Daniel Alvizo 4/27 Wait... What Was I Doing Again?
What does memory mean for other animals? I have been thinking about memory for a while and it occurred to me that humans can’t possibly be the only creatures to remember the past… well they kind of are. It turns out, according to an experiment done by Stockholm University, apart from a few crucial things like food, most animals forget things in a matter of seconds. The experiment was conducted with the use of small lights, and seeing if the animal would react to a color or shape the researchers had shown it before. It is astonishing how animals do not have a function we seem to take for granted. At the same time however, it almost makes sense that animals other than humans wouldn’t have a developed memory, because they have no real need for it. I mean a chipmunk doesn’t have to remember names and dates, and a bear sure doesn’t need to remember what it has for homework. Memory is a skill developed because we had need of it. We have evolved to remember our past because that information is useful to us and our survival. Especially now, when our survival is quite literally tied to academics and our ability to remember facts from a textbook. Without memory civilization as we know it would not exist. Don’t take your memory for granted, it is a powerful ability that most animals don’t have, and we should be grateful for it. Even if it keeps reminding us of something dumb we did in elementary school.
Here is the link for the study: https://www.su.se/english/research/new-findings-on-animal-memory-1.222566#:~:text=A%20new%20study%20shows%20that,that%20stands%20out%20is%20man.&text=%E2%80%9CWhen%20it%20comes%20to%20short,but%20the%20results%20are%20clear.
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel,
ReplyDeleteFrom reading your blog, it seems that animals only have a short-term memory. Does that mean that animals have a less developed hippocampus than humans? If this is true, then how is it possible that animals can survive. It would be harder for them to remember which animals are a threat to them and which ones are their friend. Also, how do they remember who their families are. There is a lot that long term memory is connected to.
Hi Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI was honestly a little surprised to hear that most animals have relatively short-term memory. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense—animals with a "streamlined" sense of memory for their basic needs are probably likely to do better in the wild. On a side note, I think it's really cool to see the many conclusions that researchers can derive from a test as simple as the one involving small lights that you mentioned.
In my Morrison essay I mentioned that the ability to learn from past mistakes is one of the hallmarks of being human. Long-term memory is a fairly simple concept, yet incredibly powerful. You are right that this gives us immense mental abilities beyond those of any bear or squirrel’s--have you ever seen either of them doing math problems? I believe this power is all too easy to abuse, and we should be careful not to, though many already have.
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel, I found it very interesting that animals have such a short memory span. It really makes me think about how many of us take our long-term memory for granted. We use this memory in our daily tasks and could not function without it. However, most animals do not even have this ability and this shows us how we should appreciate our memory.
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel, your blog brings up an interesting point I hadn't thought of before! No wonder my dog always gets so excited to see me when I return back home from taking the trash out; it's because they have no real sense of time, due to the short-term memory they possess. Your blog also helped me remember that I shouldn't take my memory for granted!
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel, I found your blog very interesting to read. While I was surprised at first when you mentioned that animals generally do not have a great memory, I realized later that animals may not necessarily need an outstanding memory to live their lives. As humans, we have to carry out tasks that often involve critical thinking; animals however, carry out less complex tasks such as hunting and running. Therefore, animals do need to possess such great memory to survive, unlike humans.
ReplyDeleteHey Daniel, your blog has made me question the development of evolution and why it favored us humans. I feel like the driving force behind our dominance is memory but also is not because memory may not be as helpful to animals it is proven that they can learn and that they really only do just need to remember important things for survival un like us and the useless information we force ourselves to remember.
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel, I wonder if that applies to all animals. Because I am guessing that dogs have a great memory. For example, when some dogs hear certain noises, they remember what they mean. Like my aunt's dog, who remembers what the noise of the cabinet means he is getting fed. I also know that certain animals have to remember things for survival.
ReplyDelete