When Less Attention Improves Memory

According to science daily a new study conducted at the Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience of the University of Bologna shows that, in patients, memory accuracy improves when attentional resources are reduced.

Most cognitive processes supporting adaptive behavior need attentional resources for their operation. Consider memory. If memory was a car, attention would be its fuel: New information is not stored into memory if not attended to, and distraction often leads to misremembering past events. What if the car’s brakes are broken? Will adding fuel still be a good thing? Confabulation is a devastating memory disorder consisting in the uncontrolled production of “false memories”. Patients often act upon their false memories, with dramatic consequences. The research published in Cortex shows that if memory in confabulation is like a car with broken brakes, then it is best not to add fuel.

Overall this article states that your memory works better when its given something simple to memorize with a small amount of attention resources added. I was very interested in this article because with finals coming up I'm trying to memorize as much as possible. :]]