You see, memorization is not about absorbing material into your brain; it is about pulling material out of your brain. Memories are not created by your experiences. They are created by your trying to remember your experiences. An experience is something that merely happens to you. A memory is something that you make. Experiences are passive (as far as your brain goes). Memories are active. When do I know I have a guitar piece memorized? You might think it is when I have played through the entire piece from memory that I have it memorized. But this is not so. I know I have the piece memorized when I can recall exactly how I played through the piece from memory. Does that make sense? You see, sometimes playing it through by memory is a fluke, a product of "muscle memory" like when you find yourself driving a car only to realize that you have no memory of driving the last 30 miles. If you played through a piece "by memory" but do not remember how you did it, you do not have the piece memorized. You need to both play it from memory and remember how you played it from memory.
This principle of activating memory is one of the key features of education, and I use it entirely to my advantage and my kids' advantage as well. Two summers ago, I took Byron on a trip to New York City. This was a big trip. I was a nervous wreck for one, because I can't navigate well to begin with, so having to navigate while not losing my then 6 year old child is even more daunting. I wanted Byron to remember this trip, if for no other reason than I might not have the stamina for this again for a long time. But here's the thing, the trip was merely an experience, a thing that happened. By themselves, experiences do not make memories. No, I had to get him to remember this trip.
So ever since that trip, I have made it a point to occasionally ask Byron about it. "Byron, do you remember where we went to in New York City?" I give him little reminders, little ideas. I gradually nudge his memory because memory is fickle. I quiz him. I correct mistake he makes about the trip details. One of the last times I asked Byron about our New York City trip, he said we went to the museum with an aquarium. This is understandable. The room we were in was very much like an aquarium. He remembered the blue light that enveloped the room. (Or was it more a green light?) It felt like we were in a glass dome under the water surrounded by a magnificent glow. . . . except we didn't go to an aquarium. We went to the planetarium and saw a show about space. So I had to correct him. You see, memories morph and change. They need to be reinforced and corrected. And no, your child will not remember things just because those events were "special" and they would surely never forget. They will, because memory will alter with time. Don't believe me?
After September 11, 2001, a group of researchers sprang into action to test our memories of highly emotional events. This may seem cold-blooded of researchers to use a national tragedy as a research opportunity, but their findings were extremely insightful. The researchers had 3,000 participants complete a survey within a matter of days after 9/11, when the event was still fresh and people's memories were newly formed. They were asked questions like "How did you first learn about it (what was the source of the information)?" and "Who was the first person with whom you communicated about the attack?" etc. After a year, they had the participants take the same survey, then again at three years, and lastly at ten years. Every time they conducted the survey, they compared the survey results against the original survey results to see how much their memories had changed since the initial survey.
Most of us who remember 9/11 would swear we remember exactly where we were, who we were with, how we felt, whom we talked to, etc. (I was in a Spanish class at Oneonta Community Christian School. I remember the principal gathering everybody into the cafeteria and saying a prayer. At the time nobody knew it was a terrorist attack. Honestly, I don't remember how I felt at the time at that precise moment.) What the researchers discovered was that within the first year after the event, these types of memories (which are called flashbulb memories, by the way) had altered significantly, even though people remained extremely confident in their memory. The answers on the survey after one year where only 63% consistent with how people had initially responded. After three years, that number dropped a little lower to only 57%. After ten years, the consistency actually rose slightly, but insignificantly.
What does all this mean? It means precisely what I said above. Do not assume that an experience creates a memory (at least, don't assume it creates an accurate memory). Having the experience of playing through a guitar piece without looking at the music does not automatically translate into having it memorized. Having a great trip to New York City does not automatically mean Byron will remember the details very well. Having a vivid and confident memory of 9/11 does not necessarily translated into having accurate memories of 9/11.
As you experience this lock-down with your children, do not assume that their memories of this time will make themselves. Do not assume things like:"This is so far out of the ordinary! All this time off from school! Our kids will have memories of this time!" Nope. Bad assumption. Experiences do not create memories. Memories have to be curated, like artwork in a museum. The experience needs to be prepped, polished, put into the proper light. And then you have to do the additional work of getting your child to remember.
How do you curate memory? More on that in my next segment on homeschooling during COVID-19.
Here is the 9/11 research paper I talked about: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/schacterlab/files/hirst_etal_jepgeneral_2015.pdf
Here is a digestible article on this research: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/911-memory-accuracy/
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