Website owner:  James Miller

Memory

   What causes poor memory?  Is the goodness of one's memory 
   simply an innate trait or ability?  Is a good memory something 
   that is just in the genes, an inherited trait, and likewise for 
   a poor memory?  What things can we consider that throw light on 
   the workings of memory?  What about hypnosis?  Under hypnosis 
   people can remember many things that they just don't remember 
   in the normal state.  What are the implications of this fact?  
   When people get old they may remember in great detail the times 
   of their childhood.  What are the implications of this?  It 
   suggests that there is a great deal stored in the mind that we 
   may not realize is there.  It is there but for some reason we 
   are just not able to recall it.  So a big part of the 
   variability in people's memories lies not in the storage of the 
   information but in the mechanism by which it is recalled.  
   Emotional shock can cause amnesia.  What can we infer from this 
   fact?  Absentmindedness affects memory.  What does this tell 
   us?

   Dec 1991