| RESEARCH REPORT
Introduction
Memory is a very important part of learning. It is the ability to remember something that has already been learned. If there wasn’t memory, everything would be "for the first time."
Memory
Memory is stored in the parts of the brain called the hippocampus and the thalmus. They are located inside the cerebral campus, which is one of the three parts of your brain. The hippocampus curls off the end of the cerebral campus.
Scientists don’t really know how memory works but they know that it involves a chemical change in the brain’s one trillion neurons. Every time you learn something new, a new path is made.
Loss and Improvement
You lose memory either when you don’t think about a thing for a while or when it gets confused. According to interference theories, when you forget, one memory gets confused with another. For example, when a friend moves you may think of her old phone number instead of her new one.
Memory can be improved and exercised by using mnemonical devices. Mnemonical devices are things like rhymes, clues, mental pictures, mind games and other things which help you remember things. You associate two different thoughts to help you remember, for instance, plane leaves at two o’clock and plane has two wings. "ROY G. BIV" is a mnemonical device for the colors of the spectrum: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.
The Different Kinds of Memory
The three main kinds of memory are short term, long term and sensory.
Short term memory help you remember for a short to medium amount of time. For example, when you remember a phone number, you remember it long enough to go from the phonebook to the phone to dial the number. If you try very hard, you can transfer something from short term to long term memory.
Long term memory helps you remember for a long period of time. It is so powerful that some information stored can last a lifetime. Some examples are, a friend’s birthday or memories from when you were a child. Sometimes you can forget a memory, but if you see or hear something familar, you remember it.
Sensory memory (also known as immediate memory) is for things you hold in your memory for such a short amount of time that most people don’t even know about it. For example, you may look at a picture, when you turn your head and walk away, you don’t even remember it.
Most people have visual memory, not to be confused with photographic memory which 5% of young children have. Photographic memory is very rare in adults. People who have photographic memory can take a picture in their mind and remember exactly what it looked like, or read a book in their mind.
Other kinds of memory are motor skill and factual. Motor skills are things like walking and riding a bike. It makes it possible for you to do them without thinking. Factual memory is used to remember telephone numbers or the story line of a book.
Color
Color really isn’t what most people think. Color is light reflecting off the pigment in the objects you see. If you’re looking at a shirt, the light bounces off the pigment and hits your eyes and all other colors absorb in. You see just the color that is reflected. That’s why you can’t see in the dark.
The primary colors are blue, yellow and red. If you mix them you get secondary colors. For instance, if you combine blue and yellow you get green. Yellow and red make orange. When you combine red and blue, the result is purple. If you mix all of them equally, you get black.
Every color has an opposite. The opposite of back is white, green is red, orange is blue. You see the opposite in an after image. To see an after image you have to stare at a picture for about 30 seconds. Then stare at a white surface and you see the picture in its opposite color.
Although blue, red and yellow are primary pigment colors, blue, red and green are the primary colors of light. If you mix all of the colors of light equally, you get white. When you mix red and blue you receive a purple light. If you mix red and green you get a yellow light. A combination of blue and green results in a blue/green light.
Also, if you shine a light through a prism, you get the colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. When you shine a light through a prism you separate the colors.
Summary
Memory is the ability to remember something that has already been learned. When you remember something, it involves chemical change in the brain’s one trillion neurons. Every time you learn something new, a new path is made. The three kinds of memory are, long term, short term and sensory. People loose their memory when one memory gets confused with another. To improve memory, you can use mnemonical devices like mind games and brainteasers.
The three primary pigment colors are red blue and yellow. If you mix them you get purple, orange, green and more. The three primary colors of light are, blue, red and green. If you combine them you get white!
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baddely, Alan. "Memory," Science and Technology, vol. 10, pg. 674-675
Baddely, Alan. Your Memory: a Users Guide, United Kingdom: Prion, 1993
Loftus, Elizabeth F. "Memory," World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 13, pg. 392-394 1991
North, Kevin. Memory, (Online) Available at http://www.premiumhealth.com/memory March 1994
Powledge, Tabitha M. Your Brain, How You Got it And How it Works New York, NY: Macmillan, 1994
Restak, Richard. "Brain," World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pg. 561-565 1991
Tripathi, Ramesh. and Brenda "Color," World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pg. 816-827, 1991
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