Thatexperiences influence subsequent behavior is evidence of an obvious but neverthelessremarkable activity called remembering. Learning could not occur without thefunction popularly named memory. Constant practice has such an effect on memory as to leadto skillful performance on the piano, to recitation of a poem, and even toreading and understanding these words. So-called intelligent behavior demands memory,remembering being a primary requirement for reasoning. The ability to solveany problem or even to recognize that a problem exists depends on memory.Typically,the decision to cross a street is based on remembering many earlierexperiences. Practice(orreview) tends to build and maintain memory for task or for any learnedmaterial. Over a period of no practice what has been learned tends to be forgotten, andthe adaptive consequences may not seem obvious. Yet, dramatic instances ofsudden forgetting can be seen to be adaptive. In this sense, the ability to forget can beinterpreted to have survived through a process of natural selection in animals.Indeed, when one's memory of an emotionally painful experience leads to seriousanxiety, forgetting may produce relief. Nevertheless, an evolutionary interpretationmight make it difficult to understand how the commonly gradual process offorgetting survived natural selection. Inthinking about the evolution of memory together with all its possible aspects, it ishelpful to consider what would happen if memories failed to fade. Forgettingclearly aids orientation in time, since old memories weaken and the new tend to standout, providing clues for inferring duration. Without forgetting, adaptive abilitywould suffer, for example, learned behavior that might have been correct a decadeago may no longer be. Cases are recorded of people who (by ordinarystandards) forgot so little that their everyday activities were full of confusion. Thisforgetting seems to serve that survival of the individual and the species. Anotherline of thought assumes a memory storage system of limited capacity thatprovides adaptive flexibility specifically through forgetting. In this view, continualadjustments are made between learning or memory storage (input) and forgetting(output). Indeed, there is evidence that the rate at which individuals forget isdirectly related to how much they have learned. Such data offers gross support ofcontemporary models of memory that assume an input-output balance.
The author's main purpose in writing this passage is to ______.
A、illustrate the process of adapting
B、interpret the function of forgetting
C、explain the performance of memory
D、emphasize the importance of learning
【正确答案】：C
