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--- outreach:formsofforgetting [2024/03/21 18:12] – ohardt
+++ outreach:formsofforgetting [2024/07/23 14:15] (current) – ohardt
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 ==== Trace Decay ====
-The idea that memories result from structural changes has been proposed already by Réné Descartes. Using the analogy of a wax tablet, he argued that memories are akin to markings engraved on malleable, plastic matter.  Just as imprints on a wax tablet, experiences leave their traces on the mind, and just like the traces on a wax tablet, these impressions may fade over time.  It is perhaps no accident that words referring to memory resonate this concept.  We are told to //mark// what someone said, we claim that something is //stuck// in our mind, we note that an event left an //impression// on us, and so forth.  The idea that memory may result from structural changes to mind or brain is intuitive, as we have many examples of long-lasting records of human thought in the engravings left behind on rocks and stones by ancient cultures.
+The idea that memories result from structural changes has been proposed by Plato. Using the analogy of a wax tablet, he argued that memories are akin to markings engraved on malleable, plastic matter.  Just as imprints on a wax tablet, experiences leave their traces on the mind, and just like the traces on a wax tablet, these impressions may fade over time.  It is perhaps no accident that words referring to memory resonate this concept.  We are told to //mark// what someone said, we claim that something is //stuck// in our mind, we note that an event left an //impression// on us, and so forth.  The idea that memory may result from structural changes to mind or brain is intuitive, as we have many examples of long-lasting records of human thought in the engravings left behind on rocks and stones by ancient cultures.
 In 1913, Edward Thorndike suggested trace decay as a reason why we forget.  His idea was formulated in behaviourist terminology, arguing that if we talk about memory, we are talking about the fact that a certain situation (or stimulus) produces a certain response.  This is possible because the stimulus is connected to the response, which allows the former to trigger the latter.  Forgetting, according to Thorndike, serves an adaptive function.  Specifically, he proposed that when the connection between a stimulus and a response is not activated for a certain time, the strength of this connection is decreased, and, eventually, the stimulus can no longer produce the response.  This version of trace decay is often summarized as the principle "if you don't use it, you loose it", and Thorndike may have found this view intuitive from his practice as an educator, where regular repetition of learned material promotes its long-term retention.  Consequently, he named his explanation for forgetting the "Law of Disuse".