Intelligence and memory

Intelligence

The term “intelligence” is often used to assess a person’s mental abilities.

Intelligence is a set of mental abilities of a person, aimed at cognition, comprehension and resolution of emerging tasks.

Scientists distinguish three categories of mental abilities:

• technical – the ability to use various tools and mechanisms;
• public – the ability to interact with other people;
• the ability to apply various symbols and scientific concepts.

Sometimes they also highlight the ability to create.

Intelligence is usually assessed using tests to determine the IQ (from the English intelligence quotient). The average IQ value is approximately equal to 100. 25% of people have an IQ value of less than 90 and the same number – above 110. If the coefficient is 130-140, then the person has a high level of ability. There are few such people – about 2%.

Learning and memory

Gaining individual experience is called learning. Learning happens through memory.

Memory is a complex psychophysiological process associated with the acquisition of individual life experience by a person.

Memory is the ability of the brain to store information and reproduce it at intervals.
Memory allows you to retrieve and use previously stored information and use it to solve emerging problems.

The temporal lobes of the brain, the reticular formation of the brain stem, and the hypothalamus are involved in the formation of memory.

Depending on the time of saving information, memory is distinguished:

• short-term – information is stored for a few seconds, which allows you to remember a small amount of information;
• long-term – the information received can be stored throughout life.

Short-term memory is influenced by external stimuli. If, at the moment of memorization, you distract a person and switch his attention to something else, then all information from short-term memory will be completely lost. All information that is in the short-term memory for more than 30 seconds is stored in the long-term memory. Memorization is facilitated by strong emotions that accompany this or that event.

Types of memory

According to the predominance of any analyzer in the processes of memorization, the following types of memory are distinguished:

• motor;
• visual;
• auditory;
• tactile;
• mixed.

Example: motor memory is associated with memorizing certain movements; on its basis, various motor skills and abilities are formed, which are necessary in work, sports, writing, and speech. So, having mastered swimming or cycling in childhood, a person can do this at any age.

Feelings, images and emotions that he experiences are also stored in the memory of a person.

Figurative memory is a repository of sounds, smells, visual representations. Figurative memory helps to reproduce people’s faces, pictures of nature, surroundings, smells, sounds of the environment, musical melodies. Figurative memory is important for people involved in creative work: actors, musicians, writers, artists.

Emotional memory is the memorization of experienced emotions and feelings. Through emotional memory, empathy is possible for the other person.

Example: if a person is bitten by a dog, then he feels pain and fear. At this moment, hormones are released in his brain and in the endocrine glands that trigger a reaction to a stressful situation. Many years later, at the sight of a dog, a person will again remember and experience the same state, since the same substances will again enter the blood as with a real bite.

Memorization, preservation and reproduction of read, heard or spoken words is verbal memory.

Different types of memory complement each other. For quick memorization, it is important to include several memorization methods at once. Usually the same information is memorized using two or more types of memory.

Memory can be involuntary (memorization goes without effort, as if by itself; this is how one remembers something that made a strong impression or is of great importance to a person).

If a person consciously tries to memorize the material, making volitional efforts, using special techniques, they speak of voluntary memory.

In preschool age, involuntary memorization prevails in children. Voluntary memorization is actively formed during school years. Memory reaches its greatest development by the age of 25, remaining up to 50 years. Then the ability to memorize and remember gradually wanes. Professional memory is retained even in old age.