How does memory work in the brain?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: How does memory work in the brain?
Position‹3 of 5›: One of the most complicated memory processes is retrieval
Argument1 of 3›: Improving memory

Recalling and utilizing information is crucial to our lives, and many strategies can help improve memory storage and recall.

The argument

Almost everyone could benefit from a better memory: it might allow us to become smarter, do better on an assessment, be more efficient, or simply accomplish tasks better. The argument's point is that retrieval — the hardest of the memory processes — can be improved deliberately, because what makes something easy to recall is determined at the moment it is learned rather than at the moment it is needed. The first method is known as the testing effect. Periodic and frequent "tests" while learning information help it to be encoded better, because testing refires the neurons involved and strengthens the neural pathway. The mechanism explains why testing is not merely a way of checking what has been learned: the act of retrieving a memory is itself an act of strengthening it, so each attempt makes the next one easier. The same benefit can be obtained by spacing the learning of information out over a longer time period instead of learning it all in one sitting, since spacing forces repeated retrieval of something partially forgotten rather than the passive rereading that a single sitting allows. The second method concerns the depth at which information is handled. Shallow processing treats information at the surface level, while deep — or semantic — processing encodes it more effectively by focusing on it in a more considered and focused way. This ingrains the information deeper in the brain and makes the neural networks of the memory stronger, and therefore easier to recall. In practice it means memorising information based upon its deeper meaning or implication rather than its surface-level facts, so that the new material is connected to what is already known and can be reached by more than one route. Both techniques work on the same principle: recall is improved by making encoding effortful and meaningful, rather than by trying harder at the point of retrieval.

Premises

[P1]The 'testing effect' shows that frequent self-testing while learning refires neurons and strengthens neural pathways, and spacing learning over time rather than cramming further improves encoding and later recall. [P2] Deep (semantic) processing—focusing on information's meaning and implications rather than surface facts—ingrains it more strongly, making memories easier to retrieve. [C] Because retrieval can be strengthened through these deliberate encoding techniques, it stands among the most complex and important memory processes.

Counter-arguments

Although these methods might work sometimes, they really aren't reliable. Some people simply have good memories, and some don't. Memory is something one is born with and it is hardwired into our brain, and cannot be improved significantly through special tricks or methods.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P3] Methods cannot significantly change neural networks, and are ineffective at improving memory.