Essay on Memory and Causes of Forgetting

Read this comprehensive essay to learn about Memory and Causes of Forgetting!

Meaning of Memory:

(i) Purposive psychology traces memory from the major power of the mind- MNEME. Mneme and Horme are the two fundamental powers, Mneme is the general power of the mind to conserve the past experiences of the individual and the race.

Thus whatever experience one gets or the racial or the individual level, is never lost but conserved in the unconscious of the person. What is conserved is not the experience itself but the after-effect, the unit of after effects being conserved is called an engram.

In words of Ross, the term ‘memory’ in the strict sense, is narrower than the term ‘mneme’. It is mneme risen to the level of apprehension. Every child at birth sucks breasts, in the unconscious effort of seeking food, which he has conserved from the whole race. Such an act is conserved but not apprehended. But our daily actions or experiences are apprehended.

Ross, therefore, defines:

“A memory is a new experience determined by the his dispositions laid down by a previous experience, the relation between the two being clearly apprehended.” Mneme is memory not come to the level of apprehension. Recognition is a higher form, and recall is still higher form of memory.

Recognition is the first manifestation of mneme, and in it we have explicit reference to the past. It implies an apprehension of the relation between present and past experiences. Secondly the dispositions that can be recognised may be so strong that these can be recalled to will.

Again Ross defines:

“Memory, then, is a complex process involving the establishment of dispositions, their retention, and the recalling of the experiences that have left the dispositions behind them.

(ii) Woodworth considers ‘remembering’ as the proper word, a verb substituting the noun (memory). Remembering, according to him is direct use of what has been learned, while thinking is an indirect use.

(iii) Spearman says, ‘cognitive events by occurring establish dispositions which facilitate their recurrence.’

(iv) Shout defines memory as the ideal revival, so far as ideal real revival is mere reproductive in which the subject of past experience are reinstated as far as possible in the order and manner of their original occurrence.”

(v) Most of the American psychologists avoid the use of the word memory. Davis’ talks of acquisition and retention as two major factors of learning.

Sawrey and Telford mention ‘hold-over effects of experience,’ for which we use the term memory. According to them learning refers to modifications resulting from experience, and memory has reference to the persistence of these modifications.

So they use the word ‘permanence of learning’ in place of memory, as has been used by Ralph W.Tyler. For Klausmeier, what we call memory, is a number of distinct learning activities such as retention, recognition and recall.

Whatever be the explanation of psychologists, there is no need to give any formal definition of memory. We all know what memory is. To us memory consists of the recollection of previous experiences. It has a number of factors- learning, retention, recognition and recall.

Factors or Process of Memory:

The Four factors of memory are:

(a) Learning,

(b) Retention,

(c) Recall, and 

(d) Recognition.

Learning is the first activity. It is the acquisition of new experience, formation of an engram disposition in the mind or modifications of the mental structure.

Retention is the persistence of the disposition or engram, the sustenance of the new experience, and its continuance for a sufficient period of time. We meet a new person and talk to him. We have a new experience, and this we have learned. We retain the experience for some time.

Recognition is the awareness of the experience that has been retained or stored up in the mind. It consists in knowing an object that has been experienced, in being acquainted with an object now because we previously become acquainted with it. We meet the person again, and we recognise to be the same person who met us before.

Often, we find ourselves in a perplexing position when we meet an old acquaintance but are not able to recall his name. We recognise having met him before. For a moment, we feel our memory is weak. After sometimes, like a flash of idea, we are able to recall the name and identity of the person. In such case, there was nothing wrong with our memory. Our recall was hampered somehow.

Recognition is easier than recall. More can be recognised than can be recognised. If you give 30 non-sense syllables for remembering, and test recall after 20 minutes, the pupils may be able to recall 15. But if you present these with 20 more, and ask them to recognise these syllables which were in the original list, the pupil will be able to recognise more.

We will discuss all these four factors separately:

A. Learning:

Here we discuss only some of the methods of learning which have got direct bearing on retention and memory. A number of experiments have been made on the method of learning new facts.

1. Experiments on Memory Span:

The objective of the experiment is to find memory span, or how long a list the subject can reproduce perfectly after one presentation. Lists of numbers of increasing length can be presented such as 216, 3495, 37576, 57798, 697973, 3577895, 57321470, 357105432, 5697054569, 2105975431.

A primary school boy may try to remember number of 4 digits, the high school boy 6 digits. The number of digits that can be remembered may go upto 7 for a college student. We can find out the immediate memory span for digits, and similarly for non-sense syllables.

In case the number has a large number of digits, the subject cannot remember by repeating the digits as they are. He may divide a number like below into clusters or groups— 169723490567623487. He can find associations between some numbers and thus remembers part by part.

In memorising long non-sense syllable lists, the subject may again find groups, find their rhythm and recite by himself.

The memorising of connected passages of prose or verse is assisted by word-sequences and by the meaning as a whole.

The memorising of connected passages of prose or verse is assisted by word-sequences and by the meaning as a whole.

Again, if 20 pairs of words are presented, the subject will take up each pair, strengthen the association and remember each pair. If the objective is to remember the left hand column in order, and also the right hand column, the subject will pay attention to that aspect and memorise differently.

2. Recitation and Memorising:

We all remember how we were made to recite multiplication tables, and sometimes paradigms in grammar. Some teachers even asked the pupils to recite definitions of geographical terms. The question is whether recitation helps memorising. Psychologists who have conducted experiments are in favour of recitation.

Repeated recitation strengthens the previous engrams. After a number of recitations a list of non-sense syllables, a poem or a prose passage can be remembered and recalled.

3. Spaced and Unspaced Learning:

Experiments have been conducted on the two methods of learning. One is continuous learning, without any break. The other is learning with short breaks or spans. The question is, ‘is it more profitable to read through a poem once on each of the ten consecutive days than to read it ten times on one day?’

So we come to the question of distinguishing between learning with intervals (i.e., spaced learning) and un-spaced learning. As Davis says, experiments indicate that periods of intensive study of moderate duration followed by bilateral periods of rest are most conducive to efficiency.

For instance, in memorising poetry, on trial per day is better than continuous effort. Similarly in learning the skill of type-writing, the distributed practice for an hour daily will give superior results to massed practice.

Concentrated effort for short duration until one feels bored is all right, but it should not be for a longer period, because the earlier material learnt will not get time for organisation, assimilation or consolidation in the brain. In words of Davis “distributed effort, affords opportunity for organising and assimilating material and therefore assures more through learning.”

The distributed effort of memorising does not imply frequent efforts of very short duration. A long period of consecutive study has the advantage of warming up the student during the early period, and leading him to the maximum interest and absorption in the study at hand. Hence the duration of study at one sitting may be as long as to guarantee concentration and interest.

A number of sitting for memorising a long material would be better than one continuous sitting. Repetition of the same material fixes it better in memory when an interval elapses between the repetitions, and opportunity is given for consolidation. The principle of consolidation is very important in memory. It has been beautifully expressed in the form of proverb, “We skate in summer and swim in winter.”

4. Whole-method Vs. Part method:

Is whole method better or the part method?

The results of experiments are as follows:

(i) The more meaningful the material, the more reality it tends to the whole method. So whole method is superior for prose, poetry or history, rather than non-sense syllables. The reason is that as material become more meaningful, the opportunities for organisation become greater.

(ii) It is economical regarding most school subjects to study first large units of material which have full meaning, and secondly those parts which causes difficulty.

(iii) There is a limit beyond which whole method would not be suitable especially with regard to young children. Young children feel discouraged to take up a long poem or a long lesson. It will be advantageous for them to take each verse, remember it, feel confident about its memorisation, go to the next verse, and then complete the whole. Winch corroborates this point after experimentation that with children ‘part’ method is superior to the ‘whole’. But this does not mean that children should not be trained to learn as large units as possible without discouraging results. The whole method can still be tried with poems upto 240 lines in length.

(iv) Even for adults, the whole method has one disadvantage. The material may have parts of varying difficulty. In whole method, the adult learner needlessly spends as such time for easy portions as for difficult portions.

(v) A better and safe proposition would be to make the best of both, and have a mixed method. Mixed method combines the advantages of both. In that case the entire material may be divided into convenient units, as large as possible.

The learner will learn the first, then the second, and then both the first and the second, in the following order:

A, B, A + B, C, A + B + C, D, A + B + C + D and so on, wherein A, B, C, D are units.

(vi) In case any of the units is more difficult than the rest, that may be tackled first by the part method. Ross recommends another mixed method viz., to begin at the beginning and proceed until the first difficulty is reached, stopping there until the difficulty is mastered, then to begin again at the beginning and proceed until the second difficulty is met and overcome, and so on until the end is reached.

5. Factors that affect memorisation and learning:

1. The factor of interest and confidence affects the memorisation of the learner, especially of children who may soon feel bored and discouraged losing hope of releasing the material.

2. The factor of recency is also responsible for better learning. An act remembered successfully just now can be respected successfully immediately.

3. The factor of meaning, outlining and broad relationship influences organised learning. Non-sense syllabus lacking this factor cannot be remembered so easily. When you attach meaning of associations with a particular fact it is learned better. That way whole method is better than part method.

4. The factor of growth through activity. As the body needs some rest during which the muscles get refreshed, so does the brain need some breathing time for consolidation of what has been learned. That way spaced learning gives better results.

B. Retention:

Retention and Learning:

Learning or acquisition involves the combined efforts of some amount of remembering and forgetting. Retention is association with future recall or application.

1. How to experiment upon Retention:

Experiment on retention involves:

(a) Measurement of initial acquisition.

(b) Allowance of some time to lapse.

(c) Re-measurement to determine the amount retained.

The measurement of acquisition takes place in three ways:

(i) Asking the learner to recall what he has learnt.

(ii) Asking him to recognise the statements taken from the material learnt.

(iii) Finding how much he can save by relearning the material.

Suppose a set of 50 non-syllables is given for remembering. The learner masters these after making a number of repetitions. The initial acquisition, may be 29 (when tested after 20 minutes. After one hour, we test again, and find 22 syllables recalled or recognised.

After nine hours we find 18 words, after one day 17, after 2 days 14, after six days 12, and after one month 10. This can be graphically illustrated below.

The conclusions after experiments are:

(i) Rapid forgetting takes place immediately after formal instruction and study cease.

(ii) Forgetting varies with the type of learning. It increases with time in the case of ability to recall, but not so in the case of application of general principles. Forgetting it less with regard to recognition, because recognition is easier than recall.

(iii) The amount retained is usually conditioned by many factors, which are discussed below.

(iv) We might fail to recognise a series of non-sense syllables that we have once learned, but if we try to relearn the same fewer repetitions are needed, which means that the first learning did affect subsequent learning and some engrams of the material were present as an effect of the learning. Something is definitely retained, no matter if that is not recalled.

The amount of retention can easily be found by finding the saving when the subject-matter is learned a second time. Let us take a concrete example. It took a pupil 25 trials to memorise 15 non-sense syllables. After an interval of 1 hour, it took him only 5 trials to relearn the same. Was there are any saving? There was evidently a saving of 20 trials, which means a lot was retained. This saving can be measured quantitatively by the formula.

S% = It – IIt/It x 100

Wherein S % means saving percent. It means trials on the first occasion, and lit means trials on the second occasion for successful mastery the subject-matter. In the above example S% = 25-5/25 x 100 or Thus, 80% was retrained on the first occasion.

2. Factors affecting retention:

1. Objectives stressed in teaching:

Much depends upon what objectives have been stressed at the time of study. It is the study for recognition, rote memory, recall, application or mastery, of the subject-matter. Pupils study mostly for ‘vomiting out’ in the examination hall. They do not retain most of what they prepared for the examination. Experiments have been made on the point as to how much do the pupils retain long after the annual examination.

Basset found that after a year’s interval only 25% of history was retained. Layton found 33% of Algebra retained over one year during which no Algebra was taught. Retention is, however, more regarding application or higher abilities. Tyler found that loss of retention in the case of factual information was 39%, in the case of explanations, 8%, and in the case of generalisation only 6%. Thus Davis concludes.

“In general, however, the results of both studies point of the conclusion that higher abilities, if cultivated during the period of instruction, persists, ever long periods with slight loss”.

2. Kind of Material:

Retention varies with the kind of material:

(i) Non-sense syllables are retained the least. These are forgotten immediately.

(ii) Material in the form of prose and poetry is retained over longer periods.

(iii) Meaningful material is retained longer because it affords opportunity for organisation and development of relationship.

(iv) Motor skills are retained over longer periods than abstract subjects like science, mathematics or geography.

3. Thoroughness of Learning:

Much depends upon the initial learning has been thorough or superficial. Over learning or learning with mastery guarantees better retention. Many repetitions of superficial learning are useless. Hence if a subject is to be retained, it must be studied intensively so that it includes not only memorisation of factual information but also generalisation, application and practical discussion.

4. Amount and character of activity following initial learning:

Investigations show that loss of retention is due not to decay of old impressions but to interference with and inhibition of old by the new. That is why forgetting is more rapid during the day than during sleep.

During the day, many more types of engrams overcrowded the brain, sending the old engram down to the bottom of the unconscious. During sleep, there is no such interference, and there is time for consolidation, after which the old master is recalled again, which means reminiscence has taken place.

Similarly, the material learned before summer vacation, when the mind is not bothered by studies, is easily recalled. But herein some variations have been reported. Arithmetic and spelling are less retained after summer vacation, and in their case obliviscence takes place.

The general principal is that we must relax for a few minutes after intense study and let the learned material ‘soak in’. That way there will be no interference or inhibition. Inhibition means checking of one activity by another. If the study preceding, or proceeding interferes with the study in question, there is, what is called, retroactive inhibition.

The engram traces do not allow those to settle smoothly, and those again are checked by the engrams . The traces left behind by the first activity inhibit the second, and the traces left behind by the second are checked by the traces of the third. It has been found experimentally that retroactive inhibition lowers the retention by over 50.

5. Interest:

Retention also depends upon interest, ‘Our powers of remembering objects, sounds, words, abstract terms, ideas, numbers, and emotions are different from the another and develop at different ages. This is due to the interest factor, when varies in the same individual from time to time and object to object.

3. Methods of Improving Retention of avoiding Forgetfulness:

1. Emphasis must be laid on meanings, association and relationship while studying a subject.

2. Organisation of subject-matter into relatively large, significant units, in which various subordinate points are related to the whole, causes permanency to the material studied.

3. Frequent reviews immediately after initial learning helps retention and checks obliviscence.

4. Over-learning and thorough study helps retention.

5. Rest after intensive works allows consolidation. It will be better to go through the lesson once in the evening and once more next morning, so combining the advantages of whole learning, spaced learning, sleep after learning and early morning freshness.

6. Study with interest and enthusiasm. As says Ross, ‘interest and volition are tremendously important in the economy of memory, the events we readily remember are those which have touched our emotions, our sentiments, or our self-sentiment.’

4. Causes of Forgetting:

1. Lapse of Time:

Material learnt is forgotten gradually when sufficient time elapses.

Ebbinghaus conducted experiments in 1885, on the rate of forgetfulness related to time. He gave lists of non-sense syllables to pupils to memorise, and tested them after some intervals. He found that after 20 minutes 58% was remembered, after one hour, 44% after nine hours, 36% after one day, 34%,; after 2 days, 28%; after 6 days, 25%; and after 30 days, 21%

Woodworth explain the same phenomenon in a phrase ‘atrophy through disuse.’ He says just as muscle which does not remain active for a long period loses its strength and atrophies from disuse, so the brain dispositions also being inactive for a long period waste away and are forgotten. So some psychologists suggest that deterioration or decay of the connections in the brain take place when these remain inactive for a long period.

It may be noted that this type of forgetting takes place when a sufficiently long period elapses, during which no effort is made to recall the subject-matter wholly or partially. In case, small periods intervene, that helps consolidation rather than causes obliviscence.

Sometime reminiscence and obliviscence alternate, as was discovered by Dr. Ballard in a study of memorisation of a poem. He found that after learning, but after that forgetfulness set in. He thus explains both obliviscence and reminiscence.

In his words:

‘As obliviscence is a gradual process of deterioration in the capacity to revive past experience, so is reminiscence a gradual process of improvement in that capacity.’

Dr. Ballard’s conclusions are:

(a) The amount of improvement in retention shown depends on interest,

(b) The degree of improvement varies with the age of the subject, being greater with young children and negligible with adults,

(c) Obliviscence and reminiscence occur together,

(d) The interval for maximum reminiscence is about two days.

One phenomenon that does not accord with the above findings is what is called hypermnesia. It is often found that old men and persons in abnormal mental conditions recall facts of the earliest childhood very vividly, which would not have come to consciousness otherwise.

Such heightened recall under old age, hypnosis, intoxication and abnormal conditions is merely exception to the rule. But it signifies that the experiences of even the earliest childhood are not lost, but temporarily forgotten.

2. Lack of Interest:

We usually forget those facts, events or experiences in which we were hardly interested. Even in recent experiences, we forget all that does not matter to us. We see a great building. We retain the afterimage of huge structure, and some features that struck us. We were not interested in counting its pillars and we have no idea about the number of pillars we saw.

We see an exhibition, but we retain only those new experiences, which interest us. In our daily studies, we remember the topics or events that seem interesting we forget most of all that is dull and interesting. In course of time, we seem to lost interest in some events of past, and we retain only faint image about those. We don’t remember the names of those new acquaintances in whom we are not interested.

Freud says we try to actively forget unpleasant experiences. All this has educational implications for the teacher. No lesson can be retained by the pupils unless it interests the pupils. A dull lesson will be soon forgotten.

3. Interference:

Interference of present learning with what has been previously learned also leads to forgetting.

Woodworth give one explanation for interference. He says, the brain acts in wide-spreading patterns, rather than in small, separate bits. The patterns used in different acts may overlap and coincide in part, and hence inhibition may take place. Retroactive inhibition is very much responsible for forgetting and it lowers the retention by over 50%.

A type of interference is retroactive shock effect. Falling from above, meeting an injury in the skull, or receiving a psychological shock may be responsible for temporary loss of memory. Such amnesia may happen even during high fever, intoxication or abnormal condition.

Another type of interference is perseveration. Perseverance is the psychological term for the tendency of dispositions to revive the experiences that produced them, spontaneously and without effort on the part of the subject. A musical tune from the recent movie picture seen, might bob into our head at every odd moment, and it might persist even when we are doing some serious task.

In the morning we were eye-witness to a road accident. The scene persists and flashes before our eyes every now and then for the whole day. Wordsworth saw the daffodils, and they flashed before his mind’s eye (or upon his inward eye).

A person had scuffle with his boss. The insulting words which he had to hear from the mouth of his boss din into his ears every now and then. Somebody borrowed money but did not return. The idea persists and interference with our work at odd hours.

A harsh note from the teacher in the first period will perseverate and disturb the studies of the pupil for the whole day. His failure to speak on the stage, and the subsequent ridiculing from the audience perseverates for a long time. Again interrupted or half-finished activities also perseverate.

The boy was about to hit the ball inside the goal when the bell rang, and the game stopped. His unfinished desire due to interruption persevered and hinders his subsequent learning activities.

4. Lack of Reorganisation:

Some material or skill is not acquired well and is not used for some time. Facts and skills not assimilated properly, not organised and associated mutually continue for some in an isolated manner and then die out.

5. Motivated Forgetting:

Motivated forgetting takes place when we ourselves try to forget certain things.

(i) We decide what we will try to remember and what is not worth remembering. The reader may select the headings and sub-headings for purpose of remembering, and deliberately decide to forget the statistical details regarding experiments cited.

(ii) Most human beings try to forget unpleasant experiences. There are frequent cases in the life of every one relating to what is called ‘morbid forgetfulness’. We usually try to repress dispositions which, if allowed to determine a memory, would bring a conflict to the level of awareness. This is called ‘active forgetting’.

We try to repress all those memories, which are associated with our painful experiences (such as experiences that hurt our pride and self-respect). But do we actually forget these? Freudian psychology, with its method of psychoanalysis, explains how these experiences are not forgotten at all, but are only violently repressed and thrust into unconscious.

In high fever, intoxication, abnormal condition of the brain and in hypnotic state, these experiences emerge vividly and effectively. Hence ‘active forgetting’ is no forgetting at all. It is only a temporary affair, and is in no case recommended by psychologists. The best rule is to face the facts, make some compromise and reach satisfactory adjustment.

(iii) A healthy type of motivated forgetfulness is explained by Indian psychologists, especially the Yoga-philosophy. A gradual, slow and peaceful withdrawal from the affairs of the day or of the world brings immense comfort and peace to the mind. A brief withdrawal, with a loose mind (mind without tension and stretched loose just as we stretch our body on sandy beach) resolves mental conflicts and set the mind at peace.

A further step of contemplation and meditation is recommended to cleanse the subconscious mind. The mind drives into the subconscious and gradually the unpleasant memories weaken and fade away. Details about this step are given in any book on Yoga philosophy.

When we fail to comfort our pupils whose minds are torn, as under due to unpleasant, experience, slips regarding short meditation may help them revive mental strength, and interest in their studies.

6. Organic Factors:

It was suggested by some that organic changes in the body, brain cells and the nervous system can affect the learning and retention power, as these affect the motor ability and physical strength. A patient on bed, with a chronic illness, may not be able to recall all facts clearly and vividly. Some patients do lose their power of recall and retention. But such cases are few and far between. Usually factors other than organic changes are largely responsible for forgetting.

C. Recall:

1. Meaning:

As explained above, recall is the revival of past experiences or engrams. It is the final stage of the act of Memory. It primarily depends upon learning, for nothing can be recalled unless it is learned. It depends upon retention, as what is not retained cannot be recalled. It depends upon recognition, as recognition is the simpler form of revival of experience. Recognition is passive but Recall is active.

2. Kinds of Recall:

Recall is of two types:

(a) Spontaneous, and

(b) Deliberate.

We do experience revival of some past experiences or ideas in situations not connected with those. The recall is spontaneous, without any effort on our part. We are having our dinner and a good number of thoughts come to us. But often we make deliberate effort to recall certain experiences or learned items, as in the examination hall.

Recall is again:

(a) Full or

(b) Partial.

Partial recall is the distorted form of recall, when something is remembered accurately, but some element is wanting.

Experiments have been conducted on partial recall. Pupils were given long list of names, and were asked to reproduce. They reproduced but gave partially correct form of these names.

In the school situation we often come across partial recall on the part of the pupils. The spellings given are partially correct (Mathamatics for Mathematics), the geographical name is presented inaccurately (South Arabia for Saudi Arabia), the historical date is presented wrongly (454 B.C. for 544 B.C. as date of birth of Gautama), etc. The teacher should not take it a carelessness or failure to learn. A little encouragement will enable the pupil to recall completely.

3. Factors Governing Recall:

Recall is dependent upon a number of factors viz.:

(i) Association of Ideas,

(ii) Interest,

(iii) Frequency,

(iv) Recency, and

(v) Vividness.

(ii) Association of ideas:

It is a common observation that one idea gives rise to another in our mind. When I happen to visit the institution I studied in, it reminds me of all those good old days when I was a student therein, when we pass through Tin Murti, New Delhi, it reminds us of Nehru. A Cross minds Christians of crucification of Christ. The present perception or the present idea gives rise to a number of old ideas, associated with it.

When two ideas are associated with each other, one idea gives rise to the other. A and B are associated with each other. By remembering A, B is automatically recalled. Recollection thus depends upon association of ideas. But how does this association take place?

It is governed by three laws viz.:

(a) Law of similarity,

(b) Law of contrast, and

(c) Law of contiguity.

(a) Law of Similarity:

Law of Similarity explains that out of two objects which are similar and resemble with each other. If one object’s is remembered, the other object is recalled automatically.

We recall orange on seeing malta, an umbrella on seeing rain-coat, Usha sewing machine on seeing Singer sewing machine, Mogul Gardens of Srinagar on seeing Panjore Gardens (near Kalka and Chandigarh), Newton’s first law of motion, on reading second law of motion, Shahjahan on seeing Taj Mahal, the elder brother on seeing the younger brother etc. Galib, an Urdu poet of 19th century says ‘A desolate place reminds me of my own home.

(b) Law of Contrast:

Here out of two objects which bear contrast or dissimilarity to each other, if one is seen, the other is recalled. Beauty reminds of ugliness; hell of heaven; hot climate of cold climate, night of day; poverty of wealth etc.

(c) Law of Contiguity:

Two objects or experiences may be neither similar nor dissimilar, but have some direct connection or contiguity. These may have occurred simultaneously or in succession. These may adjacent in time, space or mode.

The lunch-break reminds me of the canteen, because I go to the canteen usually during the lunch break. Ill health reminds us of medicine, because we generally take medicine in ill health. A cane reminds me of the headmaster who used to hold a cane in his hand. This is on account of the relationship between the two objects.

The Law of Association has got great educational implications. In order to strengthen the retention and recall of the pupils, the subject-matter must be presented in a manner to entail this law in operation.

(i) When spellings are taught, words with similar or dissimilar spellings must be taught, e.g., receive — believe, dare — dear, night — knight etc.

(ii) When word meanings are taught, synonyms and autonyms must be presented e.g., loyal, obedient, disloyal, disobedient.

(iii) When grammar is taught, grammatical forms of similar or dissimilar nature must be taught together, e.g., use of among and between.

(iv) When history is taught, event of similar nature may be associated e.g., Akbar with Asoka, Akbar with Queen Elizabeth (both were contemporary).

(v) The principal of correlation should be applied to all the subjects.

(d) Interest:

We easily recall the items that interest us most. Interest may be intrinsic or extrinsic. In intrinsic interest, the persons is not guided by any special motive, but has a deep rooted longing or attachment with the object or thing. A boy is too much interested in sports. His love for sports is intrinsic, he will recall faithfully he listens to in the cricket commentary. A shopkeeper has extrinsic interest in the commodities he sells, he will recall readily and accurately the price of each commodity.

(e) Frequency:

The idea that comes to our mind repeatedly or with great- frequency, is recalled very easily. The prayer in the morning assembly is repeated every day, and it is very easily to be recalled any time.

(f) Recency:

It means that ‘one idea tends to recall another with which it has been most recently associated.’ My admissions in the next higher class higher class reminds me of the examination results.

(g) Vividness:

The recollection of an impression also depends upon the vividness with which it was experienced. The recent Pakistani aggression has a vivid impression on our mind. We had blackout for about a fortnight, and numerous incidents took place. We can still recall all those incidents because we have a vivid impression of those.

The educational implications of the above factors are significant. Before we expect accurate and perfect recall of facts from the pupils, we must make ensure that they possess intrinsic or extrinsic in studying those things.

We must also create occasions when the subject-matter is revised frequently, so that frequency of touch helps recall. We must also see that the subject-matter is presented in a form that it has a vivid impression upon the minds of the pupils. Concrete experiences are therefore more helpful for accurate recall than abstract imagination.

4. Defective Recall:

Recall may be defective in the sense that it is partial or inaccurate. Tests have been devised to measure this phenomenon. For instance, some pictures are presented, and then a number of reproduction of each picture are presented subsequently, asking the subject to identify amongst the different similar reproductions, the exact picture presented.

The reproduction is similar, and therefore the subject can commit a mistake. An isosceles triangle is presented. The reproductions may be an equilateral triangle, a scalene triangle, a right angled and an isosceles triangle. Selection of a wrong triangle means partial or inaccurate recall.

A type of abnormal recall is called synthesia. It means hearing coloured sounds, recalling time with an odour, sensing sound from a picture etc. Some children perceive numbers having colours or direction. Coloured hearing is a have common synthesia.

The worst type of recall is hallucinations. Here the person sees an image just like in actual sensation but the image does not exist in the objective world. “A hallucination is memory image taken for sensation; it is something recalled or built up out of past experience and taken for a present objective fact.”

D. Recognition:

1. Meaning:

The meaning of recognition has already been given above. It is the awareness of a previous experience. It is not a behaviour but an experience, the experience expressed in the words. ‘I remember it,’ ‘I know the man’, ‘I have seen it before.’ It is related to familiarity.

Sometimes we have a feeling of familiarity, but we are not able to recognise fully. Opposite to this, we may have a feeling of strangeness even in familiar situations. Recognition is complete familiarity without any mistake or doubt.

The experience of recognition has been observed in animals. Our pet dog recognises us fully. In the fable of lion and slave, the lion recognised the slave. It is found even in infants. An infant recognises its mother and smiles at her sight.

As explained above, recognition is simpler than recall. In recognition only the acquaintance with the learnt material is to be affirmed but in recall the whole material has to be got back. Complete recognition entails some amount of recall also. In order to recognise a person fully, we have to affirm familiarity and also to recall his name and the place of last meeting etc.

2. Types of Recognition:

Recognition is simple or perfect. Perfect recognition includes some amount of recall also, but simple recognition does not.

Most of the situations of recognition are direct. When we see a rose and recognise it is a rose, it is direct recognition. But sometimes we feel the odour of roses and it is associated with a part experience when we were in a rose garden. It is indirect recognition. However, this type is less common. Non- recognition is an emphatic act declaring non-familiarity with a thing. It is not absence of recognition, for that can be due to a mistake also.

There are cases of wrong recognition also in the court, when innocent persons are wrongly identified as culprits. There can be doubtful recognition also in certain cases, when the subject is not able to make a clear declaration. Indian philosophers have presented a huge discussion on the subject of doubtful recognition. As many as six different explanation called have been given regarding error in recognition or perception.

3. Educational Implications:

(i) The power of recognition is very important for the teacher himself. He should remember the names of the pupils and recognise each one of them and call them by name.

(ii) Failure to recognise should not be considered as failure in memory. Sometimes recognition is not spontaneous but delayed. The pupil may not be able to recognise quickly the geometrical figure, the geographical name, the picture of a historical figure, presented to him. But, if he has learned before, recognition with some effort of recall.

(iii) The fact that recognition is stronger and easier then recall has bearing on the study of passive and active vocabulary. The pupil can retain larger amount of passive vocabulary, which he has simply to recognise and understand while reading. But his active vocabulary which he can recall and then use in written composition will be far less.

(iv) In the matter of testing, test-items on recognition are easier than those of recall. Hence these items where it is essential to apply the knowledge, recall test-items must be presented- Recognition test items may be used carefully and limitedly for only those items of knowledge where mere understanding and familiarity is needed.

Kinds of Memory:

Memory can be classified into a number of types; such as:

(a) Habit memory versus True memory or Rote memory versus Logical memory.

(b) Immediate memory versus Permanent memory

(c) Personal memory versus Impersonal memory

(d) Passive memory versus active memory

(e) Visual memory, auditory memory, tactual memory, olfactory memory and gustive memory, on the basis of the relation with sense organs.

(a) Habit Memory and True Memory:

Habit memory depends upon mere motor mechanisms, whole as true memory consists in independent recollections. We remember the multiplication tables because of habit memory, as we have learned these by rote, and these have become nothing more than verbal habit.

Sanskrit Pandits have committed to the entire Sanskrit grammar in the form of aphorisms sutras and also dictionary Amarakosa . All this is on the tip of their tongue. They roll it off their tongues, without in the least recalling any circumstances or ideas relating to it.

On the other hand true memory involves images or mental pictures of past events. We have read Newton’s three laws of motion, understood and assimilated. We can recall these not as a matter of habit, but as experiences that are past and parcel of our mental structure. This is true memory.

Bergson makes the distinction clear by saying that habit is a function of the body, while memory is a function of the mind. Habit memory is related to motor mechanisms and true memory to independent recollections.

Percy Nunn draws a corrective to Bergson’s views when he says the distinction is not of body and mind, not of kind but of degree. Remembering without association of ideas, understanding and application is habit memory, but it is not totally imageless. Some amount of understanding is there even in habit memory.

Educational Implications:

Habit memory is very common in school pupils. It is introduced in schools even deliberately in the form of mechanical repetition of multiplication tables, spelling lists, dentitions etc. Herein the teacher takes the initiative. But the pupil himself takes recourse to mechanical memorization while preparing for the examination.

But why do the teachers and pupils take recourse to habit memory?

Some items in the curriculum, like mathematical tables, do require rote memorisation. But the teachers go too far when they ask the pupils remember historical events, words, spelling lists and other topics also mechanically. Thus emphasis is laid on mechanical repetition, to the utmost exclusion of understanding and application.

All such knowledge, even though gathered, is a waste. This type of study does help the pupils immediately. Mechanical memory helps immediate recall and its retention is long. But it does not help the development of mind, it does not help transfer from one subject to another, nor does it prove useful in life-situations.

The knowledge gained through parrot­-like memorisation and cramming is devoid of application, and thus no knowledge at all. The memoriser is like a donkey, carrying a load, but not knowing its worth. Cramming, without understanding should thus be discouraged. But there is no harm in cramming after full understanding, with the objective of longer retention.

(b) Immediate Memory and Permanent Memory:

Pupils often study intensively just before the examination and they are able to recall most of what they have learnt. This is a case of immediate memory. But they hardly remember more than 25% six months after the examination. Whatever they have learned has no permanent value, and is not retained for long. Permanent memory is the best form of memory.

(c) Personal and Impersonal Memory:

Memory of experiences that we have gathered ourselves is personal. But all these experiences which are without any reference to our own self are impersonal. Most of the ideas we gather from others or from the printed page, and that way our memory images are mostly impersonal. But personal memory being strong are vivid is more permanent and dependable.

(d) Passive and Active Memory:

Active memory is related to as deliberate attempt on our part to remember, retain and recall certain experiences, just like a student making deliberate effort while preparing for the examination. But a host of experiences we entertain passively, as these come to as our consciousness without any effort on our part. This constitutes passive memory.

(e) Visual Memory etc.:

On the basis of the sense perception we have five types of memory images. Herein, it may be remembered that most of our images are visual and auditory. But some have a stronger visual memory.

Some pupils, after reading a book, can recall the exact page, the underlining and the illustration, relying upon the vivid visual impressions. Some pupils can recall exactly when they have listened to. A teacher should find out such strong points in the pupils and help them to make out the best of these.

Characteristics (Marks) of Good Memory:

The following marks characterise a good memory:

1. Good Learning:

Learned well is remembered well. Half-learned or half- assimilated facts cannot be retained or recalled properly, like the un-chewed food which is neither digested nor assimilated. Through learning, over learning and learning with interest is a factor of good memory, as also its visible mark.

2. Good Retention:

Good memory also means that the experiences remembered have a permanent image or disposition. What is retained longer is remembered better and vice-versa. Immediate memory, therefore, is not reliable, because it may not be retained without refreshing the same.

3. Good Recognition:

Poor recognition hinders recall and memory. Hence the pupil must possess ability to recognise quickly and accurately.

4. Rapid Recall:

Quick and accurate recall means sharp memory. Recall is the culmination of the act of remembering. Some pupils retain the matter, recognise the same but fail to recall at the speaker who has to speak at the declamation contest, may have prepared his speech well, but fails to recollect the whole speech.

His memory fails due to poor recall. Recall depends upon a number of factors discussed above. The teacher is advised to pay attention to those factors, so that the pupils can exercise good memory.

5. Forgetting un-relevant things:

If the individual forgets useless and un-relevant things and remember only useful relevant things, indicates his good ability to memorize.

Favourable Conditions for Memorising:

The same apply to memorising. Motivation is the first condition. Motivation produces the right attitude and spirit. It leads to high degree of interest in the subject-matter. We have already stated above that forgetfulness depends upon lack of interest is necessary to avoid obliviscence.

The various laws that govern retention, recall and recognition must be attended to. The law of association should mark the process of memorisation. Repetition and frequent revision helps memory. Hence opportunities must be provided for frequent application of the knowledge.

All these are mental conditions for good memorisation. But sound physical conditions play no less an important role. Fatigue, extreme weather, noise, distraction, overcrowding, lack of vensilation and unhealthy physical surrounding hamper learning and memory. Concentration and intensive study is possible only in calm, quiet and cosy environment.