HUMAN MENTAL PROCESSES
Mental processes can be understood as conditions/symptoms that occur in
individuals that are the driving force of human behavior. Mental is the ability of
individuals to receive, manage, and respond to information. Deep mental processes are
seen based on cognitive behavior, emotional symptoms and conciliation symptoms.
A. COGNITIVE SYMPTOMS
1. Memory
Memory is a transliteration of memory. Therefore, besides those who use
memory, there are also those who use the term memory according to the
speech of memory. However, this is not a serious matter. Memory gives
various meanings to experts. In general, experts view memory as a
relationship between experiences and the past with the ability to remember
in humans, store and regenerate the experiences they experienced. What has
been experienced by man is not completely lost but stored in his soul, and if
necessary the things stored can be regenerated by the realm of consciousness.
But this does not mean that everything that has been experienced will remain
entirely in memory and can be completely revived. Sometimes or indeed
there are things that cannot be remembered or in other words there are things
that are forgotten. For this reason, if people talk about memory, they also talk
about forgetting. Therefore, memory is a limited ability.
It has been stated above that memory is related to past experiences. Thus,
it is stated that what is remembered is something that has been experienced,
perceived. Thus, when examined further, memory is not only the ability to
store what he has experienced but also includes the ability to receive, store
and reproduce. For clarity, the following examples are given.
One can remember an event, this means that the remembered event has
been experienced, or in other words the event has been put into his soul, then
stored and at some point the event is revived in consciousness. Thus, memory
is an ability related to the ability to receive or enter (learning), retain
(retention), and recall (remembering) things that have been in the past
(Woodworth and Marquis, 1957).
a. Input Function (Learning)
In the memories that are stored are things that have been
experienced by a person. How a person can gain experience can be
distinguished in two ways, namely (1) in an unintentional way and (2) in
an intentional way.
Gaining experience in an unintentional way is what a person
experiences unintentionally is included with his memory. This is clearly
seen with children, how they acquired the experience by accident, and this
is then stored in their memory. How did they get the experience, for
example, that the glass will break if it falls, that the wood is hard and can
cause pain if it is knocked by it. These experiences are stored in memory
as understandings.
A person acquires experiences intentionally, that is, when a person
deliberately includes his experiences, his knowledge in his psyche. In the
field of science in general, people will acquire knowledge intentionally.
Thus people deliberately study things or circumstances which are then
included in their memory.
Based on the research, it turns out that the individual's knowledge
to include what is perceived or what is learned is different from one
another. There are people who can quickly enter what they have learned,
but on the other hand there are also people who are slow. Sooner or later
someone enters what is perceived or what is learned, it is a memory trait
related to the ability to enter (learning). In relation to this, the
psychological problem is how to make an effort so that what is learned or
perceived can quickly enter and can be stored well.
In addition to people differing in terms of how quickly they enter
what they learn or what is perceived, they also differ in how much or little
material or things they can include. This ability can be seen by conducting
experiments to the extent to which a person can enter material in his
memory. The amount of material that can be remembered or can be
included is good enough to be able to recall this is the memory span of
the individual concerned.
An individual who can enter or learn a lot of material at a given
time, this is called that the individual has a broad memory. On the other
hand, if an individual can only learn or enter a small amount of material
at a given time, this is called that the individual has a narrow memory.
b. Save Function
The second function of memory is to retain what is learned or what
is perceived. The problem that arises related to this function is how to
make what has been learned or intended to be stored properly, so that at
some time it can be summed up again if needed. As it is known that every
learning process will leave traces in a person's soul, and these traces are
temporarily stored in memories that can be revived at some point. These
traces are referred to as memory traces.
Although memory traces allow a person to remember what has
been learned or has been perceived, this does not mean that all memory
traces will remain well, because memory traces can be lost at some point,
in which case people experience forgetfulness.
Besides the memory traces can be lost, the memory traces can also
change not as before, there is a possibility that the parts will change, so
that if it is regenerated to be remembered, what appears is not the same as
at the time of learning, this is called that the person's memory is not
faithful, what is remembered can change and decrease from the state at
the time of learning. There are missing parts that cannot be recalled.
c. Respawn Function
The third function of memory is to re-enact things in the mind. In
regenerating what is stored in memory. In recreating what is stored in
memory, it can be pursued by (1) recalling (to recall) and reknowing (to
recognizer).
In recalling, people can recreate what is remembered without the
help of an object as a stimulus to be able to recall it. So in terms of recall,
people can be helped by the presence of objects. For example, people can
recall the characteristics of snatchers who snatch their bags, even though
the snatching does not exist.
Regetting to know people can bring back what is remembered or
has been learned with the help of an object to remember. So in getting to
know people again, they are helped by the existence of objects that need
to be regenerated. For example, there is a lost bicycle then found by the
police and whoever loses the bicycle can see the bicycle whether it
belongs to him or not. After someone sees the bike, they can recognise
that it is his bicycle that was lost a month ago. Reknowing this is easier
than recalling, because reknowing is helped by the existence of objects,
so it is likely that what cannot be recalled can be re-recognized by
someone.
Although re-acquaintance is easier than recall, circumstances show
that re-acquaintance can also make mistakes such as recall. In relation to
regeneration, there is explicit memory in addition to implicit memory
(Atkinson, et al., 1996). An example of both is that if a person remembers
what happened this morning (e.g. a salty breakfast) and then remembers
what happened this morning, this is what is meant by explicit memory.
Deliberately and consciously this is remembered. But if a person talks to
another person and automatically (as if unconsciously) words slide out of
his mouth, this is what implicit memory means. This implicit memory
generally manifests related to skills. With practice, people will be able to
get better in their skills, for example knowing foreign languages, so that
if they speak sentences that come out automatically. This is what is meant
by expressed implicity memory
d. To the Kelupaan
Talking about real memory also talks about forgetting. Because
memory and forgetfulness can be likened to a two-sided piece of coin,
one side with the other cannot be separated. The relationship between
what is remembered and what is forgotten is the best comparison. This
means that the more can be remembered, the less is forgotten, and vice
versa.
Forgetting can occur because the material stored in the memory is not
often regenerated in the realm of consciousness, so that eventually
humans experience forgetfulness. Intervals play a role in this process of
forgetting, so theories about forgetting are based on intervals. Here are
two theories that can explain it, the first is the atropy theory based on the
length of the interval, the second is the interference theory based on the
content of the interval.
1. Atropi Theory
This theory is often also called disense theory or disuse theory,
which is a theory about forgetfulness that focuses on the length of
the interval. According to this theory, forgetfulness occurs because
memory traces have not been regenerated in the realm of
consciousness for a long time because what has been stored has
not been regenerated for a long time, so the memory traces will
settle over time, until eventually people will experience
forgetfulness. This theory is actually more derived from the
physiological aspect, namely if the muscles have not been used for
a long time, then these muscles cannot carry out their functions
properly, which can eventually cause paralysis, as well as memory
2. Teori interferensi
This theory focuses more on the content of the interval. According
to this theory, this forgetfulness occurs because memory traces mix
with each other and interfere with each other, interfering with each
other so that this can cause forgetfulness. So if a person studies one
material, then studies another material, then those materials will
interfere with each other to cause forgetfulness.
