There’s too much information in the universe. We can only afford to keep around the bits that are most likely to prove useful in the future. We need to make constant bets and trade-offs around what we try to remember and what we forget. For example, we prefer generalizations over specifics because they take up less space. When there are lots of irreducible details, we pick out a few standout items to save and discard the rest. What we save here is what is most likely to inform our filters related to problem 1’s information overload, as well as inform what comes to mind during the processes mentioned in problem 2 around filling in incomplete information. It’s all self-reinforcing.
We reduce events and lists to their key elements
It’s difficult to reduce events and lists to generalities, so instead we pick out a few items to represent the whole.
| Suffix Effect | Serial Position Effect |
| Part-List Cueing Effect | Recency Effect |
| Primary Effect | Memory Inhibition |
| Modality Effect | Duration Neglect |
| List-Length Effect | Serial Recall Effect |
| Misinformation Effect | Leveling and Sharpening |
| Peak-End Rule |
We store memories differently based on how they are experienced
Our brains will only encode information that it deems important at the time, but this decision can be affected by other circumstances (what else is happening, how is the information presenting itself, can we easily find the information again if we need to, etc) that have little to do with the information’s value.
| Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon | Absent-Mindedness |
| Testing Effect | Next-In-Line Effect |
| Google Effect | Levels of Processing Effect |
We discard specifics to form generalities
We do this out of necessity, but the impact of implicit associations, stereotypes, and prejudice results in some of the most glaringly bad consequences from our full set of cognitive biases.
| Fading Affect Bias | Implicit Stereotypes |
| Implicit Association | Negativity Bias |
| Prejudice | Stereotypical Bias |
We edit and reinforce some memories after the fact
During that process, memories can become stronger, however various details can also get accidentally swapped. We sometimes accidentally inject a detail into the memory that wasn’t there before.
| Spacing Effect | Source Confusion |
| Cryptomnesia | False Memory |
| Suggestibility | Misattribution of Memory |
