Human memory is pretty tricky. There are all kinds of explanations for a short-term memory failures. You might be operating on automatic pilot so you don’t really pay attention sufficient to warrant recall. Or your memories can be displaced by something else that is more compelling. But even more interesting is that fact that your confidence in remembering the smallest detail from the past is probably unwarranted. Memory experts suggest that we regularly construct our memories so that they are part truth and part fiction. Because they are our constructions, our long-term memories only seem fully developed.

You are referring to the phenomenon known as “deja vu,” or “twice seen.”

Of course, it is possible that you actually may be repeating something that you don’t really recognize, however, it appears that we can respond to elements of a situation with a full blown sense of the experience. Perhaps this creative ability helps us adjust to unfamiliar situations more rapidly, but deja vu does point to the power of the human mind to produce mistaken judgment in our constructions of reality.

Uh oh. You are demonstrating the consequences of shallow learning. It appears that we have different levels of memory in operation. If you haven’t pursued sufficient depth in your study, then you may recall only superficial aspects of what you need to know, such as the word you can’t remember “begins with p” or the concept you have to define was on the top right hand corner. The only solution is more intensive study strategies so you can operate from within a deeper pool of knowledge.

There are several things you can do to apply memory research to help improve your learning and your grades. First, don’t cram. Whatever your store in memory the night before a test is likely to be very fragile. If you spread your study sessions out over time, your recall will be enhanced. Review immediately after class. This helps to consolidate your learning. As you read, think about how the ideas apply to you. The more connections you make to the material, the more avenues you have to dredge up the facts when you need them.

First of all, loss of memory is usually not as dramatic as it is portrayed on soaps. Several things can cause memory loss. A bonk on the head makes it hard to consolidate memories but usually the memory loss is contained to events around the head trauma. Sometimes emotional trauma can cause loss of memory but this is a fairly controversial area of research currently. Chances are pretty good that you will go through life without ever meeting anyone who claims to have suffered amnesia.

It looks like the weight of scientific evidence may be shifting on repressed memories. During the 1980s, the therapeutic community heavily pursued the idea that victims of abuse often had lapses in memory to protect themselves from reexperiencing the trauma of violation. They regularly questioned their clients about the possibility that they couldn’t remember or actively repressed their trauma. This practice led to some examples of individuals who were unjustly accused of abuse. They appropriately sued therapists who may have induced memories of abuse in their client to make their clinical cases make sense. At the same time the courts were making therapists more cautious, the research of Beth Loftus challenged the appropriateness of therapeutic techniques based on how easy it appeared to be to create memories of trauma in her experimental volunteers. Although many therapists still believe that abuse victims can repress ugly episodes in their lives, they are much more cautious about their pursuit of abuse recall.