When Forgetting Occurs

It’s a funny thing. . . you forget the greatest part of the material which you are going to forget, very shortly after you’ve learned it. The graph of your memory curve takes a sharp downward turn almost the second you stop memorizing, than gradually levels off as time goes by. Suppose you memorize 100 words of a foreign language vocabulary list today. Depending on how well you've done your work, you might remember anywhere from none to all of it, tomorrow. But, assuming that you've done a pretty fair job, let's say that tomorrow you still retain memory of fifty words. On the next day, you might remember forty, then 35, then down to thirty words, which you'll remember for quite some time.

Now, if tomorrow you re-study the fifty words you've forgotten, by the next day you might know about 70 of the original 100.

And if you then study the 30 you've forgotten, you'll bring your knowledge of the vocabulary up to a pretty high level.

The important thing to remember is that the sooner you can review something you've memorized, the better off you'll be, since your memory from original study will be fresher, and therefore much fuller. Perhaps this is why spaced learning-the next factor we'll discuss--is so effective ... it provides a deterrent to rapid memory fade-out.

Perhaps this is due to the reverie in which you are bound to indulge during the break period, reasoning out in your own thoughts the things you've been memorizing. Or, perhaps your mind simply begins to wander when you press it for too long periods of time. At any rate, spaced learning really does work ... try it. Studying for several short periods of time, with intervals of relaxation, generally produces longer-lasting memories than does one long, intensified study period.

A peculiar trick which your mind occasionally plays is remembering more of something some time after memorizing it, than very shortly after completion of the memory task. This seems to be a direct contradiction of the memory curve, but it's a very specialized case. Soon after you've completed a turn at the books, you'll be able to remember a certain portion of the material you've covered, right? But, a few hours, or a day later, when you've spent a little time thinking about the subject, a few points which might have slipped your immediate memory will come to your attention through pattern and association with the related points which you have been able to remember. So, in effect, you are remembering a little bit more than you actually learned at the time of study. This phenomenon might be a delayed memory of the "forgotten" material's actual position on the page, or a belated understanding of the words which at first you failed to understand, but later found rational in the light of your thinking about the entire subject.

Often a name you've forgotten, or a fact that you tried to remember but couldn't, can be brought into your memory's focus through reverie ... think the thing you've forgotten-remind yourself of every point you can which may bear an association with it. It's easier to remember things that are meaningful to you, through their relation to other things you know.

When you remember the name of a friend, or the appearance of a house, or the color of a flower, you are utilizing your memory of past impressions. But when you think of your friend growing flowers in front of a particular house, despite the fact that he doesn't even live there, and despite the fact that you've never known him to be interested in gardening ... you're employing your imagination. This is active use of the memories which you have passively collected.

Sometimes your imagination plays tricks on you, however. Have you ever walked into a room and gotten the powerful impression that you had been there before? I'm sure that you've experienced this "false memory" at one time or another ... you can't help feeling that you've heard a song before, you're sure you know that face, why can't you remember when it was that you spoke about that subject in the past. Well, it's quite likely that you never did do any of those things, although you might have heard a similar tune, or discussed something related. Sometimes an impression will touch off a great number of isolated associations in your mind, creating the composite image of the new impression so vividly that you can't help wondering...but don't worry about it--it happens to everyone. Just try hard to avoid confusion between false and real memories.

Your mind's got quite a "personality," hasn't it? And now that you know it a little better, you're ready to analyze what you've learned about it in the light of strengthening your memory, and see what possibilities you've uncovered for turning its ways to your advantage.