Forgetting (retention loss) is a spontaneous or gradual process in which old memories are unable to be recalled from memory storage. It is subject to delicately balanced optimization that ensures that relevant memories are recalled. Forgetting can be prevented by repetition and/or evaluation of the information.
Memory storage, recall and forgetting is still a hotly debated field of inquiry. Little is known for sure about how humans encode, store and recall memories. It appears to involve changes on a biochemical level, which take time to occur. This contributes to the phenomenon of short-term memory and the learning curve.
There are many theories of why forgetting occurs, ranging from common-sense explanations to those more solidly supported by research.
1. Decay Theory
Disuse
A common explanation for forgetting is the notion of decay, which states that if information is not used in it is gradually lost. The disuse theory of decay argues that information must be retrieved occasionally or it will be lost, as if through a process of atrophy.
One problem with disuse theory is that one frequently remembers events from one's past or information learned long ago and not thought of since. Disuse theory alone cannot explain why certain memories fade forever while others seem to be produced after long periods in well-preserved form.
Memory Traces
Early and recent biological theories have attributed the decay of some memories to the slow loss of the actual brain substrate of the memory, termed the memory trace or engram, thought to be responsible for memory storage.
Memory trace theories might argue that some memories are retained though not retrieved for years because, when originally stored, they were exceptionally vivid, and so left stronger, deeper biological "traces" which were more easily aroused many years later.
Motivated Forgetting
While memory seems useful and forgetting a nuisance, it is important to consider the special case of unpleasant memories. In these instances one might be motivated to "forget" or be unable to retrieve certain memories to conscious review.
Freud, for example, considered such motivated forgetting to be an example of repression, a psychic defense mechanism that can occur when memories are painful or threatening. Repression is a process whereby unpleasant ideas -- real memories as well as shameful fantasies -- are moved from conscious consideration to storage in one's unconscious mind, where they will be unavailable to conscious efforts at retrieval.
2. Interference Theory
The above explanations for forgetting, while valuable, do not account for ordinary day-to-day forgetting. A more useful explanation is found in interference theory. The basic idea in interference theory is that memories are not lost so much as they are inhibited, or interfered with, by other memories. There are two types of such interference, termed retroactive interference and proactive interference. Depending on the process assumed to be taking place, they are sometimes referred to respectively as retroactive inhibition and proactive inhibition.
Retroactive Interference
Retroactive interference occurs when later learning interferes, as if retroactively ("acting backwards"), with previous learning. For example, suppose that on Monday one studies Spanish and on Tuesday Italian. During a Spanish test taken on Wednesday intrusions are experienced from Italian words. Retroactive interference explains our inability to recall old memories as due to competition from new memories.
Proactive Interference
Proactive interference occurs when earlier learning interferes proactively("acting forwards" in time) with later learning. Persistent habits provide good examples of proactive interference. Suppose one has lived for several years in an apartment with one kitchen drawer next to the sink where the tableware is always stored. The new apartment, however, has a bigger kitchen and the tableware is now stored in the drawer next to the stove. When hurried or preoccupied, one "forgets" this new plan and habitually seeks knives and forks in the wrong drawer, the drawer by the sink, which corresponds tot he "old" storage place instead of the new one.
Proactive interference thus explains one's inability to acquire new knowledge or habits because of the powerful competition of old memories.
Creating Opportunity
An enterprising person is one who comes across a pile of scrap metal and sees the making of a wonderful sculpture. An enterprising person is one who drives through an old decrepit part of town and sees a new housing development. An enterprising person is one who sees opportunity in all areas of life.
To be enterprising is to keep your eyes open and your mind active. It's to be skilled enough, confident enough, creative enough and disciplined enough to seize opportunities that present themselves... regardless of the economy.
A person with an enterprising attitude says, "Find out what you can before action is taken." Do your homework. Do the research. Be prepared. Be resourceful. Do all you can in preparation of what's to come.
Enterprising people always see the future in the present. Enterprising people always find a way to take advantage of a situation, not be burdened by it. And enterprising people aren't lazy. They don't wait for opportunities to come to them, they go after the opportunities. Enterprise means always finding a way to keep yourself actively working toward your ambition.
Enterprise is two things. The first is creativity. You need creativity to see what's out there and to shape it to your advantage. You need creativity to look at the world a little differently. You need creativity to take a different approach, to be different.
What goes hand-in-hand with the creativity of enterprise is the second requirement: the courage to be creative. You need courage to see things differently, courage to go against the crowd, courage to take a different approach, courage to stand alone if you have to, courage to choose activity over inactivity.
And lastly, being enterprising doesn't just relate to the ability to make money. Being enterprising also means feeling good enough about yourself, having enough self worth to want to seek advantages and opportunities that will make a difference in your future. And by doing so you will increase your confidence, your courage, your creativity and your self-worth, your enterprising nature.
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