Beginning of Class Writing: John Medina’s Brain Rules, “Memory”

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.

19 thoughts on “Beginning of Class Writing: John Medina’s Brain Rules, “Memory”

  1. Angelica Vargas

    Brain rule #7
    ā€œrepeat to remember ā€œ
    John medina explains how memory is based on firsthand experience or second hand teaching. Humans have different types of memory skills. Kim Peek who was born in the year 1951 was a amazing person when it came to memory. He was diagnosed has a child with a mentally disabled.his doctors also wanted to place him in a mental institution. While he was growing up ,his father noticed his son was gifted. Kim peek stated quoting ridiculous-and highlly-accurate-amounts of sports triva.Kim Peek had a memory called declarative memory which invloves something you can declare easily. Declarative memory can be used for simple things such as reminding your social security number. Another story that catched my attention while reading the memory chapter was the story of Tom. Tom is blind teenager who uses his ears to listen to complex music. Tom then plays the song that he heard once on the piano. Thats is wild impressive on the first try tom could play a upbeat song on the piano.On the first try he could play it with the skill and artistry of a professional .Be very aware ,Tom has never taken one piano lesson in his entire life.My earliest memory is around the age 6.I wanted to join karate near a western union in woodside.My father and I was in the western union caching his check.I told him I wanted to to join karate and right then and there we went to sgin up.I still have alot of karate memorys but only becuase My father and I talk about it everytime.The most challenging thing to remmeber is my pre-k years.My mom always tells me about htem ,but i cant seem to remeber. Its all a blur.

  2. marcus.lamothe4

    In the seventh chapter of John Medinaā€™s ā€œBrain Rulesā€, he discusses the process of memory within our minds and how it adds on to the utility of the human brain. Memory, in a sense, is how human beings can recall certain moments based on his/hers experience during that time. This also explains why we commonly use terms such as ā€œI remember or recallā€ when referring to things in the past tense. It helps us understand things better as well or reminds us of of something we need to know in a certain situation. For example, if youā€™ve studied two days before your math test and say if you need to know about how to do long division, if you studied for a decent period of time, it would be easier for you to know how to solve the problems that may seem difficult at first. John Medina once stated, ā€œYou can improve something if you reproduce the environment in which you first put into your brainā€. In other words, if you recreate a familiar moment within your mind physically, you can recall the event even better. One of my earliest memories is when I first went to Disney World with my family when I was 5 years old. It was one of the happiest, nostalgic moments in my life because it felt like I was traveling to a new world filled with all of my favorite Disney characters I came to know and love.

  3. SandraG.

    Memory has many types of systems such as declarative memory. Medina describes declarative memory as something to be experienced in our conscious awareness for example, a list of numbers. While nondeclarative memories are those that arenā€™t able to experienced this such as the motor skills necessary to ride a bike. We both have long and short term memory. One of my happiest memories was when I went to Florida in the summer of 2014. My earliest memory is painting in pre-k and I was crying. I don’t remember why, but I always cried throughout my first couple of years in elementary school. The most challenging memory to remember is probably the ones that were when I was baby to adolescents, I see home videos, but I can’t remember how I thought back then. Also I find it hard to remember the little things I do just in general.

  4. nowshadhossain

    I just finished reading a chapter called “Memory” from John Medina’s ” Brian Rules” . Here is the chapter summary: John Medina tells us that memory is based upon either our first hand experience or second hand teaching. We humans have different types of memory systems. A guy named Kim Peek was born in 1951 ,had an amazing type of brain skill. He was good in recording declarative memory (one type of memory system) . He was diagnosed as mentally disabled ,when he was a kid .Doctors advised his father to put Kim in a mental institution. But his father didn’t, because he knew that his son was gifted. Kim peek could quote any line from any book which he once read in his local library. The benefit of Declarative memory is you can remember or recall things like facts very easily with it. We use it to remember simple things like reminding our social security number. One important thing I found interesting about this memory chapter is it takes years to consolidate a memory. Which means what we might have learn in first grade may not be completely formed until the sophomore year in high school; Which I personally find pretty weird! The author also gives us few useful tricks to improve our memory. We can remember things better by repeating the event . More we repeat something better our brain gets to remembering it. We can also remember something better by recreating the environment of what we are trying to remember And the last thing which I want to talk about this chapter is we can’t always trust on our memory. Because memory can be deceivable. Our brains only give us an approximate view of the reality, we usually don’t get the whole thing .

  5. Bilal.Shadizai

    Human brain is amazing but it still canā€™t remember everything human learn. Human brain has various memory systems and the brain stores memories in different types. There are some rare people who can remember words, or pictures just by seeing it once. According to Medina ā€œthere would be a place for every latter, but the vowels spots were left blankā€¦. are not stored in the same placeā€. This caught my attention because it shows that after we learn something our brain stores it in different places even the vowels and consonant are not stored in the same place in our brain. In order to remember something a person should re-expose him/herself few times to what they want to remember. It takes years for human brain to consolidate a memory. According to Medina ā€œmemory has four steps: encoding, storing, retrieving, and forgettingā€. Human brain does all the processing on its own the moment we learn something our brain starts storing it and after sometimes our brain might lose that memory due to the loss of some neurons on our brain. By re-exposing a brain to a same event it stores it in more places and we are less likely to lose a memory. People canā€™t remember events that have occurred years ago just like how a person canā€™t remember what he/she was doing or the environment around them when they were age 2 or less. The earliest memory I have is from the time when I was 4 before that thereā€™s no memory that I can remember.

  6. Shamani Patton

    While reading the memory chapter, what I found Interesting is the mind that Kim Peek had. He could read two different pages at the same time. Although he had no corpus callosum, and a damaged cerebellum, he also couldn’t walk until 4 years of age. Kim Peek would also get very upset when he didn’t understand something, which was often. Doctors wanted to just put him in a mental institution, but he had this gift, the pages he read at the same time, he could easily remember everything in order. The few moments of learning gives people the ability to remember. Declarative memory is something you declare and it’s your brain encoding, storing, retrieving and forgetting. Non-declarative memory is like you trying to remember how to ride a bike, it cannot experience conscious awareness, such as the motor skills that is necessary to ride a bike. Memory provides a bug survival advantage, and allows us to remember where food grows and where threats lurks. The more you repeat something, the better you can remember it, it sometimes stays in your long term memory. Also an emotional event will help you to keep it in your memory, and it makes you consciously aware of things.

  7. Cisco Alers

    My earliest memory was a blur. I remember seeing blurry light. Like I needed glasses so thick they can bullet proof. My happiest memory was the time from the end of my surprise birthday party I was just relaxing from all the enjoyment and talking to my best friend about how the party was. The things that I remember the easiest are the things that I am most interested in. For, example I hear a random fact about outer space I will remember that fact for a long period of time. Ten years later I will remember it without even thinking about it in that ten yearsā€™ time. This means t that some memories have more value than others depending on the person.

  8. rahat ahmed

    Rahat Ahmed
    Prof. Jason E
    English
    10/18/15
    Memory

    In this chapter called “Memory”, Dr. John Medina talks about different types of memory’s. One type of memory that Dr. John Medina talks about is the “Declarative” memory. Declarative memory is very important because us humans tend to use this memory very often, for example when we need to remember our social security number. Dr. John Medina also asks why have memory and his answer is perfect because “we’re not born knowing everything that we need to know about the world. We must learn it through first hand experience or second hand teaching. According to Dr. John Medina a memory itself provides a big survival advantage.
    My earliest memory would be when my dad use to take me everywhere he use to go. I was crazy about my dad because we always had that bond from day one. I remember when I was about 5 and my dad took me grocery shopping for the first time and I remember him telling me that I could get anything I wanted. I grabbed all the cookies that could fit in my hand brought it to the counter. My dad looked at me and smiled, I was a very happy kid that day.

  9. MarcG

    In chapter 7 “memory” John talks about how there’s different types of memory system. In fact a guy named Kim born in 1951 born with recording declarative memory was said to be mentally disabled even diagnosed. Doctor advised his father to put him in a mentality institution but his dad didn’t follow because he knew his son was gifted. He could a line he read from a local library with no hesitation. Madison also gave us tips on how to remember things easily . The earliest memory I had I was about 4 years old. My happiest memory was when I was 7 and my dad let me drove his car. What’s more challenging for me to remember is usually what I have no interested in.

  10. Vaswanie Cover

    The memory chapter of Brain rules by John Medina speaks about the study and the big feat of memory that the Brain contains. There amount of memory intake varies person to person. Their are various types of memory for example, declarative memories: those that can be experienced in our conscious awareness, such as a list of numbers. Non-declaration memory basically deals with conscious awareness ex. motor skills. Also there are basic memories: short term and long term. 19th Century German Researcher Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered a depressing fact: “People usually forget 90% of learning within 30 days.” One way to improve memory is, repeating the info in timed intervals.

  11. sher syed

    In chapter ā€œMemoryā€ John Medina explained about different types of memories such as declarative memory. Declarative memory is used to remember things that are simple like you name and your social security number. Medina explained about Kim Peek who was born in 1951 who was disabled when born. Doctors advised his father to put him in the mental institution but his knew that he was gifted and refused to put him in mental institution. At age of 4 Kim started to walk. Kim had really good ability to learn 2 pages at same time. His ability of stating quote was really good. Medina also stated that repeating things also help you to learn or remember things quickly. My earliest memory is about my house in Pakistan when I was 3-4 years old. There was some weird thing happened because there was blood every where n out house when we woke up our house walls was full of blood even the bathrooms. That was my earliest and most horror memory that I still remember. My happiest memory is when I was 11 years old and drove a manual gear car. The things that are harder for me to remember are that doesnā€™t catch my attention.

  12. Sasha

    We all have things we remember and wonder how and why we do remember them, but everyone’s different when it comes down to our brains remembering things. The earliest memory i have was when i was three or four years old. I was so young but yet the memory seems to vivid. But this is where i ask the question, how is this possible? First, What is memory? Memory is what the mind stores and how it remembers information. The first few moments of learning gives us the ability to remember something. One type of memory is Declarative memory involves something you can declare. The name and faces of our loved ones, our own personal tastes, and especially or awareness of those names and faces and taste, are maintained through memory. Declarative memory is where you can use it when you need to remember your Social Security number. We also have both short-term forms of memory and long term forms. The information is chopped into discrete pieces and splattered all over the inside of our mind. The brain slices and dices language the same way. Information is translated from one form into another so that it can be transmitted.

  13. Brandon Richardson

    Everybody has that one thing that makes them remember something or trigger a memory that might’ve happened to them years and years ago. The brain is something that John Medina consistently empowers within the book “Brain Rules”. One of his most important chapters in the book however would be memory. It’s what makes someone remember things that have happened within your lifetime. Memory can be brought to use by all types of different ways, for example. If you remember moving into a house 10 years ago and seeing a picture & move out the year after and come back 9 years later you’ll memory would trigger than exact moment you saw the picture but it wouldn’t precisely show the vivid memory of what happened exactly as if your going back in time. Your brain try’s to constrict a similar look on that memory and how it happened. Everybody’s memory as well is not the same. As John medina pointed out in the chapter of wiring. Everybody’s brain is wired different and everybody’s memory is wired different as well. Some suffer from short term memory loss and some have long term memory. People take in information differently and memory has a big point in that. Without memory we don’t learn really. The earliest memory I remember was at 2 years old moving into my new house and seeing nothing there & remembering the place without any furniture.

  14. Emmanuel.C

    Here we are today once again to talk about a topic you might be sick of hearing at this point, our brains. You may or may not also be sick of hearing the name “John Medina” and the book titled “Brain Rules”, but alas, I digress. John Medina starts us off in chapter seven of his famous work and well recognized book as stated earlier called “Brain Rules”. The chapter itself is titled “Memory” and as you would expect, he uses this chapter to discuss our memories. In the chapter itself, John Medina discusses what he likes to refer to as different types of memory systems. One such memory system he refers to is called the Declarative Memory System. Medina himself uses a man named Kim Peek as an example of someone who has Declarative memory. Kim Peek himself did not have a great life sadly. He had a mental disability when he was a mere child and he was not forced but rather told to put him in a mental asylum for his own good. On the other hand, his father refused to actually put him in the asylum for he truly believe his son was a genius. Here is where declarative memory comes into play, the point of the memory is that it allows you to remember practically anything with ease and little problem. This is the reason Medina uses Kim Peek as an example of one of the many different memory systems. As for me, my earliest memory was when I was about 2 years old. The only thing I remember doing is learning how ot walk by myself on my own by pure accident. My parents were so proud of me, haha. My happiest memory would have to be when I beat a frustrating level of an old video game that I kept dying in repeatedly but I was extremely happy when I finally prevailed over it. As for the things I remember the easiest… It would have to be anything related to technology or thing inside video games. There are quite a few things that are more challenging for me to remember though, like memorizing answer for a test, reviewing papers, etc.

  15. chelsea

    In chapter ā€œMemoryā€ John Medina explained about different types of memories such as declarative memory. Declarative memory is used to remember things that are simple like you name and phone number John medina explains how memory is based on firsthand experience or second hand teaching. John Medina discusses what he likes to refer to as different types of memory systems. One such memory system he refers to is called the Declarative Memory System. Medina himself uses a man named Kim Peek as an example of someone who has Declarative memory. Doctor advised his father to put him in a mentality institution but his dad didnā€™t follow because he knew his son was gifted

  16. Claribel

    In John Medina’s “Memory” chapter he discusses long term and short term memory and what goes on in the brain. He says how the brain has many types of memory systems. One type of memory follows four stages of processing: encoding, storing, retrieving, and forgetting. When your information is received to your brain it is split into different areas of the cortex for storage. The more we encode a memory the stronger it will be. Medina states that many memories will disappear within minutes. My earliest memory would be in My happiest memory would be 12 years ago when I was six to when my sister was born.

  17. JCal

    Memory, one of the most useful “skills” humans have. Our memory has saved us when we only hunted and gathered, and it saves us now by reminding us about the oncoming midterms. As with every chapter, Medina starts with a story. The story of a child who has the impeccable ability to remember everything he sees, forever, word for word, line by line, he even knows where it is. Medina then explains the types of memory people have. As for my earliest memory, I remember being in a damp cave with an odd white light at the end and I was heading toward it. As I got close I kept hearing “beeps” getting louder and the cave seemed to close behind me. As I reached the end, the light got brighter and I could barely see anything. When I adjusted to the light I saw a man in white and all I could see of him were his eyes. He then proceeded to carry me and when he raised me he shouted “It’s a boy!”. I’m kidding i don’t remember that far back, but that is one of the earliest 10-20 memories I have. For challenging, I don’t really know, maybe multiple things at the same time, because if I just react like any other day, my test score will be higher, then if I had crammed the information.

  18. PrinceM

    In John Medina’s “Memory” chapter of Brain Rules, he discusses the differences between long term and short term memory, and their different processes. He also describes different types of memory and explains some extreme cases. For me personally, my first memory is clear as day, like it has always been. I am two years old. at the side of my mother’s red sofa in the living room of my Harlem apartment. With a navy blue pencil and a notebook, I am writing words I know, mainly our names. “How do you spell your name?” I asked my mother. She tells me. “How do you spell mine?” She tells me. I proceed to write my name, followed by “loves”. “How do you spell your name again?” I ask my mother, my final question. She tells me, and I complete the sentence, and hand her the paper.

  19. younisa97

    There are two types of memory, which are long term memory and short term memory. Memory is basically the brain’s recording of visual, hearing, touch, and emotion. Repetition helps the brain remember things at a more attentive rate. The brain does not always record your surroundings, so that is why repetition is the best way to remember something, whether is be for a test, sports, emergencies and so on. Information coming to the brain is immediately stored in different parts of the brain. When the brain forget something, that means that the information for that thing disappeared, because it wasn’t repeated enough or was not strong enough. Our brains are so intelligent that it can combine our past experiences with new information. Also, lost information can be retrieved from new information, and the brain grows on that.

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