forgetting.pptx

This content is about memory and forgetting which will be helpful for nursing and education students. It describes about types, causes of forgetting, theories of forgetting etc..

1. FORGETTING X.ARON CHRISTY M.Sc., (N), PROFESSOR, SRMTCON.

2. INTRODUCTION In our daily life we have experienced the time we want to recall the name of a friend and we realize that we have forgotten it. Forgetting occurs  only  when some learning has taken place. If there is no learning then there is no forgetting. Thus forgetting &remembering are two sides of the same coin. So when we are unable to remember it‘s called forgetting. Forgetting is being unable to find the correct information. (from the mind) at the given situation. Forgetting is temporary at times when later we can remember the names & actions whereas forgetting is said to be permanent when in no situation we are able to recall the information.

3. DEFINITION Munn:   “Forgetting is the loss permanent or temporary of the ability to recall or recognize something learnt earlier” Drever :   “Forgetting means failure at any time to recall an experience, when attempting to do so or perform an action previously done. Bhatia:  “Forgetting is the failure of an individual to review in consciousness an idea or a group of ideas without the help of original stimulus.”

4. TYPES OF FORGETTING Forgetting is just the opposite side of remembering and essentially a failure in the ability of reproducing. It is classified as: Natural forgetting and Morbid forgetting (abnormal)

5. Natural forgetting: Forgetting occurs with the lapse of time in a quite normal way without any intention of forgetting on the part of the individual. Morbid forgetting (abnormal): Person deliberately tries to forget something (depression) according to some other view, forgetting may be classified as general or specific: In general forgetfulness one suffers a total loss in one’s recalling some previous learning. In specific forgetfulness the individual forgets only one or the other specific part of his earlier learning.

6. Another classification: In physical forgetfulness one loses his memory on account of the factors of age, disease, biological malfunctioning of brain and nervous system, accidents, consumption of liquor or other intoxicating materials, etc. In psychological forgetfulness one loses his memory on account of factors like stress anxiety, conflicts, temper provocation, lack of interest, apathy, repression or similar other emotional and psychic difficulties.

7. CAUSES OF FORGETTING 1. Inadequate Impression at the Time of Learning: The reason for inadequate impression is lack of attention and inadequate learning will is necessary for good memory. Forced learning results in no learning because forced learning distracts our attention 2. Laps of Time: With the passage of time what is learned or experienced is for­gotten. This is a passive decay. The memory traces formed in the brain gets faded and becomes weather with the passage of time.

8. 3. Interference: One type of learning interface with the learning of another type is called theory of interference. There are two types of interface, proactive interface and retroactive interface (a) Proactive interference: When something learnt earlier distrusts recall of something you are learning how. In other words, it can be explained as the interference of past-learnt material in recalling the newly learnt material. (b) Retroactive interference: When learning now makes it harder to recall something you learned earlier. Here recently learnt material interferences in recalling of past-learnt material.

9. 4. Lack of Rest and Sleep: Continuous learning without rest and sleep may lead to greater forgetting due to inefficient consolidation. Experimental studies have shown that sleep following learning favours retention, it has also been found that saving is definitely greater after sleep especially with 8 hours interval. Forgetting is slow during sleep.  5. Poor Health and Defective Mental State: Memory traces are essential for remembering only when we pay attention to the information that has to be stored can be saved but poor health and mental tension effect own attention, which in turn affects the effective learning and receiving.

10.  6. Nature of the Material Learned: Amount of forgetting also varies with the nature of the material learned. Ebbing Hans and others have verified the fact that humans remember things that are meaningful better than things that are not.  7. Methods Used to Learn: Apart from the nature of the material we learn, systematic and efficient methods used in learning also influence our rate of forgetting.

11. 8. Raise in Emotion: Emotion plays an important role in learning and forgetting. Sudden rise of emotions blocks the recall. During the high emotional state, blood sugar level is impaired. To maintain the balance internal gland produces cartisole that disturbs memory cells. Hence we experience mental block leading to description in thinking, reasoning and perception, etc. For instance, students having the fear of examination cannot recall anything. Emotional shocks that occur during, before or after learning also have an impact on retention.

12. Apart from the external causes; internal causes, that is functional and organic factors, also cause forgetting. They are nothing but the condition that disturbs memory referred to as amnesia. Amnesia is a condition in which memory is disturbed. The causes of amnesia are organic or functional. Organic causes include damage to the brain through trauma or disease or use of certain drugs. Functional causes are psychological factors such as defense mechanisms. Amnesia may also be spontaneous, in the case of transient global amnesia. This global type of amnesia is more common in middle-aged to elderly people, particularly makes and usually lasts less than 24 hours. Types of amnesia are dissociative amnesia, childhood amnesia, psychogenic amnesia, global amnesia, etc..

13. TRACE DECAY THEORY OF FORGETTING This explanation of forgetting in short term memory assumes that  memories leave a trace in the brain . A trace is some form of physical and/or chemical change in the nervous system.  Trace decay theory states that forgetting occurs as a result of the automatic decay or fading of the memory trace. Trace decay theory focuses on time and the limited duration of short term memory. This theory suggests short term memory can only hold information for between 15 and 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed.  After this time the information / trace decays and fades away.

14. No one disputes the fact that memory tends to get worse the longer the delay between learning and recall, but there is disagreement about the explanation for this effect.  According to the trace decay theory of forgetting, the events between learning and recall have no affect whatsoever on recall.  It is the length of time the information has to be retained that is important. The longer the time, the more the memory trace decays and as a consequence more information is forgotten.

15. There are a number of methodological problems confronting researchers trying to investigate the trace decay theory.  One of the major problems is controlling for the events that occur between learning and recall.  Clearly, in any real-life situation, the time between learning something and recalling it will be filled with all kinds of different events.  This makes it very difficult to be sure that any forgetting which takes place is the result of decay rather than a consequence of the intervening events.

16. INTERFERENCE THEORY If you had asked psychologists during the 1930s, 1940s, or 1950s what caused forgetting you would probably have received the answer " Interference ".  It was assumed that memory can be disrupted or interfered with by what we have previously learned or by what we will learn in the future.  This idea suggests that information in long term memory may become confused or combined with other information during encoding thus distorting or disrupting memories

17. Interference theory states that forgetting occurs because memories interfere with and disrupt one another, in other words forgetting occurs because of interference from other memories ( Baddeley , 1999).  There are two ways in which interference can cause forgetting: 1.  Proactive interference  (pro=forward) occurs when you cannot learn a new task because of an old task that had been learnt.  When what we already know interferes with what we are currently learning – where old memories disrupt new memories. 2.  Retroactive interference  (retro=backward) occurs when you forget a previously learnt task due to the learning of a new task. In other words, later learning interferes with earlier learning - where new memories disrupt old memories.

18. Proactive and retroactive Interference is thought to be more likely to occur where the memories are similar, for example: confusing old and new telephone numbers.  Chandler (1989) stated that students who study similar subjects at the same time often experience interference. Previous learning can sometimes interfere with new learning (e.g. difficulties we have with foreign currency when travelling abroad).  Also new learning can sometimes cause confusion with previous learning. (Starting French may affect our memory of previously learned Spanish vocabulary).  In the short term memory interference can occur in the form of distractions so that we don’t get the chance to process the information properly in the first place. (e.g. someone using a loud drill just outside the door of the classroom.)

19. Reference : Dr. S.K. Mangal “Psychology for nursing” pg. no 185- 189. R. Sreevani “Psychology for nurses” pg. no 70-76- 79.