Any student of psychology knows that memory is an important topic. From infancy through later adulthood, psychologists study the development of memory and the many changes that take place in the human brain that might affect it. For instance, in infancy the appearance of object permanence signals that the child has developed sufficient memory to realize that out of sight is not out of mind. Just because Mommy left the room, that doesn’t mean that she’s gone forever. At the end of life, psychologists are intrigued by dementia, especially Alzheimer’s Disease, and how it affects memory.
In-between infancy and later adulthood, there are a myriad of reasons why psychologists are so interested in memory. Not only does it affect your ability to remember facts and figures, skills essential for academic success, but they are also interested in our episodic or personal memories. Why is it that you can’t remember your 10th birthday party while your sister remembers what you were wearing, who was in attendance, and what kind of cake you had? Why do you look at the last family gathering with a warm nostalgic feeling while your brother remembers nothing but negative vibes? How can people recall the same event so differently?
Psychologists believe that our memories are part fact and part fiction. We have a tendency to encode events according to our moods, past experiences, age, and perhaps even our state of fatigue. If our “take” on current events is shaped by our perceptions, then doesn’ t it make sense that our recollections of those events will also be influenced by them? For this reason, psychologists think that many of our personal memories are reconstructions of what we think happened, not necessarily what actually did.
With the above in mind, consider the “Quote of the Day” provided by author Jessamyn West: “The past is really almost as much a work of the imagination as the future.” Do you agree? Can you provide an example? Perhaps you can recall a situation in which you and another person had different memories of the same event. For my own example, I’m wondering how my memories of visiting Ellis Island might be different from those of the young woman in the photograph?
