Why do we never lose certain skills we have learned, even if we haven’t practiced them for a long time. like for example riding a bicycle, and we lose some, like a new language we learned 10 years ago but can’t remember anything about it now?

Question

Why do we never lose certain skills we have learned, even if we haven’t practiced them for a long time. like for example riding a bicycle, and we lose some, like a new language we learned 10 years ago but can’t remember anything about it now?

In: 5857

Answer 1

Not a psychologist, but I took a minor course in psychology.

Basically, your brain has two broad types of memory:

1) Procedural:

This includes skills, like riding a bike, driving a car, and so on.

2) Declarative:

Facts, figures, and about everything else. This does “erode” over time, that is, more relevant information at the time overtakes something learned in the past.

To answer your question:

Procedural memory is tied to motor skills and doesn’t get “replaced” (bit of a misnomer) unlike declarative memory. So the language is still there, it just takes time and eventually pops up, whilst you’ll never forget how to ride a bike.

Hope this helped.

EDIT: Thank you for the upvotes and especially u/thelostecholar for the award. Glad I could help out a little.

EDIT 2: Well, I’m glad this is my most upvoted comment. Thank you u/jaywiz8 and u/-SNUG- for the awards, and the rest of you awesome people for continuing an awesome discussion. It’s lovely.