As discussed in our text as well as demonstrated in the discussion section meeting on February 29th, our memory is far from perfect. Using schema, we associate bits of information and draw conclusions from stimuli that does not explicitly show everything that we remember. Not only that, we can also be led to believe that we remember something that not only never happened, but is completely outlandish or impossible. This got me thinking. Why do our brains do this? Why is memory not simply a series of pictures or video clips saved somewhere in our brain to be recalled and reflected upon later? On top of that, why is it that we can only recall seven (plus or minus two) pieces of information at once?
Above all, why is the public perception a memory so far from actual human memory capabilities? It is sited in the text that young children believe that they can remember far more than they actually can, and older children will not predict that they can remember as much information. This means that humans have realized at a relatively young age that the span of their memory is limited. But why, then, do humans believe that their memories are clearer and more correct than they actually are? I suppose only additional research will tell.
