Adaptive memory

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/adaptive-memory

1. What is the key adaptive problems addressed?
2. What is adaptive memory and why is it important for our brain?
3. Why do we remember scary faces or dangerous animals better than boring things?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the key adaptive problems addressed?Resource acquisition, threat avoidance, social navigation, and mate selection
2. What is adaptive memory and why is it important for our brain?Adaptive memory is how our brain remembers things that help us stay safe and find food. It was shaped by evolution to keep us alive and help us grow families.
3. Why do we remember scary faces or dangerous animals better than boring things?Our brain is built to notice danger first. It remembers scary faces or animals because remembering them helps us avoid harm.

Natural Selection: The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
Domain-Specific Memory: Memory systems that are specialized for processing and retaining particular categories of information relevant to survival.
Fitness-Relevant Information: Data that, if remembered and acted upon, increases an organism's chances of survival and successful reproduction.