Q1. What are the main barriers to memory and what would you do to tackle them?
• Introduction:
Ebbinghaus’s early study in 1885 clearly suggested that we forget rapidly. He was a dedicated researcher and developed a forgetting curve which showed a sharp decline in retention during the first few hours after memorizing the nonsense syllables.
• Main Barriers:
• Ineffective encoding:
Ineffective encoding refers to the face that most of the information that is forgotten only appears to be that way. The information thought to be stored in the memory was never there in the first place. This phenomenon is called pseudo forgetting and it is dude to lack of attention.
• Decay:
The decay theory suggests that forgetting takes place with the passage of time and physiological factors are assumed to be responsible for it.
• Interference:
The interference theory suggests that forgetting information is a consequence of competition from other material.
Interference is of two types i.e. Retroactive interference which occurs when new information interferes the retention of previously learned information and Proactive interference which occurs when previously learned information interferes with retention of new information.
• Retrieval failure:
Forgetting is often due to retrieval failure which refers to the fact that people often remember things which they were not able to remember at an earlier time.
• Motivated forgetting:
Motivated forgetting involves forgetting about things which one does not like to think about. Motivated forgetting according to Freud’s terms will be called repression which refers to keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious.
• Ways to tackle memory barriers:
• Rehearsal:
Studies indicate that retention improves significantly with increased rehearsal and this presumably happens because rehearsal transfers information into long-term memory.
• Distributed practice:
Distributed practice refers to...