Memory (psychology)

Memory is the mental reliving of previous experiences and experiences .

Memories of episodes (i.e. experiences) come from autobiographical memory and are different from knowledge of episodes (i.e. events).

properties

Memories are mostly multimedia: They contain pictorial elements, scenes that run like a film, noises and timbres, often also smells and above all feelings.

Memories come from sequential long-term memory , episodic memory . They are contained there in compressed form and must be prepared for activation. Depending on the type of memory, this is possible with an almost photographic sharpness, or one can only remember vaguely.

Events that one has experienced frequently and similarly merge over time into a mental scheme and can then often no longer be called up as individual memories ( assimilation (learning psychology) ).

Active reminder

This can be done actively with the help of memory by trying to remember an incident, for example when checking your own memory contents ("How was that back then? Do you remember?") Or when giving testimony.

Spontaneous memory

The mental revival of past events and experiences can also be done spontaneously by a feeling, a thought or a perception by association at an earlier experience recalls .

See also : Autobiographical Memory # Self-memory System by Conway and Pleydell-Pearce

Disturbed memory

• Memories made under the influence of hypnosis or drugs are not reliable (David G. Myers 2008).
• Memories from the first three years of life are not reliable.
• Memories can stir emotionally without this confirming their correspondence with actual experiences (see: anger ).

philosophy

In his Philosophy of Time (→ History section  ), the Doctor of the Church, Augustine of Hippo , contrasted memory as a psychological aspect of the past with its physical aspect ( time measurement ). The contrast between past and future creates a contrast to expectation (the psychological aspect of the future).

See also

• Life Review Therapy

literature

• David G. Myers: Psychology . Springer, 2008, ISBN 978-3-540-79032-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Meyers Lexicon online - offline since March 2009
2. ^ Georg Goldenberg: Neuropsychology: Basics, Clinic, Rehabilitation . Elsevier, Urban & FischerVerlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-437-21173-7 .
3. ^ Working Party at the request of The Professional Affairs Board: The Nature of Hypnosis . The British Psychological Society, 2001, ISBN 1-85433-355-0 .
4. ↑ Gore-Felton C, Arnow B, Koopman C, Thoresen C, Spiegel D "Psychologists' beliefs about the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse: the influence of sexual abuse history, gender, and theoretical orientation." Child Abuse Negl. 1999; 23: 8: 803-11.