Activity 5.1 Warm-up: Long Term Memory and Retrieval

I do believe that learning depends on memory.  Of course, memory is referred to in many different ways; short-term memory, long-term memory, instant recall, and muscle memory to name a few.  What makes us pay attention and remember something?  I think we are often unaware that learning has occurred within ourselves.  We take in so much (input or stimulus) in every moment that we couldn’t possibly think to ourselves; “I just noticed this.  I just made this connection.  I know that is related to something else I have stored away.” and so forth.  It is as though we have a huge internal filing cabinet and our brains automatically categorize and file away our many memories without conscious recognition of the fact that we are doing so.  Perhaps we haven’t really forgotten so much of what we have learned; perhaps it is a question of accessing the memory.  Memories seem to be cued, or brought forth, in response to specific stimuli.  If we are not exposed to the correct stimuli, or we do not choose the correct path to the memory, we can’t access it (We have opened the wrong drawer in our file.).  In the construction of a memory it seems critical that we are paying attention.  This may determine the nature of the cue or path to a memory.  If we are not paying attention, our brain may construct a memory, but the path to that memory may not be one that we can access at our discretion.  In education we want to obtain and hopefully keep the attention of our students.  This may enable them to construct memories that they can willfully access and retrieve when they wish.  I remember years ago in an introductory psychology course we talked about the things that attract our attention; death, sex, etc.  This led to a discussion about subliminal advertising, which I interpret as an attempt to instill memories that are subconscious and will lead to anticipated behaviors unbeknownst to the holder of the memory.  So, these are all interesting questions.  I do think we learn many things that are not part of our “easily-accessed” repertoire and that the way we pay attention and make those associations has a great deal to do with our eventual perception of what we know.