Rettelser

One of the question that many scientists have always tried to answer is whether it is possible to establish how accurate are memories.

Many researches on human mind have been conducted to solve this problem, using every kind of method, but the conclusion has always been the same.

Scientists state that our memories depend on the intensity of emotions and perceptions associated with them.

Probably this is the reason why some recollections are more accurate than others.

As neurolinguistics affirms, our memories are the result of all the perceptions and emotions we associate with them.

Our brain is like a computer, that catches and analyses all the aspects of a perception and classifies them in images of the mind that we associate with a memory or a word (Saussure, 1916).

The more intense a perception is, the more likely we will remember it.

Indeed, researches on human mind have shown that in our brain there is a part, called hippocampus, that has a crucial role in deciding which memories should be remembered in the long-term or in the short-term.

As a matter of fact, neuroscientists assume that the more often you remember an event, the more stable it will become in your memory.

Completely in contrast with it, is the idea of Marc Green, who sustains that "recollections become less accurate with each retelling".

Probably our mind covers the aspects we do not remember immediatedly, adding new informations that are not true, that are the result of our imagination (Loftus and her colleagues).

A recent event that happened to me last week shows how memories are not always trusting.

Last saturday I had to prepare a cake to celebrate my grandmother's birthday.

After spending two hours thinking about what kind of cake I had to prepare, an unexpected memory came surprisingly to my mind and I decided to prepare the chocolate cake my grandmother used to bake me when I was a child.

According to my mother, I had to add a little cinnamon in the cream, but as I remembered, I did not associate that taste with my recollection.

Consequently I decided to follow my recipe, but unfortunately the cake was completely different from my grandmother's one.

This is the demonstration that childhood memories are not fairly accurate and we can not be completely sure of our recollections.

As previously said, accuracy could be found only if an event or an action has been significant and important for us.

To conclude, personal experience is the discerning key-factor in classifying long or short-term memories.