Англійська мова (спеціальність “Психологія”)

Memory and Thinking

Active vocabulary
capacity   здатність; обсяг , ємність; storage ~ обсяг пам'яті
connotive   конотативний
connotive meaning   конотативне значення
connotation   додатковий, побічний відтінок значення, конотація
connote  мати додаткове значення
efficiency ефективність, дієвість; продуктивність
efficient  ефективний, діючий
event подія; випадок
frequency  частота
frequent  частий
generation  покоління
generate  породжувати
image  образ
imagine  уявляти, уявляти собі
imagination  уява
imagery  подання, уявні образи
imaginary нереальний
involve  містити в собі
to be involved (in) бути включеним; брати участь
involvement участь
item  питання, пункт; завдання (тесту)
pattern паттерн, спосіб життя , манера поводження; структура; тип, спосіб
recall  згадувати, пригадувати, відтворювати
recall  відтворення, спогад
recency  новизна
recent  недавній, новий
remind  (smb. of smth.) нагадувати (комусь про щось)
represent  представляти; зображувати
representation пред'явлення; репрезентація; зображення; образ
retention  збереження в пам'яті
retain  зберігати; пам'ятати; утримувати
retrieve  відтворювати, витягати з пам'яті
retrieval  відтворення
scan  сканувати
store  накопичувати, зберігати (у пам'яті)
storage  зберігання (інформації); запам'ятовувальний пристрій
value  цінність; значення; число
value  цінувати; оцінювати, робити оцінку
valuable  коштовний, важливий

Text.
Memory and Thinking

Human memory and learning are intimately related since the development of an association between a stimulus and response requires some sort of retention. Some of our associations, such as conditioned reflexes, are not at the conscious, but at the spinal level of association, although possibly they are 'remembered' there also. For most of the behaviour which distinguishes humans from animals (that is thinking and communicating through language) memory is located in the centre of the nervous system on cortex of the brain. We can think of memory as analogous to some sort of filing cabinet system. Information received through the senses is stored and utilized as needed, within the limits of storage capacity and the personal efficiency for 'searching the files'. (Without this retention process there could be no learned behaviour). Our storage capacity seems to be an inflexible individual characteristic, but the efficiency with which the information is retrieved is a function of a number of influences. Three of these influences, which are general features in memory, are frequency, recency, and value.
Frequency refers, everything else being equal, to the tendency to remember those experiences which have happened most often. Experiences or events that occur infrequently are not remembered well. It is also clear that, everything else being equal, we remember the more recent events in contrast to those that occurred in earlier times.
Learning also influences our ability to recall our past experiences. When the learning takes place, how well is the material mastered? How frequently do the lessons occur, and what are the personal priorities we attach to the lessons? All these factors affect the extent to which we can' demonstrate our retention of information.
Thinking must, like memory, be inferred from public behaviour. Thinking is another so-called 'mental' activity, involving the manipulation of symbols, signs, concepts, or ideas, which are symbolically represented. Thinking is a process which is closely bound up with language.
To continue with the filing analogy, thinking is the term used to describe the various ways in which the information in storage is retrieved, scanned, examined, combined, and rearranged. We do not actually examine the objects (memories) on 'file', but we may sometimes refer to the verbal description of the remembered events. Memory, learning, thinking, and language are all intimately related processes. So far is this the case that a word may remind you of other words and conjure up images, whereas a perception may conjure up images and also remind you of a linguistic description.
Two types of thinking, i.e. convergent and divergent thinking, are processes of association between stimuli and responses which are acceptable according to different criteria. We may also make associations among' ideas or experiences. When we are faced with a problem that we wish to solve we usually resort to convergent thinking, depending on our memory to bring forth the best answer that can serve as a solution. If this effort is unrewarding we may resort to trial-and-error or perhaps use a hypothesis as a result of insight, i.e. we may be able to assemble our previous experiences in a new way so that we understand the relationships required to solve the task. Our thinking process like many of the actions we perform is very likely to become habitual and standardized. Most people find it very difficult to change their pattern of thinking, especially if their methods have previously been rewarding.
Through language we understand and communicate the symbols and concepts that we learn. The words in our language are learned initially by association with the objects or events they represent (extension), but we also acquire meaning of words through their relationship to other words and symbols. They are usually clear-cut labels and have only one meaning. The second class of symbols are connotive symbols, and they mark the way we intend to make people think about these things. Words like 'good', 'happy', 'worthwhile' are some of the connotive-type words used valuatively.
The essential link between thinking and language, we must repeat, comes about because we learn a great deal by description. № read about the experiences of others, of their verbal representations of other objects and ideas. Mfe think by internal manipulation of language, and the very fact that we are able to associate a name successfully with an object is clear evidence that our memory stores both the name and a symbolic representation of the thing.
Let us look at just one piece of experiment on linguistic behaviour. Our vocabulary is composed of tens of thousands of words, including a great number of adjectives. We can use adjectives to qualify objects with such words as 'good', 'clean', and 'large' and so on. Research has shown that our basic connotive vocabulary can be reduced to the three broad types of adjectives that most people use to describe their environment. The fundamental adjective types are:
Evaluation: i.e. good... bad
Potency: i.e. strong... weak
Activity: i.e. active... passive
These three pairs of adjectives are the basic meanings that we seem to apply to many of the objects we perceive, learn, and think about. The whole field of relationship of symbols and language is the communication process by which human knowledge is recorded and developed. Language makes it possible for each generation to learn for itself what other generations had learned earlier. Knowledge is cumulative, otherwise each generation would have to learn for itself, for example, all of the principles of science. Cognition is the mental process by which we learn, think, and remember, and we use language to describe and understand the world around us.

Answer the following questions based on the text:
1. What is human memory closely connected with?
2. What is human memory based on?
3. Where is memory located?
4. What is the quantity of information stored in our memory limited by?
5. Is storage capacity the same for every individual?
6. What are general features in memory?
7. What is meant by the term'frequency'?
8. What do we remember better, the more recent events or the events that
 occurred earlier?
9. What does the term 'value' refer to?
10. What is thinking?
11. What is thinking closely bound up with?
12. How do we understand and communicate the symbols and concepts
 that we learn?
13.  Why is language so important for human beings?

© 2005 Академия гражданской защиты Украины