Does this sound like a memory problem?

Question

About a year and a half ago I read one of Maya Angelou's poems. Several months later I found a piece of paper with a poem on it, read it, and thought I wrote the verse. Today I picked up the same book I read a year ago, found the poem in the book, and realized I did not write the poem, that, in fact, it was one of Angelou's poems. I am 20 years old soon to be 21, does this happen normally to people or should I look into this memory fault further? If I were asked if that poem were mine without seeing the book again, I can ascertain I would have said "Yes, this is my work." My fear is if this happened to carryover in my schoolwork, this would be a perfect illustration of plagiarism, in my mind unintentional but very much occurring.. Any advice? Thanks.

Answer 1

lay off the pot

Answer 2

My mom said that i did that when i was younger. She was a stay at home mom so she taught us a lot before we were in school, which pi**ed off our teachers at first, but then they loved us because we helped with others' work.

The teacher would ask a question and I would know the answer already, without reading the book or studying. I would go home and brag, saying "i knew it already! I was born knowing it!" (i was like 5-6 at the time) and my mom said "i taught you that!"

It happens. It's not a memory problem, just something you have to be careful of. Last thing you want to do is get sued for plagerism.

Answer 3

Wow! Things like that happen to me too! I am 22 yrs old...let me tell you a little story...some time when the movie War of the Worlds came out I wanted to see it soo bad so I went like around 10am to the first screening and I decided to take my younger brother 16 at the time. After I dropped him off at my moms and went to do a couple of erands etc. At around 5pm I went back home and I was all exited to tell him that I had seen the movie so I told him (mind you that I havent lived at home since I was 17) " Hey Mike about 2 days ago, I think, anyway and I saw War of the Worlds... I dont remember who I went to but it was awesome you should go see it!" my little tells me "Stupid it was with me and it was today" Horrible memory of mine. Ive actually boughten books that help you remember and it has little test that help you with stuff like that. I dont think you have a problem its just that you are busy and have better things to store in your head than something like that...trust me happen all the time to me.....

Answer 4

You know, you can get distracted or forgetful in times of stress. I wouldn't get too worked up, just make the effort to be more focused. If you continue to encounter these situations (several times a week), then I would look into it further.

Answer 5

Alright all you have to do is....
uuuuummm wait what was the question? I forgot.

lol nah this is normal.
The brain remembers what it wants to. Bits and pieces. To remember it clearly you usually have to have smells, or lights, or setting clues to keep it perfect. Even at that it is never 100%. No worries this is normal.
I saw a whole thing on the discovery channel on this.

Answer 6

Not a memory issue- I see no major mental or physical health issues here. The human mind can only remember things for only a few seconds. This is why we have to repeatidly go over things to remember them

Answer 7

just make sure you organize your work and when dealing with poems, etc. that aren't yours make sure they are properly labeled and/or cited. the memory thing is just a fact of life...i doubt that you have an early onset of Alzheimer's- you just need to organize.

Answer 8

Just get Audacity.

Answer 9

You might want to get that checked out. It probably is kind of commen in people.

Answer 10

go to a doctor

Answer 11

If you are concerned enough to profess it, you should seek help.