Why we forget old facts and how to deal with it

If you are asked what you ate for breakfast last Monday, you can hardly remember. You have a lot of memories of breakfast, and newer ones "overshadow" the previous ones. Or, for example, you changed your email password. After a while, you will not be able to remember the old combination: the new one will simply push it out of your head. This happens all the time: with skills, facts, dates learned by heart. And it's all about retroactive interference.

Memories distort each other

Information stored in long-term memory gets confused and distorted over time. This is especially true for similar memories and skills. For example, you commute to work every day on the same road, so the details of specific trips are mixed. You will still remember yesterday, but the one that was a week ago is unlikely.

New data replaces old data - this is called retroactive interference.

It is inextricably linked with the work of our thinking. For normal functioning, the ability to forget information is vital: without it, our memory would be overloaded with data. We would be overstrained, stressed, and eventually burned out. Interference acts as a defense mechanism.

Because of this, we forget what we learned before

Researchers described this phenomenon back in 1931. Then psychologists conducted an experiment with word lists. Participants were first asked to memorize a number of disyllabic adjectives. After a while they were given another list. Someone similar to the original, and someone very different. For example, in one there were synonyms for words from the first list, in the other - antonyms, in the third - a meaningless set of syllables.

It turned out that the more the elements are similar, the more they get confused in memory. And if the second list differs from the original, there are fewer problems when trying to remember the right words. Interestingly, the effect is more pronounced in those who remember information faster.

We don't need to memorize word lists in real life, but retroactive interference affects any skill.

Let's say you know Spanish and have recently started learning French. You want to talk to a friend in Spanish, but your head is confused. Words and rules from the two languages are mixed with each other. Or you are learning a new melody on the guitar. Once you have memorized it, it is difficult for you to play what you knew before.

This can and should be fought

For information to be better remembered, it must somehow stand out. Come up with a song or a short rhyme with vivid associations. Or use special mnemonics. So new information will not be confused with other similar ones, and then it will be easier to extract them from memory.

Review what you have learned regularly. And even when you have already mastered the skill well. For example, in order not to forget a foreign language, read, write and speak it. In order not to forget how to play a musical instrument, practice constantly. This will help keep the information in long-term memory.