Natasha Anguelouch Week #14: What Affects Memory?
I had several stressful encounters with my own faulty memory earlier today during my POAS presentation. Though I made a script and read it several times, I still feared the possibility of standing in front of the class and instantly forgetting everything I had memorized. Fortunately that did not happen, and though I am irritated that I forgot to mention a few key details, the presentation still went decently well, and I am grateful that my memory did not completely fail me! Yet it is annoying to recall that in one of my classes today, the girl sitting next to me was talking about her dog and I suddenly remembered vividly the day she told me about buying that Goldendoodle in sixth grade--and its name! I am incredibly dismayed that my brain chose to remember this rather than important information about Jane Goodall. Then again, I know that circumstances make a difference in the ability to recall information. I was admittedly nervous when presenting and I am sure that made all the difference in how well and quickly I delivered my speech. I suppose the lesson to be learned from this is that too much anxiety in a situation can hurt rather than help. Perhaps if I had been a little calmer, I would have been able to deliver all of the information I needed to. And I wonder if remembering every detail about that girl’s dog has more to do with interest than anything else. I have always loved dogs, and maybe I unconsciously care for cute, fluffy creatures rather than lengthy speeches about Jane Goodall.
Hi Natasha, first of all, I really enjoyed your poas presentation, and I think you did great. Although even if you did forget some information about Jane Goodall, I didn’t notice. It is amazing how our brains choose to remember some things, and forget others. While this may be sometimes inconvenient, it is just the way our brains work. Nevertheless, we should still appreciate our minds and memory.
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha,
ReplyDeleteThe brain is a very interesting organ. I agree with Angie in that, your POAS presentation was wonderful! I enjoyed hearing about Jane Goodall and whatever you were able to present. I think that most of these memory things relate back to what we learned in psychology class. For example, maybe the information for your presentation is stuck in your short-term memory or maybe the learning method that you used for memorization was not as effective as others. Whatever it may be, it is not something we can actively control. It would be way too much work to try to train our brains to remember specific information and even still, I do not think it would work 100% accurately.
Hi Natasha, your blog reminded me that memory can fluctuate and depend on what mood we are in as well. Staying calm may help us recall memories easier, while being in a panicked and nervous state could lead to a "brain-fart," most likely causing us to say something dumb. Then again, we can't exactly control what we can and cannot remember; but, we can always exercise our minds through many different ways!
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha, I really enjoyed your poas presentation and thought that you did a great job portraying Jane Goodall. It is funny and also surprising how we can remember random facts when we fail to remember things that we try very hard to remember. Our emotions and state drive many of our actions and behaviors and can result in slip-ups or forgetting important things. Still, that is normal and we cannot always remember everything.
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha, your blog was incredibly relatable. Stress can often impair our memory, and make it harder to do things we have prepared such as tests, presentations, and performances. And yet anxiety is not always a bad thing. When controlled, it can help clear ones mind, to better focus on the task at hand. Anxiety is a tool, it can help or hurt you, depending on how you use it.
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha, I think it's always interesting (and sometimes nerve-wracking) to observe how selective our minds can be in choosing what to remember and what not to remember. There are probably myriad factors that influence what we remember, so it seems next to impossible to account for everything that we might forget. Most likely, the best bet is to use the different memory strategies that are available to us and hope for the best.
ReplyDeleteHey Natasha, I want to start by saying your POAS was a very good one and was really memorable and did justice to your person of significance. and as for your blog i feel that we do for the most part choose to remember more important memories but it is the less important memories that we forget and that disperse into the void of insignificance.
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha, I forget essential things every day and remember the most useless things. For example, I took a test, and I forgot almost half of the formulas. Luckily the test was multiple choice, and I could figure out the answers by using the process of elimination. However, this constant battle with my memory is very annoying. Hopefully, someone will figure out a way to control memory soon.
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