More to memory - the 4 types!
‘Every part of your life relies on memory. Whether you’re walking, studying, relaxing, talking, playing - or simply breathing - some kind of memory process is always at work.’
These words kick off a book I recently picked up, by Jonathan Hancock -
‘Mazimise your memory - Techniques and Excercises for Remembering Just About Anything’
I know when I used to think about my memory, I thought about it in relation to recalling information or experiences.
HOWEVER, there are 4 TYPES
If you’d like to have just a little bit of a general understanding, I have listed these for you below:
Episodic = Our episodic memory holds events from the past e.g. our last birthday celebrations or big political event.
Semantic = Our semantic memory holds knowledge e.g. what a cat is or what your street address is
Procedural memory = Our procedural memory looks after the skills and tasks we perform regularly and therefore we don’t have to think consciously about them e.g. walking, drinking a glass of water
Prospective = Our prospective memory allows us to plan for the future e.g. the appointment you have in 2 weeks, our goals for the upcoming month
We’re obviously likely to be stronger in some areas than others.
Which might be strongest or stronger for you?
As the functions of these different memories types do often overlap, the more understanding we have of our existing strengths, the more we can utilise these to build the strength of the other types.
Personally, my prospective memory is perhaps my strongest natural strength. Therefore, I can use this to my advantage to plan regular memory study to build on the other types!
What are your thoughts? If you’d like to have a individual chat about this, click the ‘book a chat’ button.