How to Remember Something That You Forgot
Understand the stages of remembering something., Retrace your steps., Reconstruct your train of thought., Recreate the original environmental cues., Think and/or talk about something else that's not related., Relax.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand the stages of remembering something.
In order for you to be able to remember something, your brain needs to go through three stages: acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval (sometimes known as recall).If something goes wrong in one of these stages, it will be difficult to remember what you want to remember.
In the acquisition stage, information that you’ve just learned is stored in your short-term memory before either being discarded or encoded as long-term memory.
If you’re not paying attention to something, such as where you put your glasses down before leaving the room, you’re very likely to forget their location when you come back.
In the consolidation stage, information that you’ve learned is transferred into long-term memory.
This is more likely to happen if this information relates to other long-term memories of yours, is meaningful in some way (related to historical or important events), or has a strong sensory impression connected to it.
In the retrieval stage, information stored in your memory is retrieved by activating the neuronal pattern used to store it.
This stage is often where the feeling of having something “on the tip of your tongue” occurs, and there are some things you can do to prompt this stage. -
Step 2: Retrace your steps.
Research has found that a lot of memory is “context-dependent,” meaning people are better at remembering information in an environment that matches the environment in which that information was learned.For example, if you thought of something in the living room and forgot it by the time you got to the kitchen, try going back to the living room.
It’s likely the return to a familiar context will help you retrieve the forgotten information. , If you can’t physically go back to the place you were when you had the thought you’ve now forgotten, try imagining where you were, what you were doing, and how your thoughts connected to each other.
Because many memories are stored along overlapping neuronal patterns, reconstructing your train of thought may help retrieve the forgotten thought by stimulating related ideas., For example, if you were listening to a particular song or browsing a particular webpage when you had the thought you’ve forgotten, bringing up that information again will likely help you retrieve the information you forgot., Because your brain stores so much information along overlapping neuronal patterns, it can be easy to get stuck retrieving related but “wrong” information, such as all of the other actors who played Batman, but not the one you’re thinking of.
Thinking about something else can help “reset” your retrieval., Anxiety can make it difficult to remember even simple information.
If you are having a hard time remembering something, don’t get worked up over it; try taking a few deep breaths to calm yourself and then try to think of the information. -
Step 3: Reconstruct your train of thought.
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Step 4: Recreate the original environmental cues.
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Step 5: Think and/or talk about something else that's not related.
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Step 6: Relax.
Detailed Guide
In order for you to be able to remember something, your brain needs to go through three stages: acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval (sometimes known as recall).If something goes wrong in one of these stages, it will be difficult to remember what you want to remember.
In the acquisition stage, information that you’ve just learned is stored in your short-term memory before either being discarded or encoded as long-term memory.
If you’re not paying attention to something, such as where you put your glasses down before leaving the room, you’re very likely to forget their location when you come back.
In the consolidation stage, information that you’ve learned is transferred into long-term memory.
This is more likely to happen if this information relates to other long-term memories of yours, is meaningful in some way (related to historical or important events), or has a strong sensory impression connected to it.
In the retrieval stage, information stored in your memory is retrieved by activating the neuronal pattern used to store it.
This stage is often where the feeling of having something “on the tip of your tongue” occurs, and there are some things you can do to prompt this stage.
Research has found that a lot of memory is “context-dependent,” meaning people are better at remembering information in an environment that matches the environment in which that information was learned.For example, if you thought of something in the living room and forgot it by the time you got to the kitchen, try going back to the living room.
It’s likely the return to a familiar context will help you retrieve the forgotten information. , If you can’t physically go back to the place you were when you had the thought you’ve now forgotten, try imagining where you were, what you were doing, and how your thoughts connected to each other.
Because many memories are stored along overlapping neuronal patterns, reconstructing your train of thought may help retrieve the forgotten thought by stimulating related ideas., For example, if you were listening to a particular song or browsing a particular webpage when you had the thought you’ve forgotten, bringing up that information again will likely help you retrieve the information you forgot., Because your brain stores so much information along overlapping neuronal patterns, it can be easy to get stuck retrieving related but “wrong” information, such as all of the other actors who played Batman, but not the one you’re thinking of.
Thinking about something else can help “reset” your retrieval., Anxiety can make it difficult to remember even simple information.
If you are having a hard time remembering something, don’t get worked up over it; try taking a few deep breaths to calm yourself and then try to think of the information.
About the Author
Marie Sullivan
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow home improvement tutorials.
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