Why do We Forget What We Read

Why do We Forget What We Read?

The reasons we forget what we read are: The brain, with its 100 (one hundred) billion neurons, allows us to do fantastic things like learn multiple languages ​​or create something that sends people to outer space. Yet despite this amazing ability we can’t regularly remember where we put our keys, why we went to the grocery store, and we failed when trying to remember personal life events.

This apparent conflict of effectiveness opens up the question of why we forget some things but think of others. Or, more fundamentally, what causes forgetfulness?

This week my book ‘The Memory Illusion’ has landed in Canada and in Canadian language I would like to celebrate by presenting some researchers who have given us the right insight into this question.

An article recently published in Psychological Science by Tala Sadeh and colleagues at the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto addresses the long-running debate in the world of memory science; Can we forget things because of decay or interference?

A Message in The Sand

Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual replicate of this statement available online.

You can portray it much like a message written in the sand, the fact that every wave of the sea that flows on the shore makes the writing less refined until it finally disappears completely. Sand represents the web of brain cells forming a memory in the brain and represents the passage of time in ocean waves.

Intervention is simple and, according to colleagues, often in contrast to the account of its intervention is the notion that "memories are less accessible due to interference from similar information obtained before or after their formation",

In our beach example, this means that slowly a child comes and writes messages on the waves instead of the synthesized waves. This makes the message more difficult or even impossible to read. The child in this example represents a new experience, and the message it wrote is the brain information behind that experience. This leads to forgetfulness because it basically overwrites the memory. It’s a process that can bring my favorite subject to a false memory as well.

Representation Theory

What Sadeh and her Canadian colleagues help illustrate is that these theories should not compete with each other. Both decay and intervention are important for understanding forgetfulness.

According to their paper, which sues the case of the ‘representational theory of forgetting’, "the primary cause of forgetting depends on the nature of that initial memory." Researchers conducted a word memory test with 222 students from the University of Toronto to support their theory of forgetfulness. Here, participants were randomly assigned to experimental conditions that waited long to learn words and memorize them, and how much was spent on word memory that was interrupted by learning and what should be done between them.

According to the authors, they supported the idea that a memory could take the form of two separate representations in the brain; Introduction or reminiscence
‘Introduction’ is a memory process that allows us to remember something but without specific details. This is the basic idea that we can't remember, but we 'know' something. The idea is that when you think you know a face, that person seems very familiar, but you can put your finger where you know that person. No.

Conversely, if you have a ‘memory’ of something, you will also remember the context of the memory. In the process you can recognize that person and you will remember his name or other defining details. Ed.

Blame The Hippocampus

Our Canadian research team suggests that these two types of memory representations work differently and that different looks in the brain each of them are thought to depend differently on a key part of the brain, the hippocampus, which is important for memory formation; "Memory-based memories supported by the hippocampus are ... relatively resistant to each other's interference. Corrosion should be the main source of forgetting them. In contrast, the identity-based memory supported by the extrahypocomposite structure [Sensitive to Interference].

In a combination of our metaphors, the man who seems to be so familiar with information that is likely to be forgotten because the child wrote on the sand above him, while reminding him that over time his ed is more likely to disappear due to memory-washing waves.

So, what have we learned? Why we seem to forget seems to depend on how memory is stored in the brain. The issues we withdraw are prone to interference. Things that are familiar with time are lost. The combination of both forgotten processes means that no message will be correct in your writing.

Lack of Revision or Rehearsal

It is normal to forget most of what you have learned in a few days after learning something unless you are constantly correcting it to remember it. As I said before, your brain constantly reconstructs information as new experiences come along. As a result, experiences that are rarely reconsidered or ideas that are rarely used or re-enacted gradually fade away.
Often we forget what we read as we learn it. Then whatever is left is more slowly forgotten. The forgotten curve predicts the erosion of memory perception over time. 

This curve shows how trying to retain information related to time is lost.

A common representation of the forgotten curve. Spending time every day to memorize such information for testing will reduce the effects of the forgotten curve. Some teaching counselors claim that the first 24 hours after learning information is the best time to re-read the notes and reduce the amount of forgotten knowledge. Evidence suggests that waiting 10-20% for when data is needed is the best time for a single review.

In Conclusion

In the last words, Human memory is a complex, brain- wide process that is essential to who we really are. The more you know about your memory, the better you can figure out how to improve it. If we are students, we have discussed some of the reasons mentioned above, why we forget what we read. The reasons I have shared in this article are for the students who are mostly unsuitable for reading. Knowing why you forgot what you read can help you 100% to improve your memory. The more you read, remember and add connections, the more your knowledge base grows. And it will not only make you more confident, but also more creative.

(FAQs) Why do We Forget What We Read

Why can’t I retain what I read?

Answer: After reading, you may find it almost impossible to retain the information gained. This can be due to lack of adequate sleep and rest, distraction while reading, poor nutrition, failure to choose the right books, or memory problems such as decay or shallow processing.

Why We Forget Most of the Books We Read?

Answer: A student's reading memory is less about the words and more about the experience. "I almost always remember where I was and I remember the book itself. I remember physical things,” says Paul, editor of the New York Times Book Review, who, it's fair to say, reads a lot. "I remember the edition; I remember the cover; I usually remember where I bought it or who gave it to me. What I don't remember - and this is terrible - is everything else."

Why do we forget most of what we read and watch?

Answer: Do you remember the books you read and the movies you watch, even months later? I rarely do, so Julie Beck's piece Why We Forget Most Books We Read really hit me square in the forehead this morning (although I'll probably forget to read it next week). Why do we constantly forget to eat all these things?

Why students forget the content they learn?

Answer: Educational experience shows that some things are very well remembered, others are 'out there' but sometimes hard to find. While other things are completely forgotten. A good teacher should know why this happens so that he can try and create situations that will always enhance memory. Different theories offer different explanations of what causes forgetting. I discussed behavioral theory and cognitive theory.