memory
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GC: n

S: http://www.simplypsychology.org/memory.html (last access: 1 July 2016); https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/memory.html (last access: 1 July 2016).

N: 1. mid-13c., “recollection (of someone or something); awareness, consciousness,” also “fame, renown, reputation,” from Anglo-French memorie (Old French memoire, 11c., “mind, memory, remembrance; memorial, record”) and directly from Latin memoria “memory, remembrance, faculty of remembering,” noun of quality from memor “mindful, remembering,” from PIE root *(s)mer- (1) “to remember” (Greek merimna “care, thought,” mermeros “causing anxiety, mischievous, baneful;” Old English gemimor “known,” murnan “mourn, remember sorrowfully;” Dutch mijmeren “to ponder”). Meaning “faculty of remembering” is late 14c. in English.
Computer sense, “device which stores information,” is from 1946. Related: Memories.
2. Memory, the encoding, storage, and retrieval in the human mind of past experiences.
3. The fact that experiences influence subsequent behaviour is evidence of an obvious but nevertheless remarkable activity called remembering. Memory is both a result of and an influence on perception, attention, and learning. The basic pattern of remembering consists of attention to an event followed by the representation of that event in the brain. Repeated attention, or practice, results in a cumulative effect on memory and enables activities such as a skillful performance on a musical instrument, the recitation of a poem, and reading and understanding words.
4. Once information has been encoded and stored in memory, it must be retrieved in order to be used. Memory retrieval is important in virtually every aspect of daily life, from remembering where you parked your car to learning new skills.
There are many factors that can influence how memories are retrieved from long-term memory. Obviously, this process is not always perfect. In order to fully understand this process, it is important to learn more about exactly what retrieval is as well as the many factors that can impact how memories are retrieved.
5. Collocations:
– ability to remember:

  • Adj. excellent, good, long, prodigious, retentive; bad, poor, short; long-term, short-term; visual; photographic.
  • Verb + memory: jog, refresh; lose; commit sth to.
  • Prep. from memory He recited the whole poem from memory. | memory for I have a good memory for faces.
  • Phrases: in living/recent memory the coldest winter in living memory.

– thought of the past:

  • Adj. childhood, early; dim, distant, fading, hazy, vague; clear, vivid; affectionate, fond, good, happy, lovely, nostalgic, pleasant, positive, precious, sweet, warm, wonderful; bitter-sweet; bad, bitter, disturbing, embarrassing, horrific, painful, sad, traumatic, unhappy, unpleasant; abiding, enduring, lasting, lingering.
  • Verb + memory: bring back, evoke, rekindle, revive, stir (up); blot out.
  • Memory + verb: come flooding back, flood back; fade.
  • Prep. in memory of; memory from; memory of.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=memory (last access: 1 July 2016). 2 & 3. EncBrit – https://global.britannica.com/topic/memory-psychology (last access: 1 July 2016). 4. https://www.verywell.com/memory-retrieval-2795007 (last access: 1 July 2016). 5. http://oxforddictionary.so8848.com/search1?word=memory (last access: 2 July 2016).

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CR: Alzheimer’s disease, amnesia, anterograde amnesia, hypermnesia, mnemonics, retrograde amnesia, translation memory.