How's your memory?

Sentinel

Sentinel

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MBTI
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
I'm wondering if there is a relationship between the INFJ type and memory. More specifically, how vividly can INFJs recall past events and how are they organized?

I've often felt that I was behind others in the ability to recall the linear sequence of events in my past. It's more an organizational issue (lost pathway) than an encoding one because things come back relatively clearly when others jump start the process with details. My memory is usually very light on details and condensed to a core emotion or summarized to a main headline.

My past appears to be indexed by who I was *being* at that moment (brother, friend, bf, etc) and where within the development of that role I was. I can almost never answer the question 'what was your life like in [year]'...it's not chronological. I usually have to best guess the year or do some math.

This the case for anyone else out there?
 
sprinkles said:
My memory is great. My recall is horrible and random.
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Yeah, my memory is a lot better than most. I'm good with remembering precise placement of things in relation to other things. What I'm awful at is free recollection, especially of events. As an example, for my speech class that started this semester, our first assignment was to give a 3-minute speech about one of our life experiences. I detest these types of assignments in general, not just because I have trouble thinking of something off the cuff, but also because I find them disgustingly pedestrian and generally uninspiring. But yeah, I got the assignment last week and still haven't thought of anything. If people ask for me to recall something specific without giving me anything more than a basic starting point ("your life", for example, is no good) all I can do is shrug and tell them they're out of luck.

If I need to remember which pile of papers is hiding my OPORD from five nights ago, though, I can do that like flipping a light switch.
 
SealHammer said:
Yeah, my memory is a lot better than most. I'm good with remembering precise placement of things in relation to other things. What I'm awful at is free recollection, especially of events. As an example, for my speech class that started this semester, our first assignment was to give a 3-minute speech about one of our life experiences. I detest these types of assignments in general, not just because I have trouble thinking of something off the cuff, but also because I find them disgustingly pedestrian and generally uninspiring. But yeah, I got the assignment last week and still haven't thought of anything. If people ask for me to recall something specific without giving me anything more than a basic starting point ("your life", for example, is no good) all I can do is shrug and tell them they're out of luck.

If I need to remember which pile of papers is hiding my OPORD from five nights ago, though, I can do that like flipping a light switch.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm the same way. It's hard to recall anything beyond five minutes ago for me. So somebody could ask "what did you do?" at some point and have no clue, but if there's some relevant trigger I can remember just about anything.

Can't do times, though. I have no clue what year anything happened for example.
 
Sentinel said:
I'm wondering if there is a relationship between the INFJ type and memory. More specifically, how vividly can INFJs recall past events and how are they organized?

I've often felt that I was behind others in the ability to recall the linear sequence of events in my past. It's more an organizational issue (lost pathway) than an encoding one because things come back relatively clearly when others jump start the process with details. My memory is usually very light on details and condensed to a core emotion or summarized to a main headline.

My past appears to be indexed by who I was *being* at that moment (brother, friend, bf, etc) and where within the development of that role I was. I can almost never answer the question 'what was your life like in [year]'...it's not chronological. I usually have to best guess the year or do some math.

This the case for anyone else out there?
Click to expand...

pretty much. You explained that well. I think i have a good memory but its not very detail orientated. As long as i understand something i will remember it. The exact details seem irelevant, its the integrity of the concept thats important. If im trying to memorise something i try to understand it and create associations. This is very hard to do when there is no logic or pattern though- i struggled with remembering the names of bones and muscles when studying muscular skeletal anatmoy because sometimes it just didnt make sense, there was no pattern, no rationale. So i had to just use mostly route memorisation which was painful and annoying.
 
sprinkles said:
My memory is great. My recall is horrible and random.
Click to expand...

I concur. I always thought I had a bad memory. I now realize that my memory is impeccable, but recall is horrible. I need to recall the frame of mind I was in or context, to remember the details appropriately.
 
I remember faces pretty well, also some details about people, scents, music, names are somewhat harder, numbers – it depends. When it comes to events here my memory is very selective. I have one memory, a brief flashback, when I was 3 years old and everything that comes after it is very foggy. Certain years of my life I don't remember at all. Well, very hardly... 8-12 – black hole! What was there I can only speculate, something was but no scenes, no details. My 18th year is very foggy too, nothing in particular...
"The older the memories the stranger they become" I think it goes like this...
 
I feel I have an excellent memory.
Doesn't being introspective, and contemplative, reinforce memories? When the day is over and I am decompressing, I play through the events of the day to make sense of everything. File it all away.
Sometimes, something may trigger a memory from long ago, which brings forward more memories.
Just the other night, a friend I hung out with 30 years ago made a rare posting on Facebook. I read it just before going to bed. This resulted in my laying in bed thinking about that period of my life. The music I listened to, where I worked, lived, the good times and the bad. Just a whole string of memories. One would trigger another.
It became a bit frustrating because I couldn't turn my brain chatter off so I could sleep.

Could it be the more you bring memories to the forefront, the longer you will remember them?
 
If there is something there to remind me I will remember.
 
I don't have a very good visual memory but I do remember what people have said, down to the specific wording... Which has been pretty helpful for exams and things! I find it hard to remember and describe past events, especially unpleasant ones. I just seem to blank them out.
 
Thanks...it's nice to know that I'm not the only one struggling with recall. I admire those who can independently bring things back clearly. Sometimes it feels like my memory is a big cluster-f junk drawer. I know that I haven't lost anything (it's in here I swear) but it does take a lot of work, and often the help of others, to get it back.

When something does surface it tends to be tangled in twine, pc cables, and six other related memories. Maybe we're not so different [MENTION=1355]MindYourHead[/MENTION]; you got the $10,000 California closet and I got Grandpas dusty footlocker.
 
Sentinel said:
Thanks...it's nice to know that I'm not the only one struggling with recall. I admire those who can independently bring things back clearly. Sometimes it feels like my memory is a big cluster-f junk drawer. I know that I haven't lost anything (it's in here I swear) but it does take a lot of work, and often the help of others, to get it back.

When something does surface it tends to be tangled in twine, pc cables, and six other related memories. Maybe we're not so different @MindYourHead; you got the $10,000 California closet and I got Grandpas dusty footlocker.
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[MENTION=6902]Sentinel[/MENTION]
If only the closets at my home were organized!
 
I can't remember places or time periods well at all.
My memory for people, conversations, and
theoretical material is extremely sticky.
If I don't remember immediately,
a slight stimulus will do it.
 
I have a freakishly excellent memory. It's a blessing and a curse. I can remember all the way back from 3 yrs old and on. I can repeat conversations that took place years ago word for word and I can tell you what year it was, location, what you were wearing, the emotions that were felt and even facial expressions. I actually hate it sometimes because it would be easier to forget at times. Especially negative experiences.
 
CrazyBeautiful said:
I have a freakishly excellent memory. It's a blessing and a curse. I can remember all the way back from 3 yrs old and on. I can repeat conversations that took place years ago word for word and I can tell you what year it was, location, what you were wearing, the emotions that were felt and even facial expressions. I actually hate it sometimes because it would be easier to forget at times. Especially negative experiences.
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Photographic memory? :O
 
Paladin-X said:
Photographic memory? :O
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I wouldn't go as far as saying photographic, but I remember things with a lot of detail. My husband hates it (as does my family, lol).
 
If there is any pattern, or structure in some information/situation/etc. I have perfect recall. If things are somewhat random, then it takes some effort.

J
 
i was thinking about this the other day, pondering...

i have an extremely excellent photographic memory and i remember people's voices like a recorder..

i easily remember people, their faces, their clothes, what cologne or perfume they're wearing..

but... i'm really, really bad at not remembering names or formulating ideas into words

like, before my head injury and the coma, i was a bookworm (now i have to kinda force myself to read now, which actually sucks cause i was soooo damn attached to books as a kid) and i remember the visualizations while reading, but my difficulty was voicing my comprehension of it.. and so it was thought i was slow and i was actually held back a grade early on because of this..
even though at 8 and 10 i was reading 200-300 page novels, it was though i had difficulty comprehending what i was reading when i really just had difficulty explaining what i read

but i could see it in my mind as clear as day.. if i recall someone saying something to me, i will hear it exactly like it heard it...

i just have a prob putting thoughts into words..
like if someone tells me numbers and i don't read them, if i can't read them it is hard for me to remember them, if i don't write it down
but, for example, i'll read a license plate, i will remember that license plate 10months later

heh, now that i can't just sit down and read anymore, i watch, remember, listen and learn...
 
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I have a freakishly excellent memory. It's a blessing and a curse. I can remember all the way back from 3 yrs old and on. I can repeat conversations that took place years ago word for word and I can tell you what year it was, location, what you were wearing, the emotions that were felt and even facial expressions. I actually hate it sometimes because it would be easier to forget at times. Especially negative experiences.
Click to expand...

Sounds like OCD?
 
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