For today’s class, you read the “Memory” chapter from John Medina’s Brain Rules. During the first ten minutes of class, write a summary of the chapter and discuss your own memory (e.g., What is your earliest memory? What is your happiest memory? What things do you remember the easiest? What things are more challenging for you to remember?). Type and post your in-class writing as a comment to this blog post before class on Monday.
16 thoughts on “Beginning of Class Writing: John Medina’s Brain Rules, “Memory””
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Medina talks about memory and how we should see it as. Its not as simple as saying that our brains play back what they recorded, it is much more complex than that. For example, a lady that had a stroke was able to write down a sentence, but she was missing all the vowels that belonged, yet made space for them when she wrote them down. This indicates that vowels are stored in a different area than consonants, and even though her vowel area was damaged, the ability to know where to use them was intact, evidenced by the spacing left for them. If our brain was made to record and play, this wouldnât occur. Either everything would be intact, or everything would be corrupt/missing. Moving along, one of my earliest memories was when I was about 3 or 4, when I had a Gameboy color, and I was in bed playing with it, and it was a looney tunes game. It was a yellow Gameboy. I honestly do not have a happy memory, per se. There are so many to choose from, that probably donât justify the joy I felt in the moment. Things that are easy for me to remember are things that are fun, or moments that happen when I chill with my bros. Things I canât remember easily are things I learn in math, for example, formulas. I would need to practice them in class in order to remember the actual formula. This is where studying helps a lot, since the repetition from class and my study session really engraves that info in my mind.
Memory is the main way someone store knowledge. Without memory one cannot live. Memory helps remember what you learn, how to do certain skills, and dangers to avoid. In John Medina Brian Rules memory chapter, John Medina explained important memory can be both for long term and short term. A person by the name of Kim Peek was mentally disable, but still had the ability to recall memory from all the books he read, and things he had do. He could have remembered everything; some could call him the living google. If everybody had this special ability, I believe there would be advancements in music, technology, etc. Unfortunately not everyone can be like Kim Peek. John Medina made a key note that all students including myself would agree with is that, âPeople usually forget 90 percent of what they learn in class within 30 days.â âAnd the majority of this forgetting occurs within the first few hours of class.â I can say this is absolutely true when it came to me and Global class in the 11th grade. No matter how much I tried I tried I couldnât remember what was the first 10 presidents. The main way a person store memory is by encoding, but not like the encoding of the computer. If it was so we would have been able to recall very information that was stored in the brain. The way encoding works in the brain, John Medina Brain Rules stated was by using the same neural pathway the brain uses to receive new information, and to store information, so that new information and memory are connected as one. This is important as we grow. I believe that as I get older and obtain new information, my old memories are losing. The easiest thing I can remember are things I see, or do every day. For example knowing the route from home to class and knowing my class schedule. These memories are implanted in me because of the repetition I do on a daily basis. Emotion also helps me have my earliest memory. During age 5 I was digging in my grandparentsâ garden, and then my grandfather got mad, so he started to yell at me. When he yelled at me I cried hard. It was because of that crying, and emotion stimuli Iâm able to recall that memory at any given time. By using John Medina Brain Rules to understand memory people are more likely to recall and hold information better.
In the memory chapter, John Medina talks about how the brains memory system works. In the beginning of the chapter he starts off by talking about Kim peek. Kim Peek was born with a damaged cerebellum. He wasn’t able to walk till the age of 4 years old. He had a special gift, and that special gift was memory. He was a able to read 2 pages at the same time and when he was done he would remember exactly word from word what he has just read and would remember it forever. Our memory is a big tool in out body. Memory doesn’t only make us durable it makes us human. When we learn something new our brains give us the ability to remember. There are different types of memory. There is short term, long term, and declarative memory. One thing I found out that stood out to me was that people can forget about 90% of what they learn in class within 30 days. Information that enters our brain gets sent to all different places of the correct. The more we are able to encode a memory during a moment, the stronger it will be planted in your brain. Our brains only give us an approximate view of reality. It mixes new knowledge with past memories and stores them together. A memory that I remember is when I got my puppy. The excitement I had when I first got to see him she hug him, I can still visualize that day clearly. Memory is very important to us. As we get older our memory develops and we will remember new things overtime.
In the “Memory” chapter in John Medina’s Brain Rules, he talks about how our memory works. In this chapter, we are told that the brain can hold onto 7 pieces of information for no more than 30 seconds. This might explain why we have 7 digit phone numbers. In order to increase our memory from 30 seconds to a hour or maybe even a day, we would have to reintroduce this information that we’re trying to remember to our brain. This way, our brain can remember more efficiently. To test his hypothesis, John Medina does an experiment with two classes of third graders. One of the classes were told to repeat the multiplication table where as the other class did the exact opposite. The results were exactly as he predicted. The class that had the multiplication tables reintroduced to their brain multiple times, did a better job then the kids who didn’t have it reintroduced to them.In this chapter, we are also introduced to an extraordinary person called Kim Peek. Kim was born with a mental disability, but has a gift being an extraordinary memory. He is able to read two pages at once and remember everything that he reads. From every state, to their zip codes, to every ruler in the world, and when they ruled, the rulers wives, children and anything you can imagine. His memory is just incredible and goes to show what our brains are capable of doing.
In this next chapter “memory” John Medina explain how our memories are develop in our brains. How does our memories connect with the great ability of the brain. As Medina opens up the chapter by telling the story of Kim Peek, he was a really special personal because of the following: Most of us can’t remember exactly what we just read, but that was not the case for peek, he does the appositive he can remember exactly everything he read word by word. This conditions we all wish to have it but there is few people that has it. Adding more Medina stated that we stored just the approximately the 10% of what we learn in school and the 90% that rest we musty forget. I can said that this i’t 100% true base on my personal experience, sometimes i try so hard to remember things that i had learned few years ago and now teachers are giving reviews on it, I mean i know that i know this stuff but i can’t remember clearly so it’s true after few time the things go out of your mind.
During the memory chapter of John Medina’s “Brain Rules” John Medina talks about why we have the ability to recall things, along with the complex format in which the brain recalls memories and how the brain stores them. According to this chapter, the reason why we have the ability to memorize things is due to the fact we’re not born knowing everything we need to know about the world. Us as humans have to learn either from experience, or from second hand teaching. If it was not for this development of memory in the human brain, it would have been very unlikely for us to have survived as a species during the caveman era. Memory also plays a big factor in terms of what influences our brain. Whether it be based on the faces and names of our loved ones, or our own personal preferences, all of that is maintained due to our memory. It is also said to be two different types of memories that we have as humans. One of those types is declarative memories. Those kinds of memories can be associated with the memory of listings of numbers. Another type of memory we possess is non-declarative, which can be associated with memories such as riding a bike. We also possess short and long-term memory, which is pretty self explanatory. One is a memory that we can recall for only a brief moment in time, and long-term is the kind of memory that stays in our conscious for a very long time. Memory can be quite tricky to deal with at times, especially if you are trying to recall certain things on an exam for example. A way that this chapter advises us to utilize our memory to its fullest when we need to, is to create a similar environment that we had when we created the memory in the first place. Reason for this is because our memory can be influenced by what is around us, especially something like smell. If you can recreate a certain scent that was available to you during the time in which you sprouted the memory that you are trying to recall, then you are more likely to remember what it is that you are trying to recall.
The memory chapter of John Medinaâs âBrain Rulesâ talks about declarative memory, working memory, and long-term memory along with along with how to improve your brainâs ability to remember. Medina starts off the chapter with Kim Peek, a man who could remember everything he once experienced or read. He was born without a corpus callosum and a damaged cerebellum. Peek is known to have good declarative memory which is the type of memory used to remember things such as your social security number. Medina goes on to mention the more one focuses on the meaning of information, the more efficiently they will process it. Unfortunately, memories have life spans and tend to be forgotten over time. Most students forget about 90% of what they learn in class by the end of the month. There is, however, a way to improve your long term memory. By re-exposing yourself to the content you are trying to dedicate to memory, you will be able to memorize it better increasing the lifespan of that specific memory. Consolidation is a process in which your brain converts short term memory into long term memory so after remembering a certain memory, the brain must then again reconsolidate that memory. There are two different methods of retrieving long term memories. One form is known as libraries meaning that memories are stored and can be accessed the same as a library can. The second form is that they are reconstructed like that of a crime scene. This would mean that memories are stored as fragments and the brain must then go through the process of reconstructing them to form a memory. However, our brain tends to mix our new knowledge with past memories in order to fill in gaps or make the memory make more sense which may or may not change the memory.
In this chapter John Medina talks about memory. He starts off by telling us about Kim Peek. He was an amazing man with the ability to do something that no one could do, he could read two pages at the same time one with each eye. He then went into more detail and describes how memory works and, why we have memory? Memories are what make us all unique. He also said that we have memory because we are not born with everything we need to know about the world. We could only learn these through first hand experiences or second hand teaching.
Memory provides us with a great survival advantage. It helps us remember where food grows and where threats lurk. They’re two types of memories, Declarative and Non Declarative. Declarative is when you try to remember something like for example your social security number. You try to picture the last time you see it. Non declarative memories are motor skill, like for example walking or riding a bike, things that we do every day that we don’t even realize. Those were the two types of memories, the two forms of memories are called short-term and long-term. Short term memories are like the word said short, we only have them for a small period of time. Long term memories are the one that we have with us for life. These could be trigger at anytime by something that has a connection to the time that memory happen. One example is smell. Overall this chapter is pretty helpful because now after reading it I learn some very important tips that could make my life much better.
John Medina’s memory chapter also happens to be, ironically, on of his longest chapters so far. In this chapter he talks about how the brain engages memory as well as how it stores it. The brain, he says has many types of memory systems, one of which is the Declarative Memory. This system follows a four step process, encoding, storing, retrieving and fortifying information. This generally means that initially the brain breaks down the memory and then stores it in a specific location for it to be retrieved again. This systems seems fool prof, however, after a period of time you forget when you store it and the memory is lost to you. Another point Medina covers goes along with encoding and stages in the sense that the information in your brain when taken in is immediately fragmented and stored in your cortex, for ease of access. This makes sense because in his earlier chapter he discusses the parts of the brain in which you find that the cortex it the last part to be developed and is by default the newest so retrieving information from there is easier than if it is stored in another part of the brain. To add, at this point, Medina states that in order to make a memory stronger we must encode it with a certain degree of importance otherwise it is lost to us in no time at all. To do this we look at the memory as a muscle in which you must keep calling on it to activate it in order to strengthen it. In a sense this can be viewed as the phrase “Practice makes Perfect” where the more you practice the memory the more you know it and the more perfect the recall is.
In John Medina âBrian Rulesâ memory chapter, he goes into detail about how important memory can be whether it be short term and long term. There was a man by the name of Kim Peek was mentally disable, but he still had the ability to recall memory from a lot of different activities such as all the books he read, or things he need do. He was able to remember pretty much everything; some even could call him the âliving google.â Unfortunately not everyone can be like Kim Peek. John Medina gave a key note about way not all of us can remember everything like Kim saying, âPeople usually forget 90 percent of what they learn in class within 30 days. The majority of this forgetting occurs within the first few hours of remembering them.â There are several ways people store memory, but the main way we store memory is by encoding it. According to John Medina the way encoding information works is by using the same neural pathway the brain uses to receive new information, and to store information, so that new information and memory become connected. This is important to our survival; if our brain didnât encode that information it could lead to a number of things like people forgetting whether or not something is dangerous. By not linking the memory with the information, we canât associate something dangerous to the pain or potential death it could cause. One way I can remember something is by making associations and exaggerations. For example if I need to remember a shopping list I can make an exaggeration by making up a story involving those items, or an association by either thing of the items smell taste or surroundings.
What is Memory? Memory is the process of your brain remembering a certain object, lesson or person. There are many type of memory, but the one type of memory that we know the most and is important is the declarative memory. Declarative memory is when you can declare something right away, such as the grass is green or itâs really sunny. There is about 4 crucial steps for this type of memory, which consist of, in order, encoding, storing, retrieving and forgetting. The first few seconds of encoding is very important, in determine whether we learn is worth remembering or not. Like life itself, memory itself has a lifespan, which varies between certain memories. You can have a memory for as long as one minute to your entire life time. This was decisive component for our ancestor to be able to survive. Memory was a big survival advantage, to help our ancestor know where certain food grew at a certain location and when to stay out of trouble. That was important to survive, but in this age we intended to forget a lot, it has been proven that 90% of student forget what they learn, under 30 days. What can we do to help remember stuff? Well like all things, you need to practice or in this case constantly repeat what you learn in time interval. This can give a memory life span that was meant to last for a minute to as long as you practice. If the brain is damage can greatly affect your memory, such as a stroke, that can damage some kind of connecting wiring. Our brain can determine what things we learn is important or not, which greatly affects our memory. That is why some individual can remember effortlessly and while others take a lot of effort to recall a certain object or lesson .Repetition can easily fixes memories by forming a pattern in your head to recall it. Overall, many individual wonât remember what they just read now or the brain wonât think itâs important to remember, while other well remember this summary of memory.
In the âMemoryâ chapter of John Medinaâs Brain Rules, we learn about why we have memory and the different types of memory there are. Declarative memory is based off of the methods we use to remember something like a group of numbers or a quote. These methods include how many times youâve seen what you are trying to remember, how many times youâve possibly written it or even the last time you might have seen it. This type of memory goes through four stages of processing: encoding, storing, retrieving and forgetting. As we continue to feed our mind with the same information repeatedly throughout time, our brains tend to find it easier to remember, and the memory of that information will tend to last longer in our minds. Our memory of things is also increased if the environment that we were in when learning that information is reproduced. This is a way to help elongate our long-term memory, along with adding new information related to that topic. My earliest memory that I have is crying for my mother when I was four when she was right in front of me but not responding to my actions. My happiest memory is graduating high school and seeing my family smiling and proud of my accomplishment. I usually tend to remember my happiest and most troubling moments the easiest due to the fact that they are the ones that left a greater effect on me long-term.
In John Medina âBrian Rulesâ memory chapter, he talks about how information can come and go from our brain. He states that our memories are basically like a blender with the lid off where some info stays and some info leaves. A simpler way of saying this would be that it is more like a loading dock where if the crates are not brought inside , they get pushed off the edge. He also says that not all information is stored in the same place. My earliest memory is back when i was Florida where i believe I was in Pre-K. One day this memory may fade away.
In the âMemoryâ chapter from the book âBrain rulesâ written by John Medina, he writes about exercises that could help the brain remember things better and longer. He also write about what the brain do with our memory. my earliest memory would be when I was 4, I put gum in the optical drive of my home desktop back in Dominican republic. My happiest memory is when I finish building my own computer. The easiest things to remember would be the things that interesting to me or something that entrains me and funny moments. The most challenging things to remember would be names, and numbers.
In the memory chapter of John Medina’s Brain Rules, it states that it is the ultimate intellectual flattery to be born with a mind. According to this chapter, we all have a declarative memory which allows individual to declare something. We all have this memory because it is a big survival advantage, but also because it makes us consciously aware. Other than declarative memory, we also have non declarative memories that we cannot experience in our conscious awareness, short term and long term memory, as well. Studying short term and long term memory showed us that memories have different life spans from one another. My earliest memory was when I was in elementary school and I beat several individuals on the chess team. My happiest memory is whenever I was with my first best friend in middle school. Some things I remember the easiest is directions or where to go from point A to point B. Some things that are more challenging for em to remember is unfamiliar faces and physics topics.
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