Rick- that must be the source. I read the book in graduate school (as did probably many of my former professors) so I don't know if I distorted/plagiarized the story or someone else did (where did baptismal prayer come in?).
Thanks! Patrick ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Stevens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 10:36 AM Subject: Re: rehearsal and memory anecdote confirmation? > I have seen something that is somewhat similar. In _Memory Observed_, by > Neisser there is an account of a Professor Sanford who wrote a letter to > Titchener about his (Sanford's) memory failure. He was saying the Morning > Prayer of the Episcopal Church and had done this "at least 5000 times in the > last 25 years, usually at 24-hour intervals, often for many weeks in > succession..." > > The Lord's Prayer he knew pretty well, but of the next 4, when testing > himself, he took between 20 and 44 promptings for prayers that were from 73 > to 158 words. > > I just looked this up in the old edition (1982), there is a newer edition out > now. I think that the book has several interesting anecdotes. > > "Patrick O. Dolan" wrote: > > > I'm preparing a lecture on episodic memory and realized that > > in the past I've told a story that I don't know if it is a > > benign anecdote that I picked up from a lecture myself > > somewhere along the way, something I should be giving > > someone credit for, or completely incorrect/baseless story > > that I should drop from my lecture. > > > > The story goes that a priest (most priests?) had/has/have a > > hard time recalling a baptismal prayer despite having > > read/said the prayer many many times, which leads into a > > discussion of rote rehearsal, etc. etc. > > > > Anybody ever hear something similar? Have a source? > > > > Thanks kindly > > > > Patrick > > > > ************************ > > Patrick O. Dolan > > Department of Psychology > > Drew University > > Madison, NJ 07940 > > 973-408-3558 > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ************************ > -- > __ Rick Stevens > __ Psychology Department > __ University of Louisiana at Monroe > __ http://www.ulm.edu/~stevens > >> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
