|
gets things which have become unimportant to him. Both factors contribute to the apparent fine memory for events of childhood and youth and poor memory for recent events. Weinland tells us that, according to the evidence, brain damage is greater in its effect on memory of recent events, and in addition the present and future are frequently of less importance to old people who may find more satisfaction in remembering earlier happiness. Loss of interest in life makes them dismiss memories of no importance, and then the ever present tendency to forget what we don't care about remembering takes over. But generalizations cannot be made; some old people remain mentally alert and suffer no serious memory loss, and they make up for such as there is by experience, accumulation of knowledge, ability to organize, and increased capacity to comprehend. Weinland goes on to state that some forgetting is active, or defensive—selective, in order to clear the mind of material irrelevant to the immediate purpose. He reminds us that Pavlov found that associations can be unlearned. Freud said we bar unpleasant things from consciousness, and sometimes complicate the forgetting—and betray ourselves—with what are known now as Freudian slips. He found that childhood experiences which had lasting and damaging effects but were apparently forgotten, had merely been repressed because they were too disturbing to be admitted, and that these incidents could be recalled with sufficient effort and encouragement. |
|||
|
