Factors Influencing Retention & Forgetting

If you have ever spent twenty minutes searching for your car keys only to find them in your front pocket, you know that memory processes are not infallible. Several factors influence whether we will retain or forget new information. While you cannot alter all of these factors to improve retention, modifying some lifestyle habits may boost your memory.

Age

• Most people experience a natural decline in memory abilities with age. Older adults forget details more easily and fail to retain new information. Minor lapses in memory do not mean you have dementia, but may simply be a consequence of your age. If you find that your forgetfulness causes significant problems in your daily life, such as an inability to take your medications or care for yourself, consult a physician or clinical neuropsychologist for an evaluation.

Interference

• Your brain encodes information as memories that you must retrieve when you need them. To successfully retain a piece of information, you must accurately retrieve a specific memory from all of the other information in your brain. Interference refers to an inability to remember something because of competing information. For example, if you previously learned French and then began taking a German class, the German vocabulary may interfere with your ability to write a sentence in French.

Rehearsal

• The number of times you rehearse information may affect your ability to accurately retain it. Being exposed to a piece of information one time may not be enough to accurately retrieve it in the future. Rehearsing information several times over the course of a few hours improves your retention. People sometimes use this technique to learn a new acquaintance's name. Repeating the name to yourself several times and using it out loud when speaking to the person improves retention.

Mental and Physical Illness

• A variety of mental and physical illnesses affect forgetfulness. Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia and vascular dementia are examples of diseases that influence your ability to retain information. Other diseases can cause forgetfulness in young or middle age. Depression, hypothyroidism, Huntington's disease, Tay-Sach's disease and other medical conditions may decrease your ability to retain information. Seek medical attention if you begin to have problems remembering information.

Lifestyle

• Your lifestyle choices influence your ability to retain new information. Eating poorly causes fatigue and sluggishness, which may negatively affect your memory. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables to get vitamin B-12, which is important to healthy memory processes. Experiencing stress, anxiety or sleeplessness may also cause forgetfulness. These effects are usually temporary; alleviating the stress and improving your sleep habits cause memory impairments to disappear.