Author: lkp5256

We live, learn, and we forget. Memories are an essential part of how we experience the world around us. When we forget, it is commonly defined as retrieval failure. This is our inability to retrieve information from our long term memory and bring it back into our working memory. Our working memory is when we are able to use our memories whether they are explicit or implicit memories. However, when we forget those memories it is typically some type of interference. Interference can either be proactive or retroactive.

A retroactive interference is where past information interferes with current information. I have recently experienced a retroactive interference. I was talking to my friends and telling them about my recent breakup. I referred to my ex-boyfriend as my boyfriend. At first, I thought it was just an accident until it happened again. At this point, I had convinced myself that I was just in the habit of calling him my boyfriend, until we learned about retroactive and proactive interferences. At which point, I learned that the past knowledge of him being my boyfriend was interfering with my current knowledge that he is no longer my boyfriend. Retroactive interference can typically be avoided through better sleep patterns because sleep leads to better recall and retrieval from the long-term memory.

Proactive interference is where new information interferes with past information. One example of a proactive interference was when I got a new phone number and I tried to remember the new number to tell my mom, but I accidentally told her my old phone number. The old number was actively interfering with my ability to learn my new phone number. Overall, there are many ways that information can interfere with new or current memories.

The retrieval process is key to completing the cycle of the memory process, which is why many people are frustrated by their occasional inability to retrieve past or current memories. I have personally experienced interference through both respects. I used to get easily frustrated by my inability to recall important things like my phone number, but now with my new knowledge of interference in memory retrieval I will be able to calm myself down and remember that interference is normal.

In the spring of 2017, I was diagnosed with a concussion. I was at a lacrosse practice running through a drill when something hit my head and blacked out. I woke up on the gym floor and a pool of people were crowded around me. My coach walked over to me and escorted me to the sideline. I was confused and scared. I had been informed about concussions in the past and I was nervous about what would happen to the rest of my season. My teammate came up and explained what happened to me. I was hit in the head with a lacrosse ball while guarding a teammate. How did I not see the ball coming? The thrower was only 20 feet from me. I should have seen it.

In a lot of cases, when people are in car accidents they claim that they “didn’t see the other car,” which is a similar thought as to when I got hit in the head. How can you not see something that is in your field of vision? Well, as humans our

brains can only truly process a small part of our range of sight. When you are focused on something else, you can be blind to very significant things, which is considered inattentional blindness. Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice a visible object entering your line of sight. It was a lacrosse ball in my case. I was so focused on the drill and who I was guarding that I did not notice the ball flying at my head. Additionally, my brain only has the capacity to process, in detail, a small part of my field of vision. Selective attention means that you can only process a certain amount of stimuli when several occur. In my case, I was processing my task in the drill and I did not have the capacity to also process the ball flying at me. Selective attention typically leads to inattentional blindness.

Sadly, due to inattentional blindness and selective attention I was benched for a month. However, I am no longer beating myself up for not being more careful. My perception, being aware through one’s senses, of my environment was skewed by my brain’s limited capacity to process information. Luckily, I made a healthy recovery and stayed alert on the field, to the best of my ability.