with certain information, then later it will be much easier to remember. Created with the help of mnemonics, mnemonic images must be positive and pleasant for a person, otherwise these images will be rejected.

Let's say this is an example of using mnemonics. If a person likes a certain melody, he may try to remember the phone number or something else, in the rhythm of this melody. It is necessary to speak and sing the memorized material several times to the melody. Using this method, you can make sure how much more firmly the information lingers in the head.

Training short-term memory using the mnemonic method is useful if a person needs to constantly meet with the problem of remembering, especially when it comes to the type of activity. This method will help develop short-term memory, which is often used when doing operations with numbers in the mind.

Researchers have found out how long short-term memory can store the necessary knowledge. Information begins to be “erased” 18 seconds after it has been consumed. Some people after 18 seconds can only hold 10% of the information in short-term memory, but if there is no way to write down what needs to be remembered (phone number or address), then this may not help. Therefore, it is necessary to repeat to yourself the numbers necessary for memorization for every 15 seconds, thus updating the received data.

Short-term memory training includes the body analogy method. With this method, you can remember a lot more small details. The way of memorizing parts of the human body by landmarks is unusual, but in practice it has proven to be an excellent method of retaining material, and extracting information at the right time. The bottom line is to connect the necessary information directly with a specific part of the human body, while creating in the imagination a certain image associated with the knowledge necessary for a person.

So, if you need to remember a number of fruits, then they can be associated: an apple with an eye, a carrot with a nose.

Many students (pupils and students) are sure that the switched on TV or computer does not interfere with their studies at all, but during the study it turned out that extraneous sounds, music, or even more flickering images become an obstacle to remembering very important information.

No matter how hard a person tries, he cannot do several things at the same time, or he can, but then one of his activities will be damaged. It is important to remember that this applies only to external activities, and does not apply to such natural processes as breathing and walking, since these processes cannot be processed by consciousness.

Short-term memory training in the connected storytelling technique is a method that is designed to remember things that have a loose connection with each other. When you need to remember a shopping list or something else, you can come up with a story that will mention items that need to be remembered. Stories can turn out to be the most crazy, but the method really works, which has already been proven by many scientists. The only drawback of this method is that if the list of elements necessary for memorization is too extensive, then you will have to come up with a story that is too long or several short stories.

The "keywords" method is often used at school when learning foreign languages, this kind of trick can be very helpful. For example, to memorize the word “look” (look), you can pick up the Russian word - onion, while creating the phrase: “I don’t look when I cut the onion.” Thus, it turns out that when memorizing, an image is created, a new word is pronounced and its meaning is remembered.

The Locus method of training short-term memory is also called the “travel method” or the “Roman room method”. This method originated from the ancient world. The principle of implementing this method is as follows: a person mentally imagines himself in a room or on a street that is very familiar to a person and leaves parts of information near different landmarks, by which this information can be easily recognized. When a person needs information, he again mentally moves himself into a room or onto a street, where he follows a landmark to the place where he left information about the information for storage.

Short-term memory can be improved by breaking information into blocks. It has been proven that a person's short-term memory can store from five to nine elements, but many people easily remember phone numbers that consist of ten digits. Since most numbers are written with a dash or spaces. If the numbers were always written together, and not in blocks, then their memorization would be worse.

Short-term memory is trained using the method of restoring the environment. So, for example, when children have lost something, they are told to go to the place where they last saw the item they were looking for, and indeed, this is how the item was located. This process is called context-sensitive. Memory is affected by the environment, the situation and the restoration of the conditions in which a person saw the thing for the last time and remembered the lost object there, this may lead to the idea that the thing was lost or left in that place, this works with the memorization mechanism.

For example, scuba divers are given certain information when they are in the water that will be easier for them to remember if they are in the water again.

Context-dependent memory suggests that things recorded while intoxicated are much more quickly recalled if the person re-enters the state of intoxication.

Another way to improve short-term memory is to remember smells. Researchers say that smell is one of the most powerful memory tools that can be used to retrieve the deepest memories.

To improve short-term memory in children, it is necessary to make the right diet. Children who are malnourished and therefore do not receive the necessary amount of vitamins and minerals remember information much worse. Therefore, the food of a child, like an adult, should be rich in proteins (therefore, it is not necessary to attach vegetarianism to a child from childhood) and sugar (healthy sugar, so as not to provoke overeating and obesity) and include vitamin supplements.

In addition, intellectually directed classes with a child should be carried out in short periods, for example, for 15-20 minutes with the transfer of the child's attention to another type of activity. At the same time, the child must rest from intellectual activity, engage in motor activity and receive physical activity. Active games and physical education improve the blood supply to the brain, which in turn activates short-term and long-term memory.

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Psychology

The amount of short-term memory. Mnemic tricks

Introduction

1. Types of memory

2. Main characteristics of short-term memory

3. Mnemic tricks

3.1 Techniques and exercises for developing memory, facilitating memorization processes

3.2 Memorization of foreign words

Conclusion

Bibliographic list

Application

Laboratory work. Memory. Determination of the volume of short-term auditory, visual and figurative memory

Introduction

Memory is a form of mental reflection, which consists in fixing, preserving and subsequent reproduction of past experience, making it possible to reuse it in activity or return to the sphere of consciousness. Memory connects the subject's past with his present and future and is the most important cognitive function underlying development and learning.

Memory is the basis of mental activity. Without it, it is impossible to understand the foundations of the formation of behavior, thinking, consciousness, subconsciousness. Therefore, in order to better understand a person, it is necessary to know as much as possible about our memory.

1. Types of memory

There are several grounds for classifying the forms and types of memory. One of them is the division of memory according to the time of storing the material, the other - according to the analyzer that prevails in the processes of storing, storing and reproducing the material. In the first case, short-term and long-term memory are distinguished, and sometimes an intermediate option is operational. In the second case, they speak of motor, visual, auditory, verbal-logical and other types of memory.

Short-term memory is a memory in which the storage of material is limited to a certain, usually short period of time. The short-term memory of a person is connected with his actual consciousness.

Long-term memory is designed for long term storage of information, a predetermined period. It is not connected with the actual consciousness of a person and assumes his ability at the right time to recall what he once remembered. In contrast to short-term memory, where recall is not required (because what has just been perceived is still in actual consciousness), with long-term memory it is always necessary, since the information associated with perception is no longer in the sphere of actual consciousness.

When using long-term memory, recall often requires certain volitional efforts, so its functioning is usually associated with will.

To save information in short-term memory, it is always necessary to maintain continuous attention to the material being remembered during the entire time it is retained in memory; with long-term memorization, this is not necessary.

Working memory is called memory, which occupies an intermediate position between short-term and long-term. It is designed to preserve the material for a predetermined period, i.e. in order to be able to easily remember what you need at a given time.

Motor memory is the memorization and preservation, and, if necessary, the exact reproduction of various movements. It is involved in the formation of a person's motor skills and is especially necessary in those types of activities that require rather complex forms of movements from a person.

Good visual memory is possessed by people with eidetic perception, i.e. those who are able for a long time to "see" a picture or object that is absent in the real visual field. Visual memory is associated with the preservation and reproduction of images; it is extremely important for people of all professions, especially police officers, artists, and designers. This type of memory presupposes a developed human capacity for imagination. It is based, in particular, on the process of memorizing and reproducing material: what a person can visually imagine, he, as a rule, remembers and reproduces more easily.

Auditory memory is a good memorization and accurate reproduction of various sounds, such as speech, music. It is necessary for musicians, philologists, people studying foreign languages.

Verbal-logical memory is characterized by the fact that a person who possesses it quickly and accurately remembers the meaning of events, the logic of any proof, the meaning of the text being read, etc. He can accurately convey this meaning in his own words, often completely without remembering the details of the source material. This type of memory is often possessed by scientists and teachers.

Emotional memory is the memory of past experiences. It is involved in the work of all types of memory, but it is especially manifested in human relationships. The strength of material memorization is directly based on emotional memory: what causes strong emotional experiences in a person is remembered more firmly and for a longer period.

In addition to those mentioned, there are other types of memory, in particular, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory.

Since memory is connected with the will, according to the nature of its participation in the memorization and reproduction of material, memory is divided into involuntary and arbitrary. In the first case, they mean such memorization and reproduction of material that occurs automatically, without much effort on the part of a person, without setting a mnemonic task (tasks for memorizing, recognizing, preserving or reproducing material). In the second case, such a task is necessarily present, and the process of memorization or reproduction itself requires volitional efforts from a person.

In the structure of memory, two types of mnemonic abilities can be distinguished, which have different physiological mechanisms: the ability to imprint and the ability to semantic information processing. Both types of mnemonic abilities have an impact on the success of mastering knowledge, but the ability to process information, which characterizes the close unity of the processes of memory and thinking, plays an important role.

2. Main characteristics of short-term memory

The average amount of short-term memory is very limited: it is 7+/- 2 units of integrated information. This volume is individual, it characterizes the natural memory of a person and tends to persist throughout life. First of all, it determines the volume of the so-called mechanical memory, which functions without the active inclusion of thinking in the memorization process.

With the features of short-term memory, due to the limitation of its volume, such a property as substitution is associated. It manifests itself in the fact that when the individually stable volume of a person’s short-term memory is overflowed, the information that enters it again partially displaces the information already stored there. Subjectively, this can manifest itself, for example, in an involuntary switching of a person's attention from memorization to something else.

Thanks to short-term memory, the most significant amount of information is processed, unnecessary information is eliminated, and as a result, long-term memory is not overloaded with unnecessary information.

Long-term memory cannot function properly without short-term memory. Only what was once in short-term memory can penetrate into the latter and be deposited in it for a long time. In other words, short-term memory acts as a kind of filter that passes the necessary information into long-term memory, while simultaneously implementing strict selection in it.

One of the main properties of short-term memory is that this type of memory, under certain conditions, also has no time limits. This condition consists in the possibility of continuously repeating a series of words, numbers, etc., just heard. To maintain information in short-term memory, it is necessary to maintain activity aimed at memorization, without diverting attention to another type of activity, complex mental work.

The term "short-term memory" itself fixes the external, temporal parameter of the phenomenon, regardless of how it is connected with the activity of the individual, with its goals and motives. However, here, too, one must keep in mind the connection between the time parameter of events and their significance for the organism. The duration of the event in itself is already significant for memory, because in a long-term (repeating) impact, the possibility of repetition in the future is laid, as it were, which requires greater readiness for it. In this, the consolidation of traces can be considered as a kind of assessment of the significance of this material for the implementation of the upcoming vital goals. However, the influence of the temporal factor itself is not unlimited: a long-term repetition of a stimulus devoid of meaning causes only protective inhibition, and not its translation into long-term memory.

Clinical studies related to memory disorders show that the two types of memory - short-term and long-term - do exist as relatively independent. For example, with such a disorder, which is called retrograde amnesia, it suffers mainly from recent events, but memories of those events that took place in the distant past are preserved. In another type of disease, also associated with memory impairment - anterograde amnesia - both short-term and long-term memory remain intact. However, the ability to enter new information into long-term memory suffers. However, both types of memory are interconnected and work as a single system. Any information first enters short-term memory, which ensures that the information presented once is memorized for a short time (5-7 minutes), after which the information can be forgotten completely or transferred to long-term memory, but subject to 1-2 repetitions of information. Short-term memory (TS) is limited in volume, with a single presentation, an average of 7 ± 2 objects is placed in the TS. This is the magic formula of human memory, i.e., on average, at one time a person can remember from 5 to 9 words, numbers, numbers, figures, pictures, pieces of information. The main thing is to ensure that these “pieces” are more informationally saturated due to grouping, numbers, words are combined into a single holistic “piece-image”.

Let's take a closer look at short-term memory.

As mentioned above, in short-term memory, the retention of material is limited to a certain, short period of time. The short-term memory of a person is connected with his actual consciousness.

To maintain information in short-term memory, it is always necessary to maintain continuous attention to the memorized material during the entire time it is retained in memory; with long-term memorization, this is not necessary.

One of the possible mechanisms of short-term memorization is temporal coding, i.e. reflection of what is remembered in the form of certain, sequentially located symbols in the auditory and visual systems of a person. Often, in order to really remember something, they try to evoke a certain emotional reaction by association with it. Such a reaction can be considered as a special psychophysical mechanism that contributes to the activation and integration of processes that serve as a means of memorization and reproduction.

Consider the main characteristics of short-term memory. As already mentioned, its average volume is limited to 7 ± 2 units of integrated information. This volume is individual, it characterizes the natural memory of a person and tends to persist throughout life. First of all, he determines the amount of mechanical memory that functions without the active inclusion of thinking in the memorization process.

With the features of the CP, due to the limited scope of its volume, such a property as substitution is associated. It manifests itself in the fact that when the individual stable volume of a person's short-term memory is overflowed, the information that enters it again partially displaces the information already stored there. Subjectively, this can manifest itself, for example, in an involuntary switching of a person's attention from memorization to something else.

Short-term memory plays an important role in human life. Thanks to it, the most significant amount of information is processed, unnecessary information is eliminated, and as a result, long-term memory is not overloaded with unnecessary information. CP is of great importance for the organization of thinking; its material, as a rule, is the facts that are in the CP of a person.

This type of memory actively works in the process of human-to-human communication. It has been established that when people who meet for the first time are asked to talk about their impressions of each other, to describe those personal characteristics that they noticed during the meeting, then on average, as a rule, the number of traits that corresponds to the volume of the CP, i.e., is called. e. 7±2.

Without CP, the normal functioning of long-term memory is impossible. Only what was once in the CP can penetrate into the latter and be deposited for a long time. In other words, the CP acts as a kind of filter that lets the necessary information into the DP, while at the same time making a strict selection in it.

One of the main properties of CP is that this type of memory, under certain conditions, also has no time limits. This condition consists in the possibility of continuously repeating a series of words, numbers, etc., just heard. To maintain information in the CP, it is necessary to maintain activity aimed at memorization, without diverting attention to another type of activity, complex mental work.

Clinical studies related to memory disorders show that the two types of memory - CP and DP - do exist as relatively independent. For example, with such a disorder, which is called retrograde amnesia, the memory of recent events suffers mainly, but the memories of those events that took place in the distant past are preserved. With another type of disease - anterograde amnesia - both CP and DP remain preserved. However, the ability to enter new information into the DP suffers.

However, both types of memory are interconnected and work as a single system. In many life situations, the processes of CP and DP work almost in parallel. For example, when a person sets himself the task of remembering something that obviously exceeds the capabilities of his CP, he often consciously or unconsciously resorts to the method of semantic grouping of material, which makes it easier for him to memorize. Such a grouping, in turn, involves the use of DP, referring to past experience, extracting from it the knowledge and concepts necessary for generalization, ways of grouping the memorized material, reducing it to a number of semantic units that do not exceed the volume of the CP.

short-term memory mnemonic figurative

3. Mnemic tricks

The volume of both general knowledge in the world and in individual areas, specialties has increased over the past century by several, or even dozens of times. At the same time, this volume is constantly increasing, replenishing all large quantity new information. Therefore, the development of memory, the improvement of the processes of remembering, storing and reproducing information is one of the necessary tasks for a person in modern society. Without improving their own memory, a modern person runs the risk of falling behind the increasingly dynamic development of society, getting lost in a huge flow of information.

3.1 Techniques and exercises for developing memory, facilitating memorization processes

Consider some techniques and exercises for the development of memory, facilitating memorization - mnemonic techniques.

1. The formation of semantic phrases from the initial letters of the memorized information (“Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant is sitting” - about the sequence of colors in the spectrum: red, orange, etc.).

2. Rhythmization - the translation of information into poems, songs, into lines associated with a certain rhythm or rhyme.

3. Memorizing long terms with the help of consonant words (for example, for foreign terms, they look for similar-sounding Russian words - to remember medical terms, “supination and “pronation”, they use the consonant and comic phrase “soup carried and spilled”).

4. It is necessary to find bright, unusual images, pictures, which, using the “bundle method”, are connected with the information that needs to be remembered. For example, we need to remember a set of words: pencil, glasses, chandelier, chair, star, beetle - it will be easy to remember if you imagine them as “characters” of a bright, fantastic cartoon, where a slender dandy is a “pencil” in “glasses” comes up to a full lady “chandelier”, on which a “chair” playfully climbs, on the upholstery of which “stars” sparkle. It is difficult to forget or confuse such a fictional cartoon. To increase the efficiency of memorization using the “connection method”, it is useful to distort the proportions greatly (a huge “beetle”); represent objects in active action (“pencil” is suitable); increase the number of items (hundreds of “stars”); swap the functions of objects (“chair” on the lady “chandelier”).

5. Method of Cicero. Imagine that you are walking around your room, where everything is familiar to you. Arrange the information that you need to remember mentally as you walk around the room. You can remember the information again by imagining your room - everything will be in the places where you placed them during the previous “bypass”.

6. When memorizing numbers, numbers, you can use the following techniques:

a) identify the arithmetic relationship between groups of numbers in a number, for example, in the phone number 358954, the relationship is 89 = 35 + 54;

b) highlight familiar numbers - for example, in the number 859314, highlight 85 - the year of birth of the brother, 314 - the first digits of the number "pi", etc.;

c) “hook method” - replacing numbers with images. For example, 0 is a circle, 1 is a pencil, 2 is glasses, 3 is a chandelier, 4 is a chair, 5 is a star, 6- beetle, 7 - week, 8 - spider, etc. You can replace numbers, letters and words. For example, replacing the numbers 1, 2, 3, 8 with the last consonants in the name of these numbers: 1 - one - H, 2 - two, B. 3 - three - R. And the numbers 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 replace with initial consonants in their name: 4 - 4.5 - R, 6 - Shch, 7 - C, 9-D.

Replacement with words: 0 - L (uL), 1 - N (Noah), 2 - B (Howl). 3 -- FROM(ariya), 4 H (oChi), 5 -- R (Rb), 6 - W (uShi), 7 - C (usy). eight -- M(yaMa), 9 - D (yaD). 10 - NIL, 11 - NeoN, 12 - NiVa, 13 - NoRA, 14 - Night, 15 - AnaPa, 16 - NiSha, 17 - NoS, 18 - Nemy, 19 - ANOD, 20 - Vol, 21 - Wine, 22 ViVa, 23 - VAR, .... PER -- RePa, ..., 44 - ChaCha, .. "56 - PaSha, .... 67 - IShiaS, .... 78 - SoM, .„, 84 -- BALL, .... 93 -- Yes. ..., 99

DUSHA, 100 -- NALIL, etc.

For example, you need to remember the phone number 9486138, then 94 - DaCha, 86 - Mouse, 13 - NoRa, 8 - pit, - the image “in the country house the mouse made a hole and a hole” is easy to remember

You will not confuse this number.

7. The method of training visual memory - the method of Aivazovsky. Look at an object or landscape, or at a person for 3 seconds, trying to remember in detail, then close your eyes and mentally imagine this object in detail, ask yourself questions about the details of this image, then open your eyes for 1 second, complete the image, close your eyes and try to achieve the brightest possible image of the subject and repeat this several times.

8. Memorizing words by linking them into a story.

Starting positions:

images should be bright, clear, unusual. You must see them in your imagination;

they must be in motion;

the connection between them can be in the form of overlapping, rolling, based on "similarity".

An example of memorizing logically unrelated words ( wood, table, river, basket, comb, soap, hedgehog, rubber band, book, tractor, rain, sun, clock, lamp, paper clip, house, plane, notebook, socks, air. ):

We see a green beautiful TREE. A board begins to grow from it to the side, a leg falls down from the board, it turns out a DESK. We bring our gaze closer to the table and see a puddle on it, which flows down, turning into a whole RIVER. A funnel forms in the middle of the river, which turns into a BASKET that flies out of the river onto the shore. You come up and break off one edge of it - you get a COMB. You take it and start combing your hair until SOAP starts to come out of your head. It drains and remains a hair sticking out like a Hedgehog. You are very uncomfortable and you take the RUBBER and tighten your hair with it. But she does not stand up and bursts. When it falls down, it unfolds in a straight line, and then turns into a KNIGU. You try to lift it - it doesn't work. Then you open it and a TRACTOR comes out not directly at you, which shines into your eyes with a powerful beam, like the SUN. It gets very hot and you are sweating. I really want it to RAIN. And he starts walking. You raise your head and see a CLOCK above you, from which water is pouring. You get cold from the rain, you want it to stop. You jump up and grab the clock hand and pull it out. Dropping to the ground, you examine it and notice a huge LAMP attached to the base of the arrow. You take the arrow in the form of a CLIP and attach it to your breast pocket. As soon as they attached the arrow, they began to break off from the lamp and fall to their feet, turning into bricks, pieces of glass. You jump away from him, throwing off the paperclip lamp. Gradually, a whole HOUSE appears from the bricks that fall from the lamp. You approach him, touching the arrow with your hand, but he suddenly takes off into the air, like an AIRPLANE. And you have a brick in your hands, which turns into a NOTEBOOK. You tear out sheets from it and make SOCKS out of them (remembering that they are in short supply) and walk in them on the ground, as if on AIR.

9. A bunch of words through the reduction of images (method of memorization).

Imagine an elephant, a fly. And now the elephant-fly, i.e. an elephant that has sprouted fly wings and is trying to fly by flapping its large wings. The order of words during memorization is determined by the presence in the image of a larger volume of the first word.

10. Animation (method of memorization).

Try to imagine some kind of beast, animal, now imagine that he came to life and began to move. Let him go, let him live his life in your imagination. Having practiced with living beings, move on to animated objects in the same way. The exercise is performed first with closed eyes, and then with open eyes. You can imagine that you touch an object and it comes to life, you blow on it, etc. Now try to perform any operations with objects or living beings at your will. It is necessary to reach a state when you freely manipulate objects.

11. Interaction with images (method of memorization).

Take a fiction book, read one paragraph (5-6 sentences), imagining yourself in the place of the main character or participating in the form of any object. Find any keyword in the paragraph, introduce it. Approach it mentally, enter it, start moving in it, live. Imagine that this subject is you, and begin to compose a story, animating the words and shortening them. You must prepare 20-30 words in advance, from which you make up a story. Imagine that you are based on "similarity": color, any common features, shape, weight of the material, etc. flowed and turned into a different image. Bring the number of words to 50-70 and move on to the next exercise.

12. "Flow"

Present two subjects (it is better if you practice on slides). Based on the "similarity" of any feature, another is formed from one object. What is this similarity? The same color, shape, location, smell, tactile sensations, heaviness. Memorize five words based on flow. Bring up to 30-50. This should take a maximum of 3-4 days, if you train for 1.5-2 hours. You can’t go back, repeat words while memorizing them. It is necessary to keep in mind the previous word, and then, on the basis of "similarity" from one object, form another. For example, a watermelon is a book. Imagine a watermelon core, the inner white part, as pages begin to fall out of it, which are folded and sewn into a book. Moreover, the pages of the same color as the inside of the peel (similarity).

12. Synchronization of tactile and visual perception.

Prepare 30 boards measuring 100x200mm and the following materials: oilcloth, cotton wool, soft cloth, hard, millet, peas, matches, etc. Stick one or two layers on each board, prepare ten words or cards. Close your eyes, put one hand on the plank (groats, etc.). Ask to be dictated to with a 30-second pause or look at the postcards as you compose a story. While memorizing each word or postcard, run your fingers over the planks laid out without your participation. One word or postcard - one board. After memorization, ask the boards to be swapped.

Your task is to reproduce the word, close your eyes and arrange the boards in order, using tactile sensations and words that you will reproduce in your imagination.

An indicator that you have achieved a scientific result will be - naming a word, you unconsciously (at the initial stage of training you need to do it consciously) feel the touch of the board corresponding to this word on your body. Variations: do the same work, only with bare feet, cheek, putting boards on the solar plexus, etc.

The whole body needs to be worked out. During the specified time, it is recommended to memorize information with the help of tablets, causing tactile sensations and causing the same sensations mentally, without using tablets (memorize postcards, words, slides, etc. in this way). When you achieve the indicated result, return to the first section and, imagining (that is, trying to clearly see and connect tactile sensations at the same time, clearly feel with your whole body at the same time), work through all the exercises from beginning to end, projecting the requirements for images onto tactile sensations .

13. Development of auditory imagination.

a) Take a ruler and hit it on the table. Relax, close your eyes, achieve a state of "emptiness" in your head, try to "hear" the sound in your imagination, reinforcing auditory sensations with visual (see the ruler at the moment of hitting the table), and tactile (feel the ruler, table, hit with your whole body).

b) Change in auditory sensations. Imagine (similar to tactile sensations) that one type of sound enters the zone of another sound and "flows" into it. For example, imagine that some musical sound has captured one of the zones of your body (feel the vibration), mentally spread the vibration to the whole body. Then imagine that a sound of a completely different tonality took possession of one of the zones of the body. Spread it all over your body. According to the same scheme, the sound or unpleasant sensation is "removed" from the body.

c) Feelings. Take five boards with pasted on them various materials. Ask them to hit you with pre-selected objects (metal, wood, glass, plastic, etc.), let's say, on the table. At this time, you must right hand alternately on each of the boards, perceive and memorize (one sound - one board). For example, a glass object hit the table, respectively, you heard the glass hit the table. At the same time, you perceive the oilcloth pasted on the board with your hand. Imagine that you are touching an oilcloth with your eyes closed, which, with each touch, makes a "glassy" sound, i.e. You can imagine, say, a glass made of oilcloth, and thus remember the feeling. Then, when you play this image, you can read the sound and material. The purpose of the exercise is to reach the state when you will perceive sound in the form of tactile and auditory sensations, i.e. when perceiving a certain sound, you should feel the touch of the corresponding material.

14. Development of taste imagination.

Taste training. Concentrate on the tip of the tongue for one to two minutes, salivation will begin. Take a piece of sugar and put it in front of you. Look at it, close your eyes, imagine (you need to see it clearly, feel it tactilely, hear the sound at the same time). Keep your attention on the tip of your tongue, trying to bring out the taste of sugar. Usually remote taste sensations appear after 20-30 seconds, then they increase from exercise to exercise. If you are very bad at it (5-7% of all those involved), try sugar on the tip of your tongue and try to evoke the appropriate taste sensations according to the proposed scheme. You must achieve the following: by imagining an object in your imagination, feeling it tactilely, hearing a sound and at the same time automatically focusing your attention on the tip of your tongue, you should feel the taste of this object, and this should happen unconsciously.

15. Development of olfactory imagination.

a) Concentrate on the tip of the nose and try to imagine the smell of lemon, rose, etc. At the initial stage, the exercise is performed with closed eyes. Eyes look straight, do not squint at the nose. Only attention is concentrated on the nose. If the odor cannot be elicited, take an imaginary object in your hand, bring it up to your nose, smell it, and place it in front of you at a distance of half a meter. Now, focusing on the tip of the nose, try to evoke the smell of this object. If this succeeds, put the item further and further away, try to create a smell, and then remove it altogether. Now you must conjure up the visual image of this object, tactile, auditory and gustatory sensations, thereby helping to evoke the smell of this object (accordingly, at this moment you should concentrate on the tip of the nose).

b) Take several objects with different smells and try to remember them with your eyes closed, smelling only their smell and inserting them into the story accordingly. For example, a light airy smell can be represented as fluff, and a sharp smell as something steely. Those. one should try to achieve the unconscious appearance of visual images in response to an olfactory sensation or representation.

16. Memorization of textual information by highlighting key words and establishing links between them.

1. Take two pencils (red and blue). When reading the text, underline the key words with a red pencil, i.e. words that can be used to reproduce the sentence.

2. Check if these support words are connected by a logical transition. For example: crane-table. We understand that there is a description of the kitchen. Let's say: a strawberry plane. It is clearly seen that there is no connection, so select additional supports in such places with a blue pencil.

3. Write the words on a separate sheet and underline the supports highlighted in red (words underlined in red and blue are written out in a row).

4. Make up a story with him and reproduce the words on another sheet.

5. Check with the checklist, correct the mistakes (in your imagination).

6. Now call up word by word in your imagination and reproduce the text from them. After working out 30-60 pages of text in this way, the process begins to be performed involuntarily, i.e. no longer need to do it in writing.

3.2 Memorization of foreign words

General rules

Try to link words, phrases, large blocks. Thus, you can learn several times more at a time. The memory is able to retain at the initial stage (short-term memory) 7+(-)2 units of the block of memorized information. This is true if you did not complete the previous course and did not fulfill its requirements. Start memorizing 3-5 words, gradually moving to five blocks of 30-50 words.

Experiment before committing to memorizing more than five blocks. Compare the results, find the optimal number of words in blocks. It should be noted that if you continue your studies on the development of figurative memory, you will be able to increase the capacity of the block and their number to nine.

By training and learning the language at the same time, in a month and a half you will suddenly find that the ligaments are already formed by themselves.

If you have completed the proposed course completely, you will be able to build bright paradoxical images and pictures in your imagination.

Involuntary memorization occurs if images are built in the imagination in such a way that they either help the main character achieve the goal or interfere.

With a greater degree of involuntary memorization occurs if we focus on the meaning of the word and its sound, and not on memorization (we cheat cramming). To deepen the understanding of the language, it is recommended to understand the meaning of words more deeply, i.e. look into dictionary. If possible, then not in one. It is also recommended to pronounce the word, placing stress on different syllables alternately and with the expression of various emotions (surprise, joy, anger, disappointment, admiration, etc.).

If you have convinced yourself that you remember not for a week, but for a lifetime, you will immediately feel a striking contrast in the quality of memorization. Therefore, before you remember, convince yourself that, or feel, imagine that you remember for a lifetime.

Memory technique.

1. Choose a Russian word that is consonant, completely or partially similar in sound to the foreign word and make a figurative link associated with the Russian translation.

2. Please note that your goal should not be to memorize a foreign word, but to find a link between words, the unusualness of the link, the presence of movement in it. Everything must be backed up by remembering the five senses - this is the main thing.

Nouns. Soor (eng.) we select the word-swim-chicken coop (translation) Imagine yourself swimming in the river. Suddenly, chickens swoop down on you and sit down. Let's look at the word soor - you will probably remember the chosen word Bathe, followed by sitting chickens and then CHICKEN COOP (translation).

Compound (difficult) words - transform by replacing one or two letters and then build bundles. Dig (dig) - we change the letter "i" to "o". It turns out - a dog - a dog. She digs a hole with her paws, like shovels. Moreover, the dog is very thin - so remember the replacement of "i" with "o". We wonder how such a skinny dog ​​can stand on its feet.

A word with a preposition (similar to a phrase). To table (tu - y, tablet) - to the table (transl.) tu - y (locomotive whistle). Tablets come to the table from all sides, which make this sound.

These techniques are best used in combination with unusual drawings (for example, from the Crocodile magazine). The technique of working with drawings is as follows: having selected the appropriate drawing, you rewrite the names of objects, concepts depicted on it. Then you write out translations from a Russian-English or other dictionary. After that, make links to each individual word, looking at the picture and imagining an unusual plot. Thus, in one approach, you can remember from 20 to 50-70 words.

Keep notes, you will need them for repetition. After working out for one or two months for one and a half to two hours a day, you will find that the ligaments are already formed arbitrarily. To form an installation involuntary memorization usually need half a year (solid installation). Thus, memorization will occur as if by itself.

Repetition

The most optimal break time is 10 minutes (it is necessary for the initial "manifestation", i.e., imprinting information).

Below in the table we give the most optimal number of repetitions of words using figurative memory. The secret of pauses is that during the break, the brain translates information into long-term memory. This process is interrupted even if you repeat during breaks (erasing occurs).

Rep table:

Conclusion

Human memory is one of the most important areas of research in both psychology and biology, physiology, and, it would seem, various technical and mathematical sciences that are far from studying a person. The study of memory, the understanding of its functioning is not a purely theoretical task. It is of great practical importance. AT modern conditions memory acts as one of the most important properties of a person, allowing him to navigate in the world around him, not to get lost in a huge flow of information. Without a developed memory, it is practically difficult to achieve the harmonious development of the personality, the mastery of the knowledge and skills necessary in modern society.

With the development of cybernetics and other areas working on the creation of artificial intelligence, the study of memory has become a necessity for technical sciences. Without understanding the mechanism of functioning of human thought processes, in particular his memory, it is impossible to create intellectual and pseudo-intellectual systems so necessary in modern society.

Not every person is naturally given a perfect memory capable of mastering the information he needs. Of course, various paper, audio, video and computer media can be used to store and retrieve information, however, in an increasingly complex human environment, it is necessary to store a large amount of data in one's own memory. And not just to store, but to be able to use it effectively. Representatives of many professions - pilots, astronauts, etc. - often there is simply no time to turn to other sources of information, except for one's own memory.

Therefore, memory training, its development, the development of abilities to analyze the huge flow of incoming information are so important.

With the development of society, the amount of information that a person needs to keep in memory is increasing. There are fears that someday the human brain will no longer be able to accommodate all that it needs. However, nature has endowed us with enormous reserves of memory, many of which have not yet been studied or even unknown. Therefore, it seems that in this matter we can look to the future with optimism, and our memory will continue to be our true friend and assistant in the future.

Bibliographic list

Stolyarenko L.D. General psychology. Textbook for universities. Rostov-on-Don, "Phoenix", 1996

Pervushina O.N. General psychology. Methodical instructions. Publishing house of NSU, 1996

Nemov R.S. Psychology. Tutorial. M.: Enlightenment, 1990

Reader in general psychology. Psychology of memory / Ed. Yu.B. Gippenreiter, V. Ya. Romanova. M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1980.

Gamezo M.V., I.A. Domashenko, Atlas of Psychology, 3rd edition, M .: Education, 1999.

Garibyan S.A. School of memory. Moscow: Cicero, 1992.

Gippenreiter Yu.B. Romanov V.Ya., Reader in General Psychology. Psychology of memory, M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1980.

Krylov A.A., Manicheva S.A., Workshop on general. Experimental and applied psychology. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2000

Maxelon Yu., Psychology. Moscow: Enlightenment, 1998

General foundations of psychology. M.: Enlightenment, 1994.

Application

Laboratory work

Memory. Determination of the volume of short-term auditory, visual and figurative memory

Memory is the property of the central nervous system to record and store information about objects and phenomena of the external world, in order to use it for adequate adaptive behavior in changing environmental conditions. Human memory is the basis of his mental development, underlies thinking and consciousness.

According to the storage time of information, short-term and long-term memory are distinguished. Short-term memory is characterized by a large volume and speed of memorization. Information in short-term memory is stored from a few seconds to several hours. Such memory is called functional, since the mechanism of short-term memory is the occurrence of short-term reversible changes in the physicochemical properties of neurons.

Long-term memory is characterized by a smaller amount of information, its greater significance and a very long storage time (months, years). Such memory is called structural memory, since its mechanism consists in the occurrence of irreversible rearrangements in neurons and in the emergence of new intercellular connections. With long-term memory, for example, the activation of the genetic apparatus of nerve cells occurs and therefore long-term memory is formed, in particular, on the basis of the synthesis of macromolecules (proteins and nucleic acids).

There is also auditory memory, visual memory, figurative memory, etc.

Goals of the work:

Determine the amount of short-term auditory memory.

Determine the amount of short-term visual memory.

Determine the amount of short-term figurative memory.

Instruments and materials: a table of single digits, Zykov's cards, a list of 18 non-objective concepts, a stopwatch.

Progress:

Determination of the volume of short-term auditory memory. To determine the volume of short-term auditory memory, it is necessary to establish the maximum number of characters that a person can remember by ear from one presentation and accurately reproduce. Work can be carried out simultaneously on the students of the entire group.

Draw the table below in your notebook (do not enter numbers in the table!). The teacher reads the first row of numbers. Students listen to this rad in full, and then write it down. Then the teacher dictates the second row. Students listen to it and then also write it down, and so on.

After all rows of numbers are dictated, the teacher again begins to dictate the same rows of numbers to check the correctness of reproduction. If the numbers of the first row are reproduced without errors (not omitted, no extra numbers, not swapped), then a plus sign is put. If at least one of the above errors is made in any row, then a minus sign is placed under it and the check stops. The number of pluses will characterize the volume of short-term auditory memory.

The average short-term auditory memory in humans is 7.

Table 1

Table of single digits.

Determining the amount of short-term visual memory

For this test, M.B. cards are used. Zykov (1973). The card is a square 4x4 cm in size and consists of 16 cells (8 black and 8 white, each 1x1 cm in size). There are 50 cards in the set. Each of them has its own combination of black squares. The cards are divided into 5 difficulty classes, 10 cards each.

Before starting work, students should draw 10 squares 4x4 cm in size in their notebooks and draw them into cells 1x1 cm in size.

In the first series of experience, each student in the group is asked to memorize 5 cards in turn. The teacher, after shuffling the cards, approaches each student and presents a randomly drawn card. The subject studies the card for 8 seconds. Next, the teacher turns the card over, and the student must mark the black sectors in the square drawn in his notebook with hatching or a cross.

In the second series of experiments, the teacher arbitrarily presents 5 cards to the subjects at once, but the viewing time is not limited. As soon as the student has confidence that he has memorized all the cards, they turn over and fill in the remaining 5 squares in the notebook.

The processing of the test results consists in counting the number of incorrectly filled cells in each square and in the subsequent determination using a table of points for each sample, depending on the complexity class of the map and on the number of errors made, that is, the number of cells incorrectly filled in during reproduction. The highest score for the sample is 5 points, the minimum is 0 points.

Determining the amount of figurative memory

This test requires a list of 18 non-subject concepts. For example, "good mood", "summer vacation", etc.

The work is also carried out simultaneously on all students of the group.

The teacher reads the concepts in order with a pause of 5 - 6 seconds. During this time, students must, putting the serial number of the concept in their notebooks, sketch what they imagine under this or that concept (do not use letters and numbers!).

After 30-40 minutes, as all 18 concepts are dictated, the teacher reads them again, but not in order. Students must find in the notebook the drawing that corresponds to a certain concept and sign it. Count the number of correctly reproduced concepts.

Draw the appropriate conclusions.

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