Chapter 7C Memory

Unlike most other memory virtuosos, he learnes each 10-digit unit largely by rote memorization

Unlike most other memory virtuosos, he learnes each 10-digit unit largely by rote memorization

Yet even when superseded, Rajan's performance was still in some ways more impressive than that of his rival.

In much the same way, when Rajan was tested for retention of material to which his digit strategy did not apply,

Auditory information fades more slowly than visual information.

Broadbent's filtering theory helps explain some aspects of attention, but sometimes unatended stimuli do capture our attention.

We encode verbal information for storage in STM phonologically-that is, according to how it sounds.

Generally speaking, however, we do not use verbatim storeage in LTM.

The old saying practice makes perfect has some merit.

We tend to remeber meaningful material better than arbitrary facts; and the more links or association of meaning you can make, the more likely you are to remember the new information later.

A variation on the idea of elaborative rehearsal is the concept of schema.

Its capacity is immense and material stored there may endure, more or less intact, for decades.

The typical result is that people are more likely to complete fragments with items seen earlier than they are with other, equally plausible items.

Two hormones in particular, epinephrine and cortisol, affect long-term retention.

Apparently these hormones indirectly act on specific brain centers, such as the hippocampus and the amygdala, that are critical for memory formation.

Apparently these hormones indirectly act on specific brain centers, such as the hippocampus and the amygdala, that are critical for memory formation.

The problem is analogous to something that every computer user has experienced: a momentary power outage results in the loss of information that has not been saved to the hard drive.

It's not surprising, then that many researchers belive that the values and customs of a given culture have a profound effect on what and how easily people remember.

Bartlett related a tale of a Swaze cowherd who had a prodigious memory for facts and figures about cattle.

In a classic study of authobiographical memory, researchers asked young adults to report the earliest personal memory that came to mind when they saw each of the 20 words and then estimate how long ago each event had occurred.

When an eyewitness to a crime gives evidence in court, the testimony often overwhelms evidenct to the contrary.

When an eyewitness to a crime gives evidence in court, the testimony often overwhelms evidenct to the contrary.

Faced with conflicting or ambiguous testimony, jurors tend to put their faith in people who saw an event with their own eyes.

Other studies have shown that simply describing the perpetrator shortly after the incident occurs actually interferes with memories of what the person actually looked like, thus making it more difficult for the eyewitness to pickthe correct person.

Although Avery offered alibis from 14 witnesses and documentation showing he wasn't at the scene of the crime, it took repeated legal challenges and new advances in DNA testing for him to overcome the conviction