Are All Memories Alike?

The question is: Does the gender or culture affect memory? Several studies have been done and scientists came to the conclusion "Specific results indicated that women excelled in verbal episodic memory tasks, such as remembering words, objects, pictures or everyday events, and men outperformed women in remembering symbolic, non-linguistic information, known as visuospatial processing." This indicates that there is no superiority, memory wise, between males and females.
 
On the other hand, culture does afffect memory. Dr.Leichtman and the other researchers say that Caucasians dont have "better" memory than asians. Instead,  people have the types of memories that they need to get along well in the world they inhabit. In the United States, she says, it's adaptive to have detailed narratives of childhood to relate.


In conclusion, we could say that a great memory is not something you are born with, it is something you have to expand throughout experience. Women excel in verbal episodic memory tasks mainly because most women are usually housewives, and throughout experience their memory has adapted to that environment.

Alzheimer's Disease- Video Response

It is fascinating to see how the disease was gradually changing as the time passed by, watching how sad it is for a person to have such disease. The first interview didn't seem that bad, the lady seemed to have a little trouble remembering names of people and minor details. The second case was more sadder, knowing that the old woman was stripped from her freedom to be able to drive. She also seemed to be frustrated easily and didn't seem as the person who would forget it right away, I guess this is what our teacher meant by a mild case. The next case seemed to be very sad,  as seeing how one of the greatest minds of his time, grew up to have Alzheimer's. The man wrote blogs on how each day passed by. If I would guess on which stage he was, I would have guessed on the dangerous, critical stage, where this man started to get distracted easily for large periods of time. He keeps thinking on how he imagines to daydream again and never to wake up again.

Articles on memory

Article #1- New understanding of how we remember traumatic events
Basically this article explains how emotional events can lead to disturbing long term memories. Which means that having these traumatic events is necessary for us to survive. These events can be seen as being part of a major car accident, being in combat or abused repeatedly again and again for the rest of your life. Scientists have uncovered that a part of the brain known as the amygdala, a part associated with processing emotions, which scientists discovered the cell mechanics under the emotion formation process. The article also made a huge discovery about the noradrenaline, the brain's adrenaline, is capable of "affecting the amygdala by controlling chemical and electrical pathways in the brain responsible for memory formation."

Article #2- Early scents really do get "etched" in the brain
  This article explains that our childhood has a repercussion on our adulthood. To prove this, your appetite, even your inspiration was able to affect the adulthood by simply liking or disliking a smell. The experiment was tested with several different subjects and with an MRI to study in a more deeper way.

Article #3- Some Short term memories die suddenly, no fading
As an experiment, scientists experimented on how accurate visual short term visual memory really is and if the memory actually existed. This was tested on 12 adults. The test consisted on memory based on repeating a fast paced test for 150 times. When the memory was fresh, the results were pretty accurate, but when the memory faded, the results started to appear as if they were picked randomly.

What is memory?

Explain the concept of sensory memory?

-This is known as the 1st level of memory. Sensory memory is the ability to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimulus has ceased.

Give an example of sensory memory?

-You lose concentration in class during a lecture. Suddenly you hear a significant word and return your focus to the lecture. You should be able to remember what was said just before the key word since it is in your sensory register.

What is the capacity of our sensory memory?

-Your brain can take in a lot of information fairly accurately, but this information is not processed much at all, and it does not remain in sensory memory very long. There are 2 types of retaining this memory: Echoic and iconic meaning auditory and visual sensory memory. iconic lasts less than 1 second and echoic lasts less than 4 seconds.

Describe the concept of short term memory?

-Less than 99% of sensory information is passed on to short term memory. Two encoding processes by which we transfer information from sensory to short term memory are selective attention and future extraction. Selective attention occurs when we notice important information necessary to meet our basic needs or our own interests. Feature extraction would be observing things as unusual or out of the ordinary.

 What is the "magic number" as it relates to short-term memory and who conducted the experiment which established this measurement?

-Short Term Memory contains information that we are actively using. For example: remembering a friend's number in your mind, using short term memory by constant repetition for a short period of time and then  forgetting it. Loftus conducted an experiment related to this theory.

What is chunking? 

-Chunking refers to joining bits of information and turning them into a larger piece of information. 

What has been determined to be the ideal size of "chunks" for both letters and numbers?
  -about 7letter or 7 numbers.

Which mode of encoding does short-term memory mostly rely on, acoustic or visual?

- Acoustic

Explain the duration and capacity of long-term memory.

- In order for information to be stored in long term information, it must be encoded, which means processed or manipulated.

Explain in detail the Atkinson-Shiffrin Model of memory.

-Memory starts as stimuli, that we sense some of it goes into short term, if hold on to it,  then we can move it to long term, so once it gets there that information stays.

 Identify three criticisms or limitations of the Atkinson-Shiffrin Model of memory.
-The sensory stores are sensory systems, not memory systems as most people think of the term "memory." 
 Memories can be "warmed up" but outside of attention. In other words, intermediate levels of activation are possible.
The three-box model implies that there is just one short-term system and just one long-term system. In reality, there are many memory systems operating in parallel (for example, different systems for vision, language, and odor memory). 
Each has short-term and long-term operations.
The Atkinson-Shiffrin model does not give enough emphasis to unconscious processes. Unconscious activation is shown with a tentative, dotted arrow. Modern researchers find that unconscious and implicit forms of memory are more common than consciously directed memory processes.

Explain the Levels of Processing Model of memory.

 -According to a "levels of processing" theory, the more meaningful the rehearsal makes the material, the better the material will be remembered.

What is maintenance rehearsal - give an example.

-Keeps info in short-term, long enough to evaluate content. Examples: reading, repeating phone number.

What is elaborative rehearsal - give an example.

-Required for transferring information from short-term to long term memory.

Who developed the Levels of Processing Model and the concepts of maintenance and elaborative rehearsal? 

-F. Craig and R. Lockhart.
 

Memory video: Resoponse

After watching the video and its characters, my response is that having too much memory is a burden to its host, and having too little memory is not as bad as having too much memory. After analyzing both conditions, i have aroused with a simple question: Which condition is more difficult for its respectful host? It has been difficult to come up with the answer because both conditions are tough to live with. But having too much memory is definitely the worst, because no matter how much you try to forget something, you cant. Rethinking the answer, the beautiful memories also come up and never forget. But having limited or almost no memory is also a burden because memory is what makes a person, the experience. Having no memory makes a person struggle in knowing who he is. So the answer to this question is still undefined.

The SRTOOP effect

The famous Stroop effect was named after the J Ridley Stroop. This experiment consists in the ability to multitask and to do 2 tasks at the same time using the same sense. In this case the sense is sight. The job is to be able to say the word written. At first the color and the word represented the same. Then the colors were mixed up with any word and this caused conflict in your brain making the reaction time slower.

The words themselves have a strong influence over your ability to say the color. The interference between the different information (what the words say and the color of the words) your brain receives causes a problem. There are two theories that may explain the Stroop effect:

1. Speed of Processing Theory: the interference occurs because words are read faster than colors are named.
2. Selective Attention Theory: the interference occurs because naming colors requires more attention than reading words.

I think that this puzzle would be easier for a very young child than for older children or adults. Try this out on some small kids who know their colors, but cannot yet read! I would imagine that the children would not get confused by this puzzle because the words would not have any meaning to them.

This is how the Stroop effect experiment looks like

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/words.html

Multitasking - Does Doing More Mean Doing Less?

For many people, Multitasking is equal to doing more at the same time and therefore to be more productive and more efficient. This is FALSE. Multitasking is rather a way to slow down work because junping from one task to another requires time. This time could be saved by staying in one task and one task only. After you finish the task you can then jump to the other. This means that when you are focused your productivity increases and when you are distracted by something else your productivity decreases a considerable amount.

BaMbuti Pygmies

Deep in the emerald forests of central Africa live the BaMbuti, a Pygmy race having their own unique way of life and culture. This way of life and culture is intricately patterned by their habitat: the Ituri Forest itself. In the 1950s anthropologist Colin Turnbull visited the BaMbuti of the Ituri Forest. Today the people of the Ituri forest face many dangers that were not as widespread at the time of Turnbulls visits in the 1950s. The Bambuti have suffered from alcoholism and violence at the hands of both rebels and regular armies. Within the forest, their relationships of exchange with local farmers are being severely disrupted by the influx of farmers from outside the area who want to grow cash crops. Pygmy rights to forest lands do not appear to be recognized in customary or national law. The impact of logging in the Ituri also is damaging to their environment. Ironically, the BaMbuti are also at risk due to some conservation initiatives. Plans for a forest reserve to protect the central Ituri Forest, for example, includes an area where hunter-gatherers are not permitted to hunt or gather. Such restrictions would certainly affect the traditional culture of the BaMbuti even though the intentions of the conservationists would help preserve the forest. Colin saw that the pygmies weren't familiarized with the concept of perception becuase they live in a dense forest, therefore they tend to see everything closer. When they saw the perception "witchcraft" they were stunned.

Perception Factors

The factors that influence perception are the range, your knowledge, and the fact of being able to understand the principles of perception. The range is how far do you see an object. For example: a pen can seem bigger than a mountain. How is this? Well, if you hold a pen infront of you, and a mountain in the distance, then the pen seems larger than the mountain. If you put both objects side to side, the pen can get lost in the mountain because it is obiously huge. The knowledge is the facts you know which object is bigger than the other. For example if someone asks you which object is larger, a mountain or a pen, you will obiously say the mountain! But theres always the chance that they will ask you, which looks larger and the pen is infront of you. Common sense will tell you it is the pen.

5 things I fell positively:  Eating sandwiches reminds me of my grandmother's food. Drinking Canada Dry reminds me of the good times I have had with my older Brother. Playing PS3 because its a way to connect myself with my long distance family. Watching funny movies becuase other people's laugh make me laugh even harder. Looking at the stars becuase i like to see the serenity of the skies.

5 things I feel negatively: Eating arab food because a child memory included being extremely sick because o it. Going to canopy becuase I once crashed into a tree while going very fast. Going to my grandma's house becuase it has a happy enviroment and good food. Going to spanish class becuase we repeat the same contents every year. Staying hme for the holidays because all i do at home is play ps3 or watch TV.

Colin Turnbull

Colin Turnbull was an upper class Oxford-educated Englishman. His life long affair with the African Pygmies made him one of the most famous intelectuals of his times ( 1960's and 70's). Colin Turnbull fell in love with an African American named Joseph Towles. For 30 years they lived in New York City and rural Virginia. Joseph died in 1988 from aids and Colin became devastated. He then gave away all his money and lived as a buddhist monk tutored by the Dalai Lama's older brother.

Colin Turnbull died in 1994 of AIDS


http://www.colinturnbull.com/
http://artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/courses/306/14.gif
http://www.colinturnbull.com/image_11children.jpg

Perception

In textbook defenition, perceptionis the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding. In other words percenption is the way the individual interprets the reality. For example, a person who suffers of colorblindness, will not see a peice of art as a person who isnt colorblind. Another example: the first thing people notice in a car crash is: What happend? Other people notice how did the care get there? My personal deffenition of perspective is how that person sees a certain aspect in life. The importance in perspective is mostly in discussions and debates, to be able to see both sides of the moon.