Let's Explore our Memory: That Old Tape Recorder Theory

3 months ago

In yesterday's blog-isode, we saw the implications for hypnosis. Apart from that, there is a tape recorder theory or to put it in a more modern way, videotape recorder theory of memory.

Source

This argues that the human brain has an unchangeable record of every sound, sight and touch ever experienced by people, and all that needs to be done is just to rewind the tape back to its desired section.

Yeah Right!

Answer: Nope!

There is no evidence supporting such kind of suggestion. All techniques claiming to allow this are illusory captures of remembrance, as hypnosis has turned out not to be effective. Given everything else we have learned so far, our best guess would be that the tape recorder theory must be wrong.

Obviously!

Then again, to some extent, we hold much more than can be called up at any single time. But this however does not mean that all sensory inputs are retained verbatim. Some never make it into memory; some disappear if not rehearsed and organized, and others like we've seen are distorted so as to fit in with incoming stimuli.

Sad Right, We ain't some super heroes looking for some techniques to tap into our innermost abilities.🤷

Alright let's Move on:

We understand that perception is an active process . It's influenced by what we see and feel, but it's not just a simple copy. The things we sense often get changed and reshaped.

The same goes for memory. It relies on what we've stored, but when we remember something, it gives us more than just a frozen moment from the past. It often fills in missing pieces and rebuilds as we naturally try to connect our past with our present.

But these acts of cognitive construction and reconstruction have some limits, in memory as well as in perception.

For while there are numerous ways in which a memory can be distorted, such distortions don't always occur.

Far from it.

After all, we do remember many details of experiences we've been exposed to, and many of those fit into no particular cognitive mold. And even in cases in which various schemas have led to distortions of recall, subsequent tests of recognition show that more is remembered than seems so at first.

In summary, our memory is neither totally distorted nor entirely accurate.

The tape-recorder theory of memory is wrong.

The same applies to the claim that we reconstruct and infer everything we remember.

Memory in this sense is like perception which can be influenced by both bottom-up and top-down processes.

A perception without any stimuli (that is, without any bottom-up processing) would imply continuous hallucinations.

Without bottom-up processing that is memory without any reference to memory traces, it would be perpetual illusion, a mere ignis fatuus whereby past remembered is being continually built and deconstructed around the moment’s schemas.

Both top-down and bottom-up processes operate in both cognitive domains. The use of schemas – top-down processing – however has its disadvantages since it can distort memory. However, this factor also has its advantages. Indeed, our thinking capabilities are limited as there’s only so much we can encode, store or retrieve.

Consequently, we have to schematize and simplify in order to bring some semblance of order into the world we perceive and think about. Yet sometimes these very devices that help us comprehend and recall things fail leading to misremembering.

We would build on this information tomorrow

The Bus Stops Here for today:

Thank you for joining me in today's blog-isode. I hope you found it interesting. I value your thoughts on this subject or any of my blog-isodes, so feel free to drop them below. I enjoy writing and want to ensure my readers enjoy reading. Until next time, stay safe, friends.