INFJ Memory

Kirsi71

Newbie
MBTI
INFJ
I have always thought that I had a bad memory, but I understand now, from learning about INFJs and our type that I just have a different kind of memory.

I rarely remember chronology, dates, factual details. I do remember what people said, what the athmosphere and the mood was, how people interacted and what I and others were feeling.

Is this true for anyone else?

As an example: I recall a childhood incident when I and my class mates helped an old lady push her bike up a steep hill. I remember that she gave us 35
 
I have always thought that I had a bad memory, but I understand now, from learning about INFJs and our type that I just have a different kind of memory.

I rarely remember chronology, dates, factual details. I do remember what people said, what the athmosphere and the mood was, how people interacted and what I and others were feeling.

Is this true for anyone else?

Exactly true for me.

I never forget faces, and almost never remember names. I never remember what was said, but always remember what was meant.
 
I have a pretty good memory. My brain tends to soak up everything so I can remember entire conversations.
 
Same with me...names disappear the instant I'm being introduced to somebody. I do remember faces!
 
I remember feelings, moods, meanings...stuff like that. For instance, I have to think for a bit to conjure up real childhood memories, but I can tell you want I felt and how and when way before I can give you details.
 
My memory is just about as random as I am. I can remember insane theme songs from forgotten shows as a child. I can remember people's birthdays, I'm great with that. But I can't remember faces names or where I left my cellphone. I think it just depends how perceptive I'm feeling at the time the information is presented to me. I'm mostly in my own little world and I think remember the things that interest me or strike me as amusing or novel.

I wish I could go through my brain and take out all the useless stuff and make room for more relevant things. But would I even still be me if I did that. Memory is identity. I'd be dreadfully dull if i only remembered useful information.
 
I remember faces a lot better than names. One time, an old classmate's mother greeted me, and then we had a twenty-minute conversation during which i somehow managed to not have to say her name once. phew.
I remember dreams from the night before and stuff like that a lot better than what I have to do later on that night. i now have a habit of writing everything on the back of my hand to remind me.
Dates and numbers ? i'm terrible with those.
 
Exactly true for me.

I never forget faces, and almost never remember names. I never remember what was said, but always remember what was meant.

yeah that's exactly my take on it. i like the way you worded it, you sum it up perfectly.
 
I also have a pretty bad memory in the classical sense, I don't remember most of my childhood.

But I do remember m childhood in terms of paradigm shifts. I remember at what age certain attributes developed and how, mostly shifts in the way my mind works. Yah know?
 
I remember faces better then names. Like on my tennis team, there is a girl who I'm really sure that I've met before but I don't know where.
 
I also have a pretty bad memory in the classical sense, I don't remember most of my childhood.

But I do remember m childhood in terms of paradigm shifts. I remember at what age certain attributes developed and how, mostly shifts in the way my mind works. Yah know?

yes, paradigm shifts. i know what you mean it's the same for me.

oh and are you sure you're not an ENTP with well developed F?
 
I have a similar memory, good at remembering faces but not names (but then, you see a face a lot more than you say a name) but I can remember certain numbers for pretty much forever, such a money that is owed/I borrowed and how much certain things cost. I'm usually really bad with numbers and dates (I find birthdays quite hard to remember, but I make a point of remembering) but with money it's easier because I guess it's physical and not just a vague idea/concept.
I'm very good at remembering the storylines of books and films too, it's very useful for english literature and film studies :)
 
I remember how someone or something made me feel, I will get an emotional/physical sensation that will change my mood, just by seeing a certain person, place or thing. I recall hardly a concrete mental picture memory about my childhood, rather facts that caused me to feel as tho most of it was extremely unpleasant and worth avoiding. I think I have blocked it out for the most part, I still to this day, cannot see a thing when I close my eyes. I cannot see my children's faces, I cannot see my own or what my car looks like from the inside. I KNOW what all these things look like as I am familiar with them when I see them infront of me, but I cannot see them in my head. I have only memory of facts about what my children look like, or what my car looks like... blond hair, brown eyes etc. I can hear to the last of tiniest detail, a song, a conversation, a sound etc... Audio is well remembered and experienced.
 
I remember how someone or something made me feel, I will get an emotional/physical sensation that will change my mood, just by seeing a certain person, place or thing.

That's true for me too. But overall I have a pretty good long-term memory. My short-term memory is disastrous though..
 
Hi
This happens to me as well.:rolleyes:
for example:
I remember my thoughts and my feelings when my mother got angry of me and I'm 3 years.
But usually I do not remember what color or form of clothing that was worn by someone unless you drew my attention.
E.g: I remember my younger sister when she returned from school on the first day in the first grade elementary, she told me about shape and color of shoe her teacher.
When go in the school the other sister, she told me the same thing.
I was surprising why both my sister attract their attention the same thing in the same position, while I do not even remember clothes my teacher in that day, if how can I care for shoe her.:confused:
 
I remember feelings, moods, meanings...stuff like that. For instance, I have to think for a bit to conjure up real childhood memories, but I can tell you want I felt and how and when way before I can give you details.

My childhood memories seem to center around what I was realizing, even if it was just a state of awareness. I remember most of the details related to what caused me to reach an insight or emotional state, primarily concepts and understandings that to this day I couldn't explain if I had to. Granted, these can involve a lot of mundane details, most of them visual, and few of them audible. Seems like my mind bases memory priority from childhood around Ni. Imagine that.

I remember faces a lot better than names. One time, an old classmate's mother greeted me, and then we had a twenty-minute conversation during which i somehow managed to not have to say her name once. phew.
I remember dreams from the night before and stuff like that a lot better than what I have to do later on that night. i now have a habit of writing everything on the back of my hand to remind me.
Dates and numbers ? i'm terrible with those.

Ditto, except I can remember numbers when they have relevance to others. I can remember people's phone numbers, birthdays, how much money I owe them. The random numbers that I encounter that have no relationship to the people I care about? I do well to remember them long enough to transcribe them.

I remember faces better then names. Like on my tennis team, there is a girl who I'm really sure that I've met before but I don't know where.

I almost never forget faces, and it doesn't take me long to place the face and recall the setting where I met or last saw the person in great detail, like what they were wearing, what I was feeling, the gist of the conversation, the general vibes on them between us, etc. But, ironically, I couldn't tell you their name, or make anything resembling an accurate quote of anything they said or I said. But, if there was any physical contact, I can recall it in vivid detail.

I have a similar memory, good at remembering faces but not names (but then, you see a face a lot more than you say a name) but I can remember certain numbers for pretty much forever, such a money that is owed/I borrowed and how much certain things cost. I'm usually really bad with numbers and dates (I find birthdays quite hard to remember, but I make a point of remembering) but with money it's easier because I guess it's physical and not just a vague idea/concept.
I'm very good at remembering the storylines of books and films too, it's very useful for english literature and film studies :)

Yup, this also sounds a lot like me.

I remember how someone or something made me feel, I will get an emotional/physical sensation that will change my mood, just by seeing a certain person, place or thing. I recall hardly a concrete mental picture memory about my childhood, rather facts that caused me to feel as tho most of it was extremely unpleasant and worth avoiding. I think I have blocked it out for the most part, I still to this day, cannot see a thing when I close my eyes. I cannot see my children's faces, I cannot see my own or what my car looks like from the inside. I KNOW what all these things look like as I am familiar with them when I see them infront of me, but I cannot see them in my head. I have only memory of facts about what my children look like, or what my car looks like... blond hair, brown eyes etc. I can hear to the last of tiniest detail, a song, a conversation, a sound etc... Audio is well remembered and experienced.

Wow, this is almost the opposite of how my mind works. I don't even have to close my eyes to remember not only the people that are closest to me, but I can visualize most of the photos of you that I've seen while I'm typing this. I can remember not only the inside of my own car, but the inside of nearly any car I've ever been in, right down to the vibes and smells, and where I have been in those cars, and what was going on when I was there. In contrast, I have to know someone extremely well, and have had a lot of contact with them to be able to recall their voice, and even then it is vague and I can't remember them actually speaking.

I don't have an eidetic memory, nor a photographic memory. I have a visual memory. I couldn't tell you how many stripes someone had on their sweater and in what order the colors were. But, I can recall that someone was wearing a striped sweater that was mostly dark blue, light blue, and maybe white. My memory is predominantly vibes, intentions, and relationships. I can recall the emotional state of the person in the striped sweater, and how it related to myself and anyone else, in vivid detail.



All of these posts are showing a fascinating trend, which is that the mind prioritizes memory based on our dominant cognitive function. For INFJs, that's Introverted Intuition. For INFPs, that Introverted Feeling. For ENTPs and ENFPs, it's Extroverted Intuition.

This is fascinating because it is yet another key into the assessment of cognitive function type. By developing an accurate model of how each of the 8 cognitive functions associate and prioritize memory, we can add another set of assessment questions and proofs.

I'm also seeing a trend for how memory is then influenced by the secondary function. For instance, Extroverted Feeling flavors the types of memories INFJ keep, which center around their emotional involvement with others - like remembering birthdays or money owed.

This being the case, we can identify each of the 16 cognitive function types through this method.

Fascinating indeed.
 
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I wonder if this emotional memory that INFJs have means that first impressions of people are really important? I mean, if you meet someone and feel bad around them, then your memory of them would be feeling bad, right?

Sorry, that just occurred to me and I thought I should ask ^^"
 
I wonder if this emotional memory that INFJs have means that first impressions of people are really important? I mean, if you meet someone and feel bad around them, then your memory of them would be feeling bad, right?

Sorry, that just occurred to me and I thought I should ask ^^"

In my case, my first impressions are very keen. I read people so well that my friends all consider me psychic. When I meet someone I get a detailed sense of who they are on an intuitive level. That being the case, those impressions last for a long time, so I would be inclined to agree.

However, in the rare instances where I was wrong about someone or they have changed, I am quickly able to change my feeling of them to reflect how they currently relate, and then operate accordingly.

Therefore, while I remember the previous instances, I know for a fact that I am constantly updating my impressions of people, and if there are no changes in them or the relationship between us or the people I care about, then I update my impression of them with the same understanding that I previously had. I'm sure that can seem like I'm holding to my first impression, but technically it isn't.

But, I am terrible about not being willing to change my impressions of someone if I am unable to see the change first hand with my own intuition. For example, if I meet someone and got a bad impression, and then my friends tell me that my impression was not the case, I will not be able to change it until I am able to interact with that person myself. Fortunately, I am able to remember what my friends have told me and am open to looking for it at that time, and if it is there at all, I usually see it and only then am I able to change my impression of them. It's not fair at all, but that's how my mind works.
 
hey people I'm new here stumbled across this forum after the myers-briggs in my case i tend to remember most things. btw is it weird that sometimes when i meet somebody i tend to have a gut feeling about that person like i know that they are dishonest or fakes and my gut feeling always turned out to be right.
 
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