The majority of us think of memory as our brain's information storage. But that is not even close to the complexity of human memory.
Scientific studies have shown that rather than being a storehouse of knowledge, human memory is more like a system that is always processing information and our experiences.
This system dismisses information that it doesn't wish to store. Rather than neutrally retaining images, sounds, and experiences like an electronic recording device, human memory changes and records them.
Over time, it restores and replaces some of the older records. Certain data is permanently retained while others are deleted.
Encoding is the initial stage of memory creation. The first step in coding is selective attention. Our brain codes what it experiences, but it does not interpret all the data it receives through its five senses in the same way, despite being open to an infinite amount of information.
Our short-term memory stores information about events, people, objects, and concepts before moving on to our long-term memory. There are those who have excellent memories.
These folks have a hard time forgetting what they see. They have the ability to permanently store tastes, sounds, and smells in their minds. However, short-term memory is not very trustworthy in general. We are often misled by our memories.
Information becomes more permanent the more times it is utilised or repeated. For a very long period, our long-term memory is capable of holding an infinite amount of data.
However, information only remains in short-term memory for approximately thirty seconds before it vanishes if we are not really interested in the people, things, or information we come across.
Not every neuron in our brain is linked to every other neuron. Most of these connections are ones we make on our own. Linking information to one another is one approach to accomplish this.
A pathway is created between two brain cells as they communicate with one another. Repetition turns this road into a permanent one. The stronger the link between two cells, the more signals they communicate with each other.
Links that are often used are easier to remember. However, when we move away from the topic—and consequently, as the signal interchange across connections ceases—our brain starts to forget things that it once understood really well.
Stubborn connections deteriorate and snap. We don't use it enough and don't preserve the information that makes us forgetful, so it has started to disappear.
Experts in consumer behaviour, such as Gerald Zaltman and Clotaire Rapaille, assert that understanding the structure of human memory is crucial for marketers.