The Greek orators used the method of loci to memorize their speeches. In this technique, speakers associated points in their speeches with landmarks or places in their towns. As they imaginatively passed by a specific place or landmark, they could recall the associated memory item. The invention of this technique can be regarded as creative, while its nimble utilization is a sign of intelligence! How exactly is memory related to creativity and intelligence? In this article, we will discuss how memory is used for creativity and intelligence-oriented tasks. This discussion draws on research studies, experiments, and generalizations from those experiments.
Definition, Types & Working
Memory is defined as “the means by which we retain and draw on our past experiences to use that information in the present” (Tulving, 2000). It is interesting that the definition associates the term use with memory function; we are also determined to understand how memory is used for creative and intelligence-oriented tasks. Alternatively, Encyclopedia Britannica defines memory as the encoding, storage and retrieval in the human mind of past experiences. Thus, human memory involves three major stages of information processing in human memory: encoding or acquisition, storage or safekeeping, and retrieval or recollection.
William James, an American psychologist and philosopher, distinguished two types of memory: primary, which manages transient and short-term concerns, and secondary, which stores information for long-term use. Short-term memory is the brain’s working area, whereas long-term memory is its storage place. The temporary memory of an average person may store 5 to 9 units of information, while permanent memory has a virtually limitless capacity. Short-term memory holds information for up to 30 seconds, while long-term memory can last a lifetime. Lastly, working memory is kept and recalled sequentially, while permanent memory is stored and recovered through Association or Consolidation (McLeod, 2013).
Association or consolidation is a highly important feature of memory processing. It is the ‘transferring’ of information/experience from short-term to long-term memory. We inevitably take in information day in and day out; this information goes directly to short-term memory. It is undesirable and impossible to store all the details surrounding us permanently. There are, however, some experiences or information we do acquire, store and save during our everyday life, deliberately or otherwise. For this, our brain demands the transmission of an experience, event or knowledge from short-term memory to long-term memory, which is done through association or consolidation. It is synergizing new information or experience with previously acquired information or experience. For example, the method of loci mentioned in the beginning is an application of the same phenomenon: the association of parts of speech with landmarks.
Information consolidates more easily when a person is attentive and alert, reflecting the significance of “concentration” and “focus”. Emotional association – such as through pain, joy, pleasure or fear – also tends to solidify memory traces (Mayda, 2010). Memory can also associate a particular smell, place, or music with a certain occurrence.
If consolidation of present experience is made with past information for safekeeping, then it is surely possible that our existing information might be associated with a future event. The readers may amuse themselves with an interesting argument: “episodic memory (personal memory or experience) supports ‘mental time travel’ into the future as well as the past, and indeed, numerous recent studies have provided evidence that episodic memory contributes importantly to imagining or simulating possible future experiences” (Madore, Addis & Schacter, 2015).
Memory & Brain
American neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield (1891-1976) found the first evidence for the physical basis of memory (O’Shea, 2005). His experiments showed that specific memories not only have a physical basis but also a particular physical location in the brain. The memory trace in the brain is called an engram (Britannica, 2019). Memory items stored in the brain manifest as chemical or physical neural changes; i.e., memory physically alters our brain! The changes are transient for short-term memories, while they must be permanent for long-term memories. The hippocampus is the part of the brain where short-term memories are ‘transferred’ into long-term memories (O’Shea, 2005).
Long-term memory requires a dialogue between synapses – the gap between neurons – and genes, while short-term memory does not (O’Shea, 2005). Both synapses and genes are pertinent to our theme of understanding how memory relates to creativity and intelligence. Synapses are active participants in the process of our brain responding to the changing environment, which means our behavior, along with the brain, is adapted continuously according to our latest experiences. What’s more interesting is that our ability to learn from these experiences largely depends on how our genes are designed to respond! (O’Shea, 2005)
Memory & Forgetfulness
When we talk about memory, we often think of forgetfulness (because of its ‘association’ with the definition of memory). Forgetfulness is defined as an unexpected lapse of memory; it can be sudden or gradual. Forgetfulness is an inevitable and indispensable aspect of human life; it is “an absolutely essential and active element of the process of interacting effectively with a changing environment” (O’Shea, 2005). Moreover, evidence suggests the rate at which individuals forget is directly proportional to how much they have learned (Britannica, 2019). Time and forgetfulness are also correlated; time allows us to forget certain occurrences or at least get past emotions associated with them. The ability to forget, events or emotions, can enable individuals to move on / move forward. Medically, forgetting can also relax our nervous system; otherwise, it might collapse (Mayda, 2010).
The fact remains that humans tend to forget more often than needed. Medically, there are numerous explanations, and psychologically, plentiful insights. Age also explains that forgetfulness is proportionate to cell loss (Mayda, 2010), which helps explain why older people can forget seemingly simple things. In everyday life, depression, stress, negative emotions such as anxiety and anger, carelessness, and, importantly, not using acquired information lead to forgetfulness and poor memory (Coruh, 2012). Frequent drinking, drug abuse, physical contact, and injuries to the head may be reasons for forgetfulness as well. It is recommended to have sound sleep, a healthy diet, and engage in spiritually uplifting activities to avoid frequent memory losses. It is noteworthy that good memory responds to contentment with life and peace of mind.
Creativity, Intelligence & Memory
According to Frederic Bartlett, a British psychologist, remembering is not simply recalling previously experienced events but involves an imaginative reconstruction of the past (Campbell, 1960). If so, isn’t memory function a creative process itself?
To support our paper’s argument that memory reflects creativity and intelligence, we first define declarative memory. Declarative or explicit memories, like declarative sentences, contain information about facts and events (Britannica, 2019). Declarative knowledge is crucial for understanding the reality of our world and for regulating our behavior patterns. There are two major types of declarative memory: episodic and semantic. The former are long-term (and complex) memories of specific or personal events, while the latter are memories of facts and general knowledge. As we saw under the section Memory & Brain, experiments show that “memory requires the brain to be physically altered by experience” (O’Shea, 2005). Life is a marvelous series of experiences that continuously alter our brain and, as a result, form/re-form our behavior and personality. It is in the reserves of our memories, episodic and semantic, that we find our life experiences and present knowledge that help us tackle everyday life challenges, whether demanding creativity or intelligence.
A creative challenge requires us to reconstruct our past life events and find existing knowledge/deductions in our memories to discover new solution(s); i.e., we are able to form imaginative ideas based purely on our previous experiences and current knowledge. As Donald T. Campbell, an American psychologist, puts it: “remembering can be an important part of the creative process” (Campbell, 1960). Hence, it is safe to say that an individual’s memory plays a significant role in developing his or her creative disposition and capacity. For example, novels are composed by creative authors who build imaginative worlds and ingenious personas, but it is precisely their real-life experiences that provide them with gems of creative writing!
Merriam-Webster defines intelligence as “the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations: the skilled use of reason.” We have already seen that memory requires the brain to be physically altered; “it is this remarkable property that makes thought and consciousness possible… The synaptic change or plasticity (of the brain) is fundamental to learning and memory function” (O’Shea, 2005).
Normally, our ability to understand and solve problems expresses our intelligence. Intelligence involves more than problem understanding and solving, but we are particularly interested in defining intelligence from the perspective of memory. First, problem understanding demands the correct application of existing knowledge and memories stored in the human brain. For this purpose, the stored and relevant information is to be retrieved quickly from long-term memory to working memory. Second, problem-solving entails the capability of the working memory to handle multiple thoughts and memories, gracefully, while also learning along the process. In short, agile retrieval from long-term memory to working memory and swift thought processing in working memory enable us to understand and solve underlying problems. For example, a person good at mental mathematics can solve tricky problems, briskly, in the head. It is because he or she is able to retrieve stored mathematical data/rules from the long-term memory, quickly, and handle the entire solution in the working memory, accurately.
“There is evidence that people can improve their working memory – and possibly their intelligence – by practicing” (Minkel, 2010). Knowing this, we can appreciate why thinking and mental exercises are recommended for our brain’s well-being. The extraordinary and ultimate challenge is to harness the power and treasures of memory; to embrace and learn from whatever experience life puts us through.
References
Tulving, E. (2000). Memory: An Overview. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, Vol. 5, pp. 161–162.
McLeod, S. A. (2013). Stages of Memory: Encoding Storage and Retrieval. Simply Psychology.
Madore, K. P., Addis, D. R., & Schacter, D. L. (2015). Creativity and Memory: Effects of an Episodic-Specificity Induction on Divergent Thinking. Psychological science, 26(9), 1461-8.
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (accessed April 18, 2019). Memory. Encyclopedia Britannica: Encyclopedia Britannica, inc.
O’Shea, M. (2005). The Brain: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mayda, A. (2010). Memory and Forgetfulness. The Fountain Magazine, Issue: 73.
Coruh, H. (2012). Poor Memory and Its Causes. The Fountain Magazine, Issue: 87.
Campbell, D. T. (1960). Blind Variation and Selective Retentions in Creative Thought As In Other Knowledge Processes. Psychological Review, 67(6), 380-400.
Minkel, JR. (2010). Simple Memory Test Predicts Intelligence. Live Science.
The article was originally written in 2019.
Editor-in-chief of Effective Thoughts | Chief Information Officer at SMCSE Solutions (Pvt.) Ltd. | Global UGRAD Alumnus - University of Southern Indiana | Graduate of Economics with Data Science at Information Technology University.
