I) Introduction - Memories

. The human brain can store around 3 terabytes of information but this is an insignificant amount when compared to all the information created every day (2.5 quintillion bytes per day) (Nate Siver, 2013). Thus the brain has to be selective in what it remembers and thus feeds biases.

. There are 2 types of memories, ie short-term and long-term. Within these 2 the brain has different types of memory systems; many operating semi-autonomous.

. People usually forget 90% of what they learn within 30 days and most of this occurs in the first few hours.

. Memories have different life-spans; with some lasting only a few minutes and others a life-time. The life span of memory can be increased by repeating the information in timed interval. The more repetition, the more likely the memory to persist and be remembered. In fact, "space-learning" is more effective than "massed learning".

. There is a difference between learning something and recalling it later.

. There are at least 2 sub-types of memory, ie one that involves conscious awareness (declarative memories) and ones that do not (non-declarative memories).

- Handwriting enhances memory when compared with typing, ie
"...university students who took lecture notes on laptops perform worse in subsequent examinations than students who handwrite their notes......laptop notetakers took......verbatim notes, signalling that they were processing the content less than longhand notetakers..."
Pam Mueller as quoted by Steven Schwartz, 2017

As longhand notetakers were not able to take every word down, they were forced to think about what they were hearing and reframing it in their own words, thereby improving their memory.



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