Psych. Blog #9: Memory

Memory is almost everything. I say almost because not everything we remember is needed for our survival. Memory does however shape who we are. We remember who we are, the people we meet and see everyday, and what we learn day to day. What we chose to remember and what to forget shapes our life and who we choose to be. How we remember something makes everyone different from one another. I think that if we didn't remember any thing we wouldn't know who anyone is (including ourselves), where we are, what we're doing, or why any of this is taking place.

I truly believe it would suck to be Clive. To lose your memory and live second by second must be so confusing. His wife is in an awkward position. She seems intrigued by what he does and what he can remember. She handles it in a way that she is always there for him and talks to him even though he won't remember it in twenty seconds. I don't know what I'd do in her case. She brings he such great joy and he writes that he loves her it's so sweet. She is literally his world in what he remembers that he will right in his journal and will not cross it out. In his journally he puts the time when he writes and that he is truly awake or waking for the first time. The next time he crosses out what he previously wrote and writes it again with a different time and sometimes context. I am so glad I can remember the moments that I have in my life. I would be lost with out the jokes, conversations, decisions, and arguements that I remember. I cherish my memory and glad that I can remember what I just wrote about.

Where do I begin? I did know we could create memories that didn't exist; this being fact that I did a report on hypnosis previously in another class this year. I, however, didn't think to realize that when someone tells us we are right we believe that we are correct even when we are not. An example being with the eye witness video we watched when Jennifer though Ron Cotton was the one who raped her. Another thing I learned is that no matter how many times we see something we don't always remember completely. I took the penny quiz where you had to guess the actually US penny. I Knew that Lincoln is the only one of the coins (quarters, dimes, pennies, and nickels) that faces right so that ruled out all the one's facing left. It took me many tries to guess the the right penny because I don't totally remember where the words are placed on the front. I just looked at a penny two days before close up so that I could see Lincoln sitting in the Lincoln memorial on the back of the penny. This was also the day I realized that Lincoln faces the right. So this just proves that my memories are not as precise as I hoped for.

One concept I learned is that when you recognized someone it only takes between 15 to 30 seconds. I use this everyday when I see someone I haven't seen in a long time. Sometimes I don't remember their names, but I remember that I know them so hopefully that counts. I think about after I graduate and many years have past if I can remember my teacher through elementary through highschool. I don't want to not remember later who they are when I should have at least recognized them when I bump into them at a store or something. So I guess it will take me less than a minute to realize I know them for future referrence.