Chapter 7: Memory

The human memory is a very complex system. Why is it that people can remember some things for years while other things we forget almost immediately? Or why is it that sometimes we say that we remember things that we never actually saw? This is what Chapter 7 of the text is all about. It talks about the three different types of memory, sensory, short-term and long-term memory, and how different experiences affect these sectors of memory.

The thing that struck me as most interesting about this chapter was the paradox of memory. The paradox of memory states "the same memory mechanisms that serve us well in most circumstances can sometimes cause us problems in others. This was interesting to me because it is odd to me how one person can have an extremely good memory on a specific subject but then forget seemingly simple things such as where they left their phone or keys. A good example of the paradox of memory out of the text was that of Rajan Mahadevan. Rajan could recite the value of pi to 38,811 digits, but he continuously forgot where the bathroom was. This example shows just how complex and interesting the human memory is.