Patterns of memory (conditions for successful memorization and reproduction) are associated with the forms of memory.

Involuntary memorization

The conditions for successful random memorization are:

• strong and significant physical stimuli (the sound of a gunshot, bright light searchlights);
• what causes increased orienting activity(cessation or resumption of an action, process, unusual phenomenon, its contrast with the background, etc.);
• stimuli that are most significant for a given individual (for example, professionally significant items);
• stimuli that have a special emotional coloring;
• what is most connected with the needs of this person;
• that which is the object of activity.

Thus, the conditions of a problem that we solve for a long time are remembered involuntarily and firmly.

Arbitrary memorization

But in human activity more often there is a need to specifically remember something and reproduce it under appropriate conditions. This is an arbitrary memorization, in which the task of remembering is always set, that is, a special mnemonic activity is carried out.

In the process of human development, voluntary memorization is formed relatively late (mainly by the period of schooling). This type of memorization is intensively developed in the teachings and.

Conditions for successful voluntary memorization are:

• awareness of the significance and meaning of the memorized material;
• identification of its structure, logical relationship of parts and elements, semantic and spatial grouping of material;
• identification of a plan in a verbal-textual material, key words in the content of each of its parts, presentation of the material in the form of a diagram, table, diagram, drawing, visual visual image;
• content and accessibility of the memorized material, its correlation with the experience and orientation of the subject of memorization;
• emotional and aesthetic saturation of the material;
• the possibility of using this material in the professional activities of the subject;
• installation on the need to reproduce this material in certain conditions;
• material, which acts as a means of achieving significant goals, plays an essential role in solving life problems, acts as an object of active mental activity.

When memorizing material, it is essential to rationally distribute it in time, and actively reproduce the material being memorized.

mnemonics

If it is impossible to establish semantic connections in a heterogeneous material, artificial methods of facilitating memorization - mnemonics(the art of memorization): the creation of auxiliary artificial associations, the mental placement of the memorized material in a well-known space, a familiar pattern, an easy-to-remember rhythmic tempo. So, from school years everyone knows the mnemonic method of remembering the sequence of colors light spectrum: "Every Hunter Wants to Know Where the Pheasant Sits."

Arbitrary memory is purposefully organized. Studies show that a person easily retains and reproduces only three or four isolated objects (with their simultaneous perception). The limited volume of simultaneous retention and reproduction of the material is due to retroactive and proactive inhibition (inhibition arising, respectively, from subsequent and previous influences).

edge factor

If the subject is given a series of 10 syllables, then the first and last syllables are easier to remember, and the middle ones are worse. What explains this fact? The first elements are not inhibited by previous impressions, and the last members of the series are not inhibited by subsequent elements. The middle members of the series, on the other hand, experience inhibition both from the side of the preceding (proactive inhibition) and from the side of subsequent elements (retroactive, reverse-acting inhibition). The specified pattern of memory (better memorization of extreme elements) is called edge factor.

If the memorized row consists of four elements, then the first, second and fourth are remembered first of all, worse - the third. Therefore, in quatrains, attention should be paid to the third line - the “Achilles heel” of the construction. It is characteristic that it is in the third lines of quatrains that poets often allow violations of the size in order to arouse increased attention to it. Here is how, for example, the first quatrain of N. M. Yazykov's poem "Muse" sounds:

The goddess of the strings survived

Gods and thunder and damask steel.

She did not give beautiful hands into chains

Ages of tyranny and depravity.

It is difficult to remember a list of 18 different items. But listing the hero's purchases dead souls» Nozdryova is not too difficult to remember. In this we are assisted by the author himself, who carries out the necessary contrast organization of the list. “If he [Nozdryov] was lucky enough to attack a simpleton at the fair and beat him, he would buy a bunch of everything that had previously caught his eye in the shops: collars, smoking tar, chintz, candles, kerchiefs for the nanny, a stallion, raisins, a silver washstand, Dutch canvas, grain flour, tobacco, pistols, herrings, paintings, grinding tools, pots, boots, faience utensils - as far as there was enough money.

When moving from memorizing one complex material to memorizing another, it is necessary to take breaks (for at least 15 minutes), which prevent retroactive inhibition.

The assumption that traces do not disappear at all, but are only inhibited under the influence of other influences, is confirmed by the phenomenon of reminiscence (Latin reminiscentia - recollection). Often, when playing material immediately after its perception, the number of elements retained in memory is less than the amount that a person can reproduce after a pause. This is due to the fact that during the rest period, the effect of inhibition is removed.

To expand the amount of arbitrary memory, it is necessary to give the memorized material a certain structure, to group his. It is unlikely, for example, that anyone can quickly remember a series of 16 isolated digits: 1001110101110011. If we group this series in the form two-digit numbers: 10 01 11 01 01 11 00 11, then they are easier to remember. In the form of four-digit numbers, this series is even easier to remember, since it no longer consists of 16 elements, but of four enlarged groups: 1001 1101 0111 0011. Combining elements into groups reduces the number of those elements that experience proactive and retroactive inhibition, allows you to compare these elements, i.e., include intellectual activity in the memorization process.

Rice. 1. Techniques for organizing an arbitrary mnemonic action

The productivity of semantic memory is 25 times higher than mechanical memory. Establishing connections, structure, principle, patterns of building an object is the main condition for its successful memorization. It is difficult to mechanically remember the numbers 248163264128256, but it is very easy to remember the same numbers if you establish a certain pattern in a number of numbers (doubling each subsequent number). The number 123-456-789 is easy to remember by finding the principle of its construction (Fig. 1).

Arbitrary memorization of figurative material is also facilitated by the identification of the principle of its organization (Fig. 2).

IN experimental studies it is found that the subjects "remember" large quantity information than what was presented to them for memorization. If, for example, the sentence “Ivanov chopped sugar” is given for memorization, then when it is reproduced, the subjects often reconstruct this material as follows: “Ivanov chopped sugar with tongs.” This phenomenon is explained by the involuntary connection to the memorization of the judgments and conclusions of the individual.

So, memory is not a store of static information. It is organized by systematizing processes of perception and thinking.

Rice. 2. Remember and reproduce in the same sequence this series of figures (the task can be completed only when the principle of the arrangement of the figures is established)

At playback material as a support should be used those objects that structurally organized the field of perception, regulated the activity of the subject of memorization.

Memories are a special kind of reproduction. Memory- the assignment by the individual of figurative representations to a certain place and moment of his life. The localization of memories is facilitated by reproducing integral behavioral events, their sequence.

Reproduction associated with overcoming difficulties is called recollection. Overcoming the difficulties of recall is facilitated by the establishment of various associations.

Reproducible images of objects or phenomena are called representations. They are divided into types corresponding to the types of perceptions (visual, auditory, etc.).

The peculiarity of representations is their generality And fragmentation. Representations do not convey with the same brightness all the features and signs of objects. If certain representations are connected with our activity, then those aspects of the object that are most essential for this activity come to the fore.

Representations are generalized images of reality. They preserve the permanent attributes of things and discard the random ones. Representations are a higher level of knowledge than sensation and perception. They are a transitional stage from sensations to thought. But representations are always paler, less complete than perceptions. When presenting an image of a well-known object, for example, the facade of your house, you can find that this image is fragmentary and somewhat reconstructed.

The past is restored with the participation of thinking - in a generalized and indirect way. Consciousness of reproduction inevitably leads to a categorical, conceptual coverage of the past. And only specially organized control activity - comparison, critical evaluation - brings the reconstructed picture closer to the real events.

The material of reproduction is a product not only of memory, but of the entire mental originality of a given individual.

The material is remembered in the context of human activity. First of all, what was most relevant, significant in human activity, how this activity began and ended, what obstacles arose on the way to its implementation are stored in the memory. At the same time, some people better remember the facilitators, while others - the hindering factors of activity.

In interpersonal interactions, what is remembered more firmly is that which affects the most significant personal characteristics of the individual.

There are also personal tendencies to reconstruct the material stored in the memory. A person remembers events in the form in which he comprehends them in the process of perception. Already an elementary act of synthesis of perception and memory - recognition differs in a number of ways. individual characteristics. Poor memory for faces can be combined with good memory for other objects.

The accuracy and completeness of reproduction depend on the suggestibility and conformity of the individual, his tendency to fantasize. Significant deformations cognitive processes occur in emotionally stressed states.

So, memory is not a warehouse of finished goods. Her material is subject to personal reconstruction. The personal reconstruction of the reproduced material can manifest itself in the distortion of the semantic content of the source material, the illusory detailing of the reproduced event, the unification of disparate elements, the separation of related elements, the replacement of content with other similar content, the spatial and temporal mixing of events or their fragments, exaggeration, emphasizing personally significant aspects of the event, confusion functionally identical objects.

In the memory of a person, not only the actual side of events is preserved, but also their corresponding interpretation. Meaningful memorization is characterized by the inclusion of the material in the semantic (categorial-conceptual) field of the individual. Reproduction, restoration of past influences is not a "slump" of these influences. The degree of discrepancy between ideas and real events in different people is not the same. It depends on the type of higher nervous activity of the individual, the structure of individual consciousness, value attitudes, motives and goals of activity.

It also functions intensively beyond the threshold of consciousness. At present, it is modeled with the help of electronic computers. However, these machines provide only information storage, while human memory is a constantly self-organizing process, a mental mechanism integrating the results of all mental processes, a mechanism for storing directly perceived and logically processed information.

Some people may have full, vivid representations after a single and involuntary perception of an object. Such representations are called eidetic(from Greek eidos - image). Sometimes there is an involuntary, obsessive, cyclical emergence of images - perseveration(lat. perseveratio - perseverance).

Memory is based on mental processes, which are performed at the initial meeting with the memorized material. Accordingly, during reproduction, the main role is played by the actualization of the material in terms of the functional connections of its elements, their semantic context, and the structural relationship of its parts. And for this, the material in the process of imprinting must be clearly analyzed (divided into structural and semantic units) and synthesized (conceptually combined). The reserves of human memory are inexhaustible.

According to the calculations of the famous cyberneticist J. Neumann, the human brain can accommodate the entire amount of information stored in the largest libraries in the world. Alexander the Great knew by sight and by name all the soldiers of his army of many thousands. A. A. Alekhin could play from memory (blindly) with 40 partners at the same time.

Someone E. Gaon knew by heart all 2.5 thousand books he had read in his life, and could reproduce any passage from them. Numerous cases of outstanding figurative memory of people of artistic type are known. W. A. ​​Mozart could record a great piece of music after listening to it only once. Composers L. K. Glazunov and S. V. Rakhmaninov had the same musical memory. The artist N. N. Ge could accurately depict from memory what he had seen only once.

A person involuntarily remembers everything that attracts his attention: the captivating colors of spring evenings, the graceful outlines of ancient cathedrals, the joyful faces of people close to him, the smells of the sea and pine forest. All these numerous images constitute the figurative-intellectual fund of his psyche.

Everyone has the ability to significantly expand the amount of memory. At the same time, it is necessary to discipline the intellect - to single out the essential against the background of the secondary, actively reproduce the necessary material, widely use mnemonic tricks. The habit of remembering the right things is fixed, like any other skill. School folklore about “Pythagorean pants” and about “every hunter who wants to know where the pheasant is sitting” testifies to the indestructible desire of our mind to find a scheme, an association even where it is impossible to establish logical connections.

Each person has features of his memory: some people have a strong verbal-logical memory, others have a figurative one; some remember quickly, others need more careful processing of the memorized material. But in all cases it is necessary to avoid that which causes proactive and retroactive inhibition. And at the first difficulties of reproduction, the phenomenon of reminiscence should be used.

Memorization without mnemonic orientation, without the intention to remember is called involuntary.

It ensures the preservation of most of our experience, however, it began to be studied later than arbitrary and for a long time was considered inaccurate, fragile, capturing "random" facts that did not enter the field of attention. Indeed, there is a lot of evidence that, at first glance, confirms this opinion. For example, when staging a fight, only 47% of the correct answers were received from the children who watched it. Or a man who repeated a prayer every day after his wife and said it about 5,000 times, could not read it by heart when he was asked to do it, but learned the text of the prayer after that in several repetitions. The incompleteness, inaccuracy and inconsistency of testimonies are also well known, which was first described and analyzed by V. Stern at the beginning of the 20th century. However, later studies by P.I. Zinchenko and A.A. Smirnov showed that the problem of the effectiveness or inefficiency of involuntary memorization is much more complicated.

Smirnov, unexpectedly for the subjects, asked them to remember everything that they remembered on the way from home to work, or (in the second series of experiments) invited them to tell what happened during the scientific meeting, which they attended a week before the experiments. It was concluded that involuntary memorization depends on the main line of activity during which it was carried out, and on the motives that determine this activity. The subjects most often recalled what they did (rather than what they thought), what contributed to or hindered the achievement of the goal, as well as something strange, unusual. Those provisions from the speeches that were closely related to the range of knowledge and interests of the subjects were also remembered. Zinchenko, when studying involuntary memorization, suggested that the subjects perform tasks that require different intellectual activity. He found that the effectiveness of memorization depends on whether the memorized is the goal of the activity or only a means of its implementation. Another factor is the degree, the level of intellectual activity. High intellectual activity is necessary in order to compensate for the lack of mnemonic orientation. That is why, for example, the numbers from the tasks that the subject himself invented were involuntarily remembered better, and not those that were in the tasks offered for solving in finished form.

Comparative studies of the effectiveness of voluntary and involuntary memorization have shown that with deep penetration into the semantic content of the material, with mental processing of the perceived, even without a mnemonic task, the material is retained in memory more firmly than what was memorized arbitrarily, but without active intellectual activity. At the same time, where involuntary memorization is more productive than voluntary, this advantage in children weakens with age, since higher mental development causes less intellectual activity when performing the proposed tasks.

Involuntary memorization depends on the relation of activity to intentions and needs. B.V. effect Zeigarnik lies in the fact that subjects who are offered a number of tasks, when unexpectedly asked to remember these tasks, name more interrupted, unfinished activities. The effect is explained by the lack of discharge of tension, which is created by the "quasi-need" to perform the activity. However, it depends on many factors, and, in particular, with high motivation, when motives related to the defense of the Self come to the fore, the dependence is reversed: memories of "unpleasant" tasks, failures are suppressed.

The question of the influence of emotions on the effectiveness of involuntary memorization is difficult. According to Freud, what has a bright negative connotation is forced into the unconscious. Other authors (for example, Blonsky) obtained different data in experiments, noting that it is unlikely that forgetting something unpleasant is good for life. It is only clear that usually emotional coloring improves memorization in comparison with the memorization of emotionally neutral material. S. L. Rubinshtein considers it impossible to give an unambiguous answer to the question of whether pleasant or unpleasant is remembered better. Unfortunately, the mechanisms by which emotions affect memory are still poorly understood.

In modern cognitive psychology, the “processing level” model proposed by F. Craik and R. Lockhart is most directly related to the issue under discussion. According to this model, memory is a by-product of information processing, and the preservation of its traces directly depends on the depth of processing. Superficial, sensory analysis is less effective for memorization than, for example, semantic. This model, essentially similar to the earlier views of Smirnov and Zinchenko, is criticized, but it explains many facts well (for example, the memorization of the text of the role by the actor while working on it or the memorization by the investigator of those difficult cases that he led). It is also shown that students prone to deep processing educational material, remember it better (R. Schmeck). The “personal development” of the material is also useful, for example, searching for events from personal experience corresponding to the patterns under study, or attempts to use these patterns in practice.

Involuntary memory - it is a product and a condition for the implementation of cognitive and practical actions.

For the productivity of involuntary memorization, the place that this material occupies in the activity is important. If the material is included in the content of the main goal of the activity, it is remembered better than when it is included in the conditions, ways to achieve this goal.

Example1: In experiments for schoolchildren Grade 1 students were given five simple arithmetic problems to solve, after which, unexpectedly for the subjects, they were asked to recall the conditions and numbers of the problems. Schoolchildren of the 1st grade memorized numbers almost three times more than students. This is due to the fact that the first-grader's ability to add and subtract has not yet become a skill. It is a meaningful purposeful action for students of the 1st grade. For first-graders, operating with numbers was the content of the goal of this action, while for students it was part of the content of the method, and not the goal of the action.

Material that occupies a different place in activity acquires different meaning. Therefore, it requires a different orientation and is reinforced in different ways. The content of the main goal requires a more active orientation and receives effective reinforcement as an achieved result of the activity and therefore is better remembered than what concerns the conditions for achieving the goal.

Example2: Simple text - text of medium complexity - complex text with a plan.

Involuntarily, the material that causes active mental work on it is better remembered.

involuntary memorization will be the more productive, the more interested we are in the content of the task being performed. So, if the student is interested in the lesson, he remembers its content better than when the student listens only for “order”.

Arbitrary memorization - This a product of special mnemonic actions, that is, such actions, the main purpose of which will be memorization itself. The productivity of such an action is also related to the characteristics of its goals, motives and methods of implementation. At the same time, as special studies have shown, one of the main conditions for arbitrary memorization is a clear statement of the task of remembering the material accurately, completely and consistently. Various mnemonic goals affect the nature of the memorization process itself, the choice of its various methods, and, in connection with this, the result.

An important role in voluntary memorization is played by motives that encourage memorization. The reported information can be understood and memorized, but without acquiring sustainable significance for the student, it can quickly be forgotten. People who have not been sufficiently brought up with a sense of duty and responsibility often forget much of what they need to remember.

Mnemic tricks (Sharikov)

• analogy, association,
• Organizing the material
• Repetition,
• Establishment of logical connections,
• Recoding (lecture in your own words),
• interrupted action effect,
• Easier to remember in pieces
• Use of a developed type of memory.

Under the same conditions of working with the material(for example: classification of objects) involuntary memorization, remaining more productive in preschool and younger children school age, gradually loses its predominantly in middle school students and adults, giving way to arbitrary memorization.

Not only involuntary, but also random memorization has its reserves. Studies show that for successful memorization it is necessary that in the mind of the student there is a kind of internal setting for compulsory memorization. At the time of working with the material, he must give himself the order: "Comprehend and remember!".

The process of such arbitrary memorization consists of two interrelated stages.

The first stage of arbitrary memorization

At the first stage, the student performs the first part of the self-order, that is, comprehends the material. To do this, he slowly reads the given text, trying to understand its general idea.

Three points play a decisive role here, which must be taught to students. Usually they reach this when they become adults, and not everyone uses it. It's a pity, the "train" of the school has already left.

1. The continuous presence in the mind of the student of an arbitrary setting for the maximum activation of the imagination so that the described objects, phenomena, events are reflected in his images as brightly as possible. Imagination helps the student to memorize not mechanically, but by understanding the semantic connections between words. "In order to remember better, I read and at the same time imagine what I read" - unfortunately, very few people do this.
2. Continuous comparison of the perceived information with the knowledge that the student already has in this area, with his life experience. On this basis, individual elements, parts of the material are classified according to the degree of novelty for the student. Here it is necessary to proceed as follows. While reading, the student notes to himself along the way: "I already know this"; "This fact is partly already familiar, I met him there and there..."; "And this is completely unfamiliar material, it will need to be read on purpose, more thoughtfully." You can read with a pencil in your hands, making appropriate notes. Thus, the material is perceived as partially familiar, which greatly facilitates arbitrary memorization.
3. Continuous comparison of the content of individual sentences and thus highlighting the main and secondary (auxiliary) in the text; definition of the main idea of ​​the memorized material.

Only one implementation in this way of setting the mind to comprehend the text gives such a significant effect in terms of memorization that some students (especially high school students) stop working on mastering the given material at this point. You can understand them: after all, the execution of the second part of the self-order (that is, the actual memorization of the material) is associated with multiple monotonous repetitions, which, of course, cannot cause much interest. One of the tenth-graders wrote in the questionnaire about this: “I read and try to understand. If I don’t understand, I re-read it for the second time, for the third, until I understand.

The second stage of arbitrary memorization

And yet, if it is necessary to achieve deep and lasting memorization, it is necessary to carry out the second - "mnemonic" stage, in which the decisive role belongs to the volitional qualities of the student.

At the "mnemonic" stage of arbitrary memorization, the material is actually worked out on separate sentences. After reading the next sentence, the student reproduces it at the level of inner speech ("to himself"), while performing self-control over the text.

Self-confidence and voluntary memorization

An important condition for successful voluntary memorization is the student's confidence that he will cope with the task. Psychologists have proven this in such an experiment.

Adolescents and high school students were given a text for arbitrary memorization. Then, regardless of the results, they were randomly divided into two groups.

1. One group was told that there were gathered those who had a very good memory, allowing them to solve the most challenging tasks for memorization.
2. Students of the second group - on the contrary: that each of them has a memory of one or another weak link.

Then, the same control test was performed in both groups. In the second group, where the students' confidence in the ability to successfully cope with memory tasks was undermined to a certain extent, the results were 10% lower than in the first.

Hence the important conclusion for teachers and parents

All students, and especially those who have a weak memory, must be convinced in every possible way of the reality of achieving good results, subject to a diligent attitude towards completing memory tasks.

"Repetition is the mother of learning"

Considerable attention should be paid to the organization of repetitions. It must be remembered that the term "repetition" can mean:

1. repetition immediately after reading at the level of inner speech "to oneself",
2. reproduction of what is perceived in terms of loud speech (active repetition),
3. association (alternation of the first and second types).

According to research, the best results are obtained by such a ratio, when approximately 40% of the time spent on the overall assimilation of this material is devoted to active repetition.

It is important that the transition from repeated perceptions to active repetition is not premature, otherwise the student will be forced to constantly look into the text. Of course, in principle, this can and should be done, but only to make sure that the process being carried out is accurate (and therefore prepared). The signal for such a transition should be the appearance of a "sense of knowledge" in the student. The very first attempt at reproduction will show how accurate this feeling is. Most often, it fails those children whose mental activity is characterized by increased impulsivity (choleric and melancholic temperaments).

In order to educate students in self-confidence and improve the "sense of knowledge", they should be encouraged to make wider use of a variety of technical means- from such elementary ones as cards for memorizing words foreign language(on the one hand - a foreign word, on the other - the equivalent in mother tongue), and up to more complex, say, audio recordings. “When memorizing poetry and prose passages,” one of the seventh-graders reports, “I record my recitations on audio and immediately scroll through the recorded one.” And again, reports about the use of this technique are extremely rare in the questionnaires.

Arbitrary memorization (English voluntary memory)- the process of memorization, which is carried out in the form of conscious activity, which has a mnemonic orientation (mnemonic attitude) and includes a set of special mnemonic actions. Among the conditions for the productivity of arbitrary memorization, the central place is occupied by the use of rational techniques. One of the most important techniques is drawing up a plan for the material to be remembered. Great importance have a comparison, classification, systematization of the material. Necessary condition strength P. z. - repetition, as a result of which traces of repeated processes become more durable. In addition, repetition creates the prerequisites for greater meaningfulness of memorization, deeper, more complete memorization of the material.

V.Ya. Laudis (1976) considers voluntary memorization as a special mnemonic action associated with the construction and reproduction of an image of an object that is necessary in subsequent activities. The implementation of this goal is ensured by a system of orienting research and executive operations that form the psychological mechanism of P. z. Cm . See also Mnemic activity, Involuntary memorization, Types of memory, Memory. (T.P. Zinchenko)

Psychological dictionary. I. Kondakov

Arbitrary memorization

• Category - a form of memorization.
• Specificity - for better preservation of material in memory, special means are deliberately used. Depending on the mnemonic goals and the mnemonic techniques used, the efficiency of arbitrary memorization is different. When formulating certain mnemonic tasks, when it is determined how completely, accurately and for a long time it is necessary to remember, there is an orientation towards the selection of various features of the source material and certain methods and strategies of memorization are updated. As practice shows, the following techniques are quite effective: semantic grouping and highlighting key elements of the structure of memorized information; linking new material with previously learned.

Glossary of psychological terms. N. Gubina

Arbitrary memorization- memorization, in which there is a deliberate use of special means to better preserve the material in memory. Depending on the mnemonic goals and the mnemonic techniques used, the efficiency of arbitrary memorization is different. When formulating certain mnemonic tasks, when it is determined how completely, accurately and for a long time it is necessary to remember, there is an orientation towards the selection of various features of the source material and certain methods and strategies of memorization are updated.

As practice shows, the following techniques are quite effective: semantic grouping and highlighting key elements of the structure of memorized information; linking new material with previously learned.

Neurology. Full Dictionary. Nikiforov A.S.

Oxford Dictionary of Psychology

there is no meaning and interpretation of the word

subject area of ​​the term