Do you remember when...?

I really enjoyed this chapter, and found the section on artificial memory particularly interesting. I have heard that there are various “exercises” for the brain to help keep it functioning strongly, especially as it relates to the elderly, but I’ve never thought of the memory as being “trainable,” through practice. In school we teach students certain “tricks” to help remember content. Students use things such as mnemonic devices, categorization, and music as study strategies, which sounds much like what Simonides offers on page 378. I’m currently reading a book called, Nurture Shock which includes reference to a study which taught students the idea that the brain is a muscle, and that giving it a harder workout makes you smarter. That alone improved their math scores. (Bronson, 17.) This idea makes perfect sense, but I wonder how many teachers spend enough time really instilling this in the students. For something so simple, it seems worth trying!

I wish I had known more about these memory strategies when my tenth-grade U.S. History teacher required his students to memorize the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, word for word, as a written test. If one word was missed, the student received a failing grade. Perhaps he thought that memorizing those documents was the “harder workout” our tenth-grade brains needed, but regardless, it was a temporary “smartness,” as I’m sure that by the time I started eleventh grade, I couldn’t have completed the task.

This bring up another interesting point, which involves what we should spend time “compartmentalizing” or mapping into our memories, and what we should just let pass through. While it seems important to know what the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution represent, I’m not sure the word-for-word memorization warrants storage space. Additionally, I know that I personally have a terrible time with remembering names of people I meet, and an even more difficult time remembering where I know them from. I’m hoping that tonight’s discussion will help to solidify some new ideas to aide my aging brain, in addition to what Crowley and Hawhee have to offer.

Finally, I found the section about memory relating to sleep particularly interesting, as well. Again referencing Nurture Shock, an entire chapter is devoted to, “The Lost Hour.” This chapter states that, “The brain does synthesize some memories during the day, but they’re enhanced and concretized during the night – new inferences and associations are drawn, leading to insights the next day… This is why a good night’s sleep is so important for long-term learning of vocabulary words, times tables, historical dates, and all other factual minutiae.” (Bronson, 35.) Crowley and Hawhee text seems to expand this by stating that, “ The brain is thought to process newly acquired facts, figures and locations most efficiently in deep sleep. (390) While the Bronson research references sleep and memory in children, and C & H’s information focuses on adults, both solidify the connection and importance of sleep as is relates to memory.

I could continue writing, but I’ll save it for tonight’s discussion – there are so many interesting points in this chapter! I’m looking forward to elaborating and collaborating!