How Gist Memory Helps Us Plan for the Future

We have all experienced those frustrating moments when we cannot recall the name of an acquaintance or the level and section of a parking garage where we parked our car. Some of the most frustrating (and sometimes embarrassing) memory failures arise when we cannot recall these specific details from our past. These memory failures can be particularly frustrating because they have the potential to disrupt the way that we go about our day.

But what if remembering the specific details isn’t the only way that we successfully engage our memory abilities? Memory is critically important for our ability to plan for the future; and when we use memory in that way, the specific details become less important.

Think, for a moment, about getting ready for a summer day. You wake up, check the weather, and learn the high temperature for the day will be 83 degrees Fahrenheit and it is going to rain from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. You proceed with your morning, preparing your breakfast and walking the dog. An hour or two passes before you get dressed for the rest of the day. As you are about to get dressed, you think to yourself, “What was the forecast?” You can’t remember the exact temperature. And you can’t remember exactly which hours it was going to rain. But those specifics actually aren’t that important for planning purposes, because you remember that the weather is going to be warm enough to wear shorts and too warm for a raincoat, and that it is going to rain most of the day, including during your evening commute. Dressed in shorts, as you walk out the door, you grab your umbrella. Later that day, you remember to leave work a few minutes early in case you need to detour around a road that often floods.

This example distinguishes between verbatim and gist memory. Verbatim memory, or memory for specific details, is the type of memory trace that we typically think of when we notice our own memory failures. In this particular example, verbatim memory entails that the forecast indicated that it was going to be 83 degrees Fahrenheit and that it was going to rain from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Gist memory typically entails recalling the meaning, rather than the specific details of the information that we are trying to remember. Again in this particular case, gist memory would entail recalling that it is warm enough for shorts and that it is going to rain all day (For a more in-depth reading of the theoretical distinctions between verbatim and gist memory see: Reyna & Brainerd, 1995).

Understanding this distinction between gist and verbatim memory is particularly important when thinking about our own minds as we age. As we have highlighted in previous blog posts, it can be particularly alarming when we begin to notice the increased frequency of normal, age-related memory failures. When this occurs it can be difficult to see where our memory is serving us well, as in the case of gist memory.

Recent work from Haley Gallo, Mary Hargis, & Alan Castel (2019) highlighted this idea that older adults tend to extract gist details from information beyond what they would typically see in the laboratory, namely weather forecast information. They demonstrated that although older adults had poorer verbatim memory than younger adults for the specific details of the weather forecasts (i.e. remembering as many details as possible), there were no age differences in the gist memories for these forecasts (which days would be best to have a picnic or bring an umbrella).

Functionally, a gist memory representation of the weather forecast is arguably just as important as verbatim memory representation when deciding what to wear. By recalling the meaning of previous information, as opposed to the specific details, we are able to plan for our day.

Source: Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash

Many different scenarios arise where recalling gist details are just as helpful as verbatim details for planning future behaviors. For example, maybe you need to buy a birthday present for a niece or nephew. You know that they are a teenager, but you can’t remember if they are turning 15 or 16 years old. Recalling that they are a teenager is actually the only piece of information that you need to determine that you should buy J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit rather than Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon when you go to the bookstore later in the day. It may be frustrating that you cannot remember their specific age, but recalling that they are in their teenage years is sufficient for you to successfully plan for the future purchase of their birthday gift.

With these ideas in mind, in moments when we become frustrated with our inability to remember specific details, it might be helpful to ask, “Do I need to remember this specific piece of information? Or is it sufficient to remember the gist for planning purposes?” This may help to alleviate memory frustrations and allow for successful future planning and remembering.