Chapter 7: Developing Memory Together with a Neuropsychologist

Memory constitutes the basis of cognition, and it is perfectly obvious that man cannot exist without memory. Any activity is based on the fact that an image of a percept is retained in memory for at least a few seconds. Memory enables the accumulation of impressions about the environment and serves as the basis for the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and abilities, and their subsequent utilization. L.S. Vygotsky believed that in early childhood memory is one of the central mental functions on which the creation of all the other functions depends. The thinking of a child in his early years is largely determined by his memory. Thinking for him means remembering [Vygotsky, 2003]. The retention of experience makes it possible to teach a child and to develop his psyche (perception, thinking, speech, etc.). Success in teaching a child is largely determined by his ability to remember, which can and must be developed. “Memory is a form of mental reflection of reality that consists of the consolidation, retention and subsequent retrieval by a person of his experience” [Psikhologicheskii slovar’, 1996, p. 249].