Amazing Facts about the Psychology of Learning and Memory

by Valerie
Learning Mind

Psychological research has long been fascinated with how humans learn and retain memories. As a result of this fascination research has revealed some amazing facts of exactly how the brain learns and remembers.

Recalling Memories Changes Them

This is bad news for the expert eyewitnesses. Research by Neuroscientist Daniela Schiller, has shown that the simple act of recalling a memory can actually change the memory1, for example recalling something from your past – say a specific birthday present you bought for somebody years ago, that simple act of recalling that particular present weakens other related memories.

Psychologists say that this phenomenon allows people to actively reconstruct past memories. As people are unaware they are creating these inaccurate memories it can lead to the creation of false memories and can even support the development of irrational fears. It could be argued that we essentially create our own past to serve our own needs and future self-identity.
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