What is the Theory?
When we fail to pay enough attention to something, the memory never gets stored.
Encoding failure
Recognizing a face but not remembering their name
Recognition
A person who can recall childhood but forgets recent events likely has this type of amnesia.
Anterograde amnesia
Omar learned some French vocabulary for a course two years ago but hasn’t practiced since. Now, when his cousin from Guadeloupe visits, he realizes he can hardly remember any of the words.
Decay theory
If you can’t remember the name of your childhood teacher until you visit your old school
Context-dependent memory
This part of the brain is crucial for forming new memories.
Hippocampus
After a bad breakup, Jaden finds it hard to recall details of his relationship — like the exact date of their anniversary or what caused most of the fights.
Motivated forgetting
Remembering information without any cues, such as an essay question
Recall
A neurological disorder that results in severe memory lost, confusion, and distorted thinking.
Alzheimer’s Disease
During her exam, Kelsey saw a question she knew she had studied the night before, but she just couldn’t recall the answer — until she left the exam room, when it suddenly popped into her head.
Retrieval Failure
A student studies best when in the same emotional state as when they learned the material
State-dependent memory
A person is unable to remember what happened to them before the trauma/accident.
Retrograde amnesia
Forgetting your new password because you keep recalling your old one
Proactive interference
When learning something a second time is faster than the first
Relearning
“I was there; I saw it with my own eyes” represents what memory distortion challenges in the legal system.
Eyewitness Testimony