Memory, Attention And Learning Processes

Memory, Attention and Learning Processes

The man, in the midst of his development and his eagerness to adapt to the environment had to use several cognitive and psychological processes to reach his goals. These processes allowed the evolution of the species until it became what it is today (Hommo Sapiens Sapiens) and in turn allowed him to develop many other psychological processes such as language and thought. A process that has undoubtedly played a crucial role in development not only of man, but also civilizations, is memory.

This is located (holistically since it is not a single brain structure that is responsible for such function) in the prefrontal cortex, medium temporal lobes, hippocampus, cerebellum, tonsil, hippocampus and basal ganglia (Carmona and. ) and is defined as "the function of the brain that allows the human being to acquire, store and recover information about different types of knowledge, skills and experiences" (Carmona and.).

There are also two large types of memory, the implicit or also known as procedural or involuntary memory, which in this case the recovery of information is done involuntarily, “it is the knowledge we have about how the things we normally do do we do. We usually execute them automatically and are difficult to express in words. For example, touch an instrument or bike ”(Silván C. 2017), that is, it refers to the conscious act of recalling. And the second is the explicit or declarative memory that “it is the conscious and intentional collection of information and events information.

It is constantly presented in our daily life, such as: remember our experiences lived in the past ”.

It should be clarified that memory is a process and that therefore has an order so that it can be done effectively because otherwise it would be impossible to access or recover some past time content. First is the coding, this step consists of the entry of information to the brain, then there is the consolidation that consists of the perception of the stimulus, that is, at this time the subject gives a subjective value to the information; Subsequently, the storage of the information is given and finally the recovery of the same. In these last two processes is where learning is evidence. However, let’s not forget that memory is a copy of what was really lived and that this copy is not entirely reliable to reality, “it can happen that you modify memories to fit with your expectations, obtaining as a result memories that contain errors and distortions. This ability to modify memories can reach the point of generating false memories unconsciously ” .

Memory types

Memory types are diverse since this function can be divided into several aspects, for example: according to the time that the information retained, such as long -term memory, short -term memory and working memory; also if your recovery is voluntary or involuntary as explicit and implicit memory respectively; or according to its content, such as semantic memory, episodic memory, procedural, among others. In this case, the memory classification will be deepened from its content.

Semantic memory

Semantic memory is part of the explicit or declarative memory, that is, to evoke some memory in a "semantic" way it is necessary that it be exercised consciously. This memory refers to the link between the concept and meaning, because as evidenced, in daily life we ​​handle different concepts which we link to their respective meanings and we constantly use them in communication, this allows us as social beings to know about What are we talking about and understand our conversations more easily. Knowing that the chair is an object that is used to rest the body and sit down, which is mainly made of wood or plastic and that there are many types of chairs I can communicate much more effectively and concisely with other people who clearly have internalized such concept, and in case they are not familiar with the concept, the concept and its meaning can be explained. "Thus, this type of memory is closely linked to the ability to use language, which is nothing other than a system of symbols with an abstract meaning not linked to a specific place and moment" (Torres, 2017).

Semantic memory can be classified into two large groups that explain the operation of this process. First is the categorization; This model explains how to categorize objects according to their type, our brain can better organize and systematize the information it receives from the world. “When the category is developed, it is stored in memory and is updated as new information is acquiring. For example, when a child generates the “toy” category, she incorporates all the toys she learning "(Gratacós). The second group is that of representations; This group highlights the connection between concept and meaning, but in this case there is talk of propositions, not concepts, since they are more abstract. “A proposition is a somewhat more abstract element than the words of a language that form it. That is, a representation that is formed by discreet symbols that are placed instead of the entities they represent ”(Gratacós). This means that having a more complex symbolic system that the same concept can be provided with meanings or, rather, much more complex representations that manage to enclose the abstract from language globally.

Episodic or autobiographical memory

This memory refers to our experiences lived, which are strongly linked to how important it is for us such or that experience for what although all people live the same experience for all will have a different meaning, importance, relevance and emotional load. These subjective components allow each person evoking memories of their life that have marked them more forcefully, this is how the memory actively active the hippocampus and subsequently the memories are consolidated in several parts of the neocortex.

The evocation of memories is explicitly done since it is part of the declarative memory, this means that a conscious effort must be made to consolidate some autobiographical content, addition to this there is the conception that episodic memory is chronological, and that allows us to differentiate the times of the events and order more precisely the facts. This is how we can easily remember and differentiate the days of last week, we remember the most relevant fact for us and order the days of the week according to the classes we had for example, or according to the parties we went to, etc.

It has its own characteristics such as that the person is aware of having lived that fact that tries to remember and that is linked to space and time, so not only chronology can help us remember and order the information, but also the spaces can help us Evoke memories, this happens, for example, when we graduate from school and not touch that space in a long They for us. "The function of episodic memory is precisely to allow us to benefit from past learning and experiences that we are able to acquire new knowledge permanently".

Procedural memory

This type of memory is implicit since memories recover automatically refers to the memory of the motor behavior that we already have internalized. “These are those motor patterns that we have already acquired and reproduced with ease. It is perfected through practice and constitute faithful and durable memories ”(Silvan C. 2017). Memories are more faithful to reality since movements improve with practice, example of this is swimming, walking, driving car, dance, etc.

Topographic memory

This type of memory refers to the spaces we know and remember, this allows us to locate ourselves in known environments and develop more easily since we know where and how to mobilize ourselves."The space memory is closely linked to the hippocampus, especially to the right side, where there are the so -called" place cells "that are responsible for creating a mental map of space" (Silvan C. 2017).

Incidental memory or priming

This type is part of the implicit memory, which means that memories are automatically recovered, it is linked to the best cemented knowledge we have and that they are the most common for us, this is how the first syllable of a word can bring us the Complete word to our mind since it is a word that we know very well and is supremely familiar to us. "It depends on our experience, for example, if you have heard a word more recently or more frequently than any other, it is more likely to come to your memory faster" (Silvan C. 2017).

Memory pathologies

First we will take into account that the organic structure that is most used in this process is the hippocampus, it is clearly not the only one involved but it is the most activity. Memory can be affected by brain damage acquired as encephalic skull trauma “In the case of semantic memory, it seems to be especially vulnerable to injuries in the prefrontal cortex, although the alterations in the hippocampus also affect it a lot, as it happens with the episodic.”(Torres, 2017). "People with traumatic brain injury can be difficult for them to remember that they should remember something’. That is, they have a hard time remembering things that will happen in the future, for example, that they must fulfill an appointment or have to call someone when they promised it ”(Hart, 2016).

Similarly, dementias markedly affects the memory, because being degenerative they wear a lot the layers of the cerebral cortex and other areas such as the brain, this means that the person who suffers from dementia will gradually aggravate his symptomatology until he reaches the point of depending totally from other people. It also loses cognitive functions little by little since it is a degenerative disease the loss or decrease of functions is irreversible. 

It is important to clarify that dementia does not directly mean memory loss or executive functions, since this disease manages functionality ranges; For example, a person with a mild symptomatology (or early diagnosis) of dementia will not lose functions of language, he will forget some things that it is "normal" to forget, in a few words a mild phase of dementia means normal alterations in the functioning. While a serious (or advanced) phase means loss of functions, inability to communicate effectively with its surrounding world, loss of psychomotor functions and dependence in most activities. As for Semantic Dementia Rodríguez (2018), he affirms that people with this condition have “problems being able to find the meaning of concepts. There is great diversity between some patients and others, semantic dementia is characterized by patients who may have difficulty accessing the meanings of concepts, but do not have to have problems using schemes (for example, ironing) ”.

The case of Alzheimer’s evidence more clearly evidence. It is normally given after 60 years. The Alzheimer’s association tells us that:

"Alzheimer worsens over time. Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, in which dementia symptoms gradually worsen over the years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but in the final stage of Alzheimer’s, people lose the ability to maintain a conversation and respond to the environment. Alzheimer’s is the sixth main cause of death in the United States "

In conclusion we must provide adequate services to people with a dementia condition, because we have seen how the inability to do things is their daily life. We as psychologists must go beyond the understanding of the phenomenon and be able to take actions to help relatives or unknown people suffering from this condition.

Memory, attention and learning

According to Reategui, 1999 “Memory ensures the storage of information, being attention one of the factors associated with its proper functioning, understood as the effort made by the person both in the storage phase and in the recovery phase of the information’. This author will help us define these two processes together, because according to the attention given to a certain task, this can have a more effective process to be stored in the long -term memory and, eventually the process to recover will be more effective Information at a certain time. Learning then enters with these two mental processes that allow associating structures such as the motivational aspects of the limbic system, because according to motivation at the time of learning something, we will pay more attention and then the memory will allow us to recover that information and here the system enters Limbic in the sense that memory not being the exact reflection of reality will allow us to store memories according to the meaning that events have for us and that is how memory can be recovered only taking as an example a brain structure. Now that example can be translated into many other brain structures because the two processes are not unitary but they depend on several structures.

As a conclusion, the control of emotions that we exercise day by day to process information and its emotional content, is strongly loaded by the past where memory has a decisive role since it can bring to the present emotional events of the past and link them with what that we live at a certain moment of the present. It is important to recognize how we could handle emotions in the past since they can determine and explain the emotional dynamics we handle in the present, in addition, this process enters other mechanisms such as working memory and even non-emotional information. Finally, you can explain the impulsivity and compulsion of some people towards certain events since the emotional burden of such is greater for those people, perhaps it is due to a traumatic event? Towards this address goes the investigation monitoring.

References

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2. · Gratacós m. – Recovered from: https: // www.Lifer.com/memory-semantics/
3. · Rodríguez e. (2018) – Recovered from: https: // blog.cognifit.com/es/memory-semantics/
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6. · Carmona e. – Recovered from: https: // www.Lifer.com/memory/
7. · Silván c. (2017) – Recovered from: https: // www.Lifer.com/type-memory/
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