Context dependent memory is probably why you're here

General Memory Chat
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Eating sugar as a kid causes mild memory brain damage:
https://reachmd.com/news/sugar-not-so-nice-for-your-childs-brain-development/1860260/

Eating sugar as a child is so common, it’s hard to see a baseline of what is normal.

Bacteria also make sugar more addictive. Getting a toddler off crack is similar. Here’s how the bacteria do it:

The thing is, this sugar damage affects CONTEXT dependent memory.
This is CONTEXT dependent memory:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-48090-8
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6785944/

This is more about “Where did I leave my car keys?”
than
“How do I memorise this 12 digit phone number?”

There’s not enough discussion of this here. Here are some tricks I’ve learnt so far:

  1. The situational alarm clock: Imagine the situation where you want the trigger to remind you. Link that to what you want to do. Imagine the feeling of happiness as you remember.
  2. Method acting. Use an emotion to queue the trigger of a memory. Instead of using this for acting, use it to remember to do something.

This is all I have so far. A big rookie error in my mnemonics was having a weak link to actually start the recall of the mnemonic. I’d have 20+ things linked but not remember the initial image. The same thing with memory palaces: I put it in the palace and just like car keys, I’d forget where I put the first image!

Lynn Kelly mentioned that she got into memory training to compensate for her memory issues. Let’s kick off a discussion here. What would be ways to redeploy spatial, image and psychosocial memory to context dependent memory in the way we do with most mnemonics that we use for context independent memory?

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Hi Stop,

I think a person needs to have a memory skillset prior to trying to memorize anything in context.

That’s the first step and a very deep one.

Having gotten the said skillset, a person can then proceed to use the skills/tools to create memorable ways of recalling the information in it’s context.

Stefos

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Thanks for the article. Mind controlling microbes is one of my favorite topics. :slight_smile:

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Can you expand on exactly where you mean by skillset using a baby as an example?

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Hi,

An infant has no mnemonic or memory training

Part of modern education should be to teach memory training in schools.

By the time someone learns about memory training skills, it’s usually after the fact that they needed them for coursework or on the job training.

Stefos

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The clearest example I can think of mnemonics in class is when associating a sound to a letter. We need the student to see the letter s and think of the sound of a hissing snake. At the same time, we don’t want the mnemonic to be too memorable and give the poor sap nightmares.

Students needs to make their own mnemonics after seeing so many examples. I dig into what makes things memorable when I can. Teach young students when their creativity is still in tact.

The thing about a classroom is that scale forces dehumanisation of individuality at the benefit of the group with ADHD and ASD students particularly in the cross fire. A group is stronger than individuals but at the same time, neurodivergency is a core part of societal leadership and prison population. It’s an opportunity.
Anyway, this could be getting offtopic now!

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I honestly felt this was the most key thing I’ve discovered about memory that I’ve discovered so far. I’m very sad that the discussion fell this short, this fast :frowning:

I can only assume I’ve communicated the concept badly for the responses to be so lackluster.

I suspect nobody who’s read this even knows the difference between context dependent and context independent memory, which is a shame because it’s a pretty key thing to everything we’re doing here

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Well, I read the topic when you originally posted it…

“Context dependent memory is probably why you’re here”

thought to myself “is it? well maybe… let’s see,” proceeded to scroll past the links for possible later review and then saw…

…and that was it for me, since I’m not here because I have issues finding my keys. I also wasn’t quite sure if the sugar thing was off-topic or not… so yeah, just some quick feedback as to why I didn’t reply the first time around.

Just to add a little to the discussion… you probably want to compare context dependent and state dependent instead. Put very simply, context is the environment and state is your state of being. Both your examples in your initial post are in fact state dependent not context dependent.

Examples of context dependent would be somebody recreating a test environment during study time. If you have a test at a very quiet test center, you want to study in a quiet environment rather than at a noisy coffee shop. If you need to recall information in a noisy office instead, you don’t want to study the information in a quiet environment. If you know whether there’s natural or artificial light in the text enter, you should adjust accordingly. If the test is computer based, study using a computer, if the test is paper based… well, I guess you get the idea.

Along those lines would also be playing the same song before you start studying and then playing the same song on the day of the test, right before you start. You could also use some perfume that you normally don’t run into during the day and smell it before you start studying and then put a little on your cloths right before you take the test.

Those two are a little in-between and could be state dependent already in case they start affecting your mood to a greater extend. A slightly better example would be studying in the morning if the test is in the morning or studying at night if the test is at night… inner clock, circadian rhythm, melatonin, and all that jazz.

Obviously, you could play with caffeine intake, tobacco, or even alcohol, etc. Or, take your sugar example. You could study for a month, every third day and only consume carbs (or straight up sugar) right before studying and go carb-free the other days. Have some carbs right before the test and you’ll be in the same “state.”

Which of these work depends a little on the person and not all people respond in the same way. Also, there’s a limit to making use of it. Say you make it a habit to chew cherry flavored gum right before studying and then have a piece of the same flavor right before you take your test. That’s more likely to work if you don’t have any gum at other times rather than having apple flavored gum a couple of times a day when you’re not studying.

Figured that’d be important to point out, since we had a few “create synesthesia” posts lately and I don’t want to give anybody the idea that you can get ten different flavors of bubble gum and start tasting cinnamon whenever you see the number 5 and cherry when you see the number 7 after some practice.

Anyways, was that the kind of thing you had in mind?

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