什么是记忆

对於学习过或经验过的事情，可以回想或再制的能力和过程。研究指出，在各个正常人身上，保存资讯的能力是相当一致的；所不同的是，各人对某事物的学习和解释，以及保存下来的种类和细节，有程度上的差异。注意（Attention）、动机（motivation）、联想（association）的能力，都有助於记忆过程。在所有的感官资料中，视觉印象一般来说是最容易被记住的。有些记忆力超强或是拥有「照相式」或「写真式」记忆力的人，经常会大量利用视觉联想，包括记忆术的方法也是如此。很多心理学家将短期记忆（short-）和长期记忆（long-term memory）区别开来。短期记忆（一般说法是持续十秒到三分钟）比起长期记忆来，较不受後天的干扰和扭曲。长期记忆可以再分为插曲式（episodic，以事件中心）和语意式（semanic，以知识为中心）。关於记忆，学者提出过很多不同的模型，根据启蒙主义时代的观念，记忆是把形象印制在大脑纤维（後来在二十世纪改称为「记忆分子」〔memory molecules〕或被解释为「记忆痕迹」〔engrams〕），到史金纳（B. F. Skinner）则提出「黑盒子」（black box）理论，最近则有学者提出「资讯处理」（information processing）以及「神经细胞群形成」（formation of neuronal group）的概念。关於记忆方面的疾病，包括阿兹海默症（Alzheimer's disease）、失忆症（amnesia）、柯萨科夫症候群（Korsakoff's syndrome）、创伤後压力症候群（post-traumatic stress disorder）及老人痴呆症（senile dementia）。亦请参阅hypnosis。

memory

Power or process of recalling or reproducing what has been learned or experienced. Research indicates that the ability to retain information is fairly uniform among normal individuals; what differs is the degree to which persons learn or take account of something to begin with and the kind and amount of detail that is retained. Attention, motivation, and especially association facilitate this process. Visual images are generally better remembered than are other forms of sense-data. Memory prodigies, or people with “photographic” or “eidetic” memories, often draw heavily on visual associations, including mnemonics. Many psychologists distinguish between short- and long-term memory. The former (variously said to last ten seconds to three minutes) is less subject to interference and distortion than the latter. Long-term memory is sometimes divided into episodic (i.e., event-centered) and semantic (i.e., knowledge-centered) memory. Various models of memory have been proposed, from the Enlightenment notion of impressions made on brain tissues (restyled as “memory molecules” or coded “engrams” in the 20th century) to B. F. Skinner's “black box” to more recent ideas concerning information processing or the formation of neuronal groups. Disorders of or involving memory include Alzheimer's disease, amnesia, Korsakoff's syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and senile dementia. See also hypnosis.