On 3 Jan 2011 at 3:56, Allen Esterson wrote: > Michael Sylvester wrote: > >No big deal to me.This autobiographical memory stuff should not > >be surprising. There are cultures where folks can memorize the > >whole Koran.
Allen replied: > But this is done by constant repetition in childhood, possibly over > many years. Luria's subject did not need to practice in order to recall > massive amounts of information. Free associating to this, I recall an old study which demonstrates just how well constant repetition can work in improving memory, and in some cases, it doesn't take all that long. Ericsson et al back in 1980 published a study of an "ordinary" (my term) college student induced to practice his memory span. This is the ability to immediately repeat a sequence of numbers. His subject practiced for about an hour a day, 3-5 days a week, for 1 1/2 years. At the start his memory span was an unexceptional 7 digits. At the end it was 79. (!) Oh, yes. The title of an earlier similar study by Lionel Standing, a sometimes TIPSter from some little place called Bishop's University, says it all: "Learning 10,000 pictures". And I also recall I played a game with my older daughter when she was a toddler, getting her to recite a long stream of pi and impress the pants off folks. The life of pi wasn't for her and she soon quit. But her younger sister, sensing an opportunity for the advancement of sibling rivalry despite a complete indifference to mathematics, took over. I can't recall just how many she eventually managed to do, but it impressed the pants off me. Stephen References .Ericsson, K. et al (1980). Acquisition of a memory skill. Science, 208, p. 1181-82. [You may or may not be able to get to the entire brief article at http://tinyurl.com/28nzzuc ] Standing L.(1973). Learning 10,000 pictures. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology;25(2):207-22 Stephen -------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca --------------------------------------------- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=7622 or send a blank email to leave-7622-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
