Mental blocks

I was performing in our school musical, and i acted as one of the main characters.

On stage, the second time we performed, we arrived at a scene which i was most familiar with. What surprised me most is that I had a mental block, and I couldn't remember my lines =O

I was thinking about this today and I'm wondering...

Why do we get mental blocks like that?
Does the mind suddenly seize up with fear to cause a mental block?

I was thinking that I got distracted.. Or that something threw me off.. I'm just not sure =/

 

I suppose it is all to do with chemical imbalances in the brain which block your memory literally =/. Possibly brought on by fear (seeing it can affect so much else), or being pre-occupied or it could just be random *shrugs*

 

It's possible that there was something either novel at the time or before that had the potential to distract you in some way. I've had the same thing happen although the reason was far more evident. I was performing in a musical during the one big song that I had known since being casted for the role, but during the performance it just so happened that 2 of my younger cousins and their family arrived as I was on stage. At that moment they proceeded to walk over and started waving at me. In that moment everything I was doing seemed to snap out of my head.

In the case of mental blocks it's not necessarily a chemical imbalance or the brain seizing up per se, what it really involves is just the general pathway between working memory and long term memory. We experience this abrupt interruption in the form of a tip of the tongue syndrome where we know what we want to say but we simply can't say it. This pathway can be easily interrupted by something like the stress or excitement of performing, especially if it's opening night and you're a lead.

 

Also, you may have learned your lines with a cue. Maybe there was a sound in the background when you learned it or something. You may have needed that to recall it.

Or, you should just listen to White_Rook >_> :P

 

It might just be me but i have alot crammed inot my head like information and thoughts, theories, and so on, so I blame that for me having a bad memory.

But realistically, I am not sure what causes things like this, I have performed in different drama performances, and I have had the same thing happen to me. I use to think that since I wanted to get things learnt quickly I would read one scene I was in for a whole day then read the next one the next day and so on, until I fell like I have learnt it then when I go up on stage, I seemed to forget the first page altogether. And i got fired for it! XD

Maybe it was some problem I had ni life, a bit of stage fright, or something else, but I can't explain it, it just happens I guess.

 

I personally think it's because we think too much about something before we say it, and can't remember it all.

This isn't likely for everyone however.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgetting is an interesting read about forgetting :P

 

The factor that was there when you had the lines in your mind was missing. It could be anything, really. What helped you remember must be present.

 

Usually if I forget things like that it's because I have a ton of other things on my mind at the same time, even if I don't exactly realize it. I get distracted by something else transpiring and it was unexpected so my mind is drawn to it or 10 other things at once. Then the thing I -need- to focus on has to be pushed through all the other stuff in the way. To stop it, I try to relax and dismiss each distraction around me to push up the other memory I actually require.

 

Well, I was told that after repetition and practice of doing something (for example speed running a video game) it gets burnt into your subconscious.

Yet when stress is put on you, you resort to conscious action, causing choking.

 

man that must suck

 

I have the worst memory ever so yeah. That would be nothing new to me. Answer must be as simple as you just have something else on the mind at the time.