Ryan Franklin
Psych 256
Blog Post 2
6/12/16
Memories are a very powerful things to us as individuals. For all of us, they are an archive of the events that have taken place over the course of our lives. There are many different forms of memory such as semantic, long term, short term, etc., but the one I find myself so fascinated by is the archival episodic memory. Our episodic memory is, as our text states, “memory for specific events that have happened to the person having the memory. These events are usually remembered as a personal experience that occurred at a particular time and place.” (Goldstein, 2011). I feel the word archive best describes this form of memory, because it is a log of a majority of our past experiences (good or bad) that can be recalled, at least in my case, in great detail.
I have one memory in particular that is quite clear to me. This memory is of an event that took place when I was around thirteen where my father and I were in a terrible car accident. We were driving on the highway coming home from my grandmother’s when a woman in a white ford explorer ran a red light and hit the side of our truck at about fifty-five miles per hour. I remember almost every detail of that incident from the accident itself to the time we spent in the hospital. The reason I remember this in such great detail is because it was a major event in my life, and therefore it was stored in my long term memory.
As the definition mentioned before, these episodic memories are based off of events in our lives. I’m sure we all have major events we can call episodic memories whether it is a wedding, a date, a speech we had to give, etc. Either way, these explicit memories where we are fully conscientious about them are very important to us. Goldberg (2011) mentions how our explicit memories, such as our episodic ones, are ones we are conscious of. I know I mentioned that this is important, but that is because we can actually learn from our explicit memories because they can be recalled and examined by us as long as they are retained. I feel as though these types of memories (episodic memories in particular) inevitably shape who we are almost as much as the event itself for this same reason.
So to conclude, we have many different types of memory, but one of the most important is our explicit, but more specifically, our episodic memory. These are events that have impacted us in some way, and in turn has been committed to memory. I feel as though that these memories can impact us almost as much as the event itself. I know personally I think back to that day, and it changes the way I react to and see things still. That is a good thing though because of these explicit memories, we can grow and learn as much as we did from the actual event.
Works Cited
Goldstein, E. Bruce. Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Hi Ryan! So sorry to hear about the accident, it must have been so scary! I liked your post because I have had a similar experience that left a significant impact on my long-term memory. It’s amazing how one life event can shape us into completely different people. Jordan, I like how you wrote how “sometimes we are unable to recall what happened to us a week ago, yet we are able to remember something that happened so long ago.” I also think it is amazing how certain memories can leave an imprint on our minds! There have been moments where I pick up on a familiar smell and it brings me right back to a childhood memory, either a special place or a moment with family or friends. For example, whenever I smell burning leaves I think of camping and other activities I used to do as a child. Eventually, these experiences and memories shape us into the person we are today.
Hi Ryan,
Thank you for the great post! I am sorry to hear about the crash when you were thirteen, that sounds terrifying and I hope you both escaped injury free. I found your post very interesting and one point you made that really stuck out to me was that “we have many different types of memory, but one of the most important is our explicit, but more specifically, our episodic memory. These are events that have impacted us in some way, and in turn has been committed to memory. I feel as though that these memories can impact us almost as much as the event itself.”
I agree with you that the most important memory is our episodic memory. When I think about the best times in my life, I’m not thinking about historical facts, but I am thinking about the amazing events in my life like falling in love. Goldstein (2011) explained how episodic memories can be lost (p. 159), but I would like the good memories to stay so I can keep reliving them!
Additionally, I am very aware of how certain episodic memories can shape us as a human being. I have PTSD from an event that happened when I was 20 and to this day it still impacts me and shaped part of who I am – I like to think I am stronger now! I think that without our episodic memory there would always be chance of myself unknowingly putting myself in a dangerous situation. I am now hypervigilant in certain situations and acutely aware of my surroundings, which could have possibly saved me from the same thing happening again!
Works Cited
Goldstein, E. Bruce. Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Hi Ryan!
I wanted to start off by saying that your post was really interesting to read. It sucks that you and your father were in that terrible car accident but I am glad that you are okay. After reading your post, it allowed me to put some real world context into what we have learned this week. What you talked about in your post is the epitome of autobiographical memory. The text defines this as “recollected events that belong to a person’s past. When we remember the events that make up the stories of our life by using mental time travel to place ourselves back into a specific situation, we are experiencing autobiographical memory” (Goldstein, 2011). You ‘went back in time’ and remembered everything so vividly, which is also an example of flashbulb memories. Defined as “highly detailed, vivid memories for significant and highly emotionally charged events” (Course Commentary). I agree with you that it is quite fascinating how our minds work. Sometimes we are unable to recall what we did a week ago, and then somehow we are able to recall what happened to us when we were eight years old. I believe our autobiographical memories help shape us into who we are today. If we were not able to recall events that have happened to us in the past, then we would not be able to learn from our mistakes and make better decisions.
Resource:
Goldstein, E. Bruce. Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Penn State University. (2016). Lesson 8. Long-term memory: Encoding and retrieval. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1778565/assignments/8577473?module_item_id=20798829