Summary for Three Online Artciles

1) The first article I chose to write a summary on is based on the idea that short-term memory doesn’t grow more imprecise over the course of time but just shuts down completely. Weiwew Zhang, a postdoctoral scholar, and Steve Luck, a professor of psychology discovered this new idea trough a pair of tests which separately measured two main things the accuracy of short-term memory and the probability that the memory still existed. The tests were given to 12 different adults. The first test consisted of showing three squares each filled with different colors on a computer. After each square a wheel showing all spectrum of colors appeared on the screen and after the three squares reappeared. When the three squares reappeared they were colorless and one was highlighted. The individuals were asked to remember and click on he are of the wheel that matched the color of the highlighted square. They were asked to repeat the test 150 times. When subjects did remember the color from memory they clicked a matching color very close. The distance between the click and the actual color indicated the accuracy of memory for each individual. While in some cases when color disappeared from memory subjects clicked at random in the wheel. The second test was very similar but used shapes instead of colors. The study found that the actual truth is that individuals either have a memory or don’t have it. The memories did not gradually fade away. The findings and Luck explain how memories don't fade or become weaker but just shut down completely. This finding helps understand how important decisions shouldn't be based on weak and inaccurate memories.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429091806.htm

2) The second article posted in Science Daily talks and discusses how emotional memories and memories linked to any visual aids can be very powerful and extremely hard to isolate or forget. Keith Payne and former psychology student Elizabeth Corrigan found that any negative or even "mild" emotional events are very hard to erase. The article mentions how when individuals try to forget information they first need to mentally isolate that information and then block off the information they don't want to recall. Though emotion undermines these steps and makes memories hard to isolate do to their strong impact and how easily they can be accessed. The UNC study asked 218 participants to remember or recall photographs instead of text. The article mentions how a word murder may or may not create fear while a violent picture will create a more powerful emotion and impact. Researchers found that the individuals could not intentionally forget emotional events as they might easily erase ordinary events. A great example is how a rape or a violent crash will always be remembered and will form a big part of the victim’s life even though their desire to control and isolate the memory is very influential. The study findings can help understand how an emotion creates certain limits and boundaries on the ability to control the mind and its content.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070815105026.htm

3) The third article I read online in the Science Daily was actually extremely interesting and talked about how individuals are exposed to several marketing messages daily, the messages are presented in several languages but are most effective or have a greater impact in the individuals native language. The authors of the study Stefano Puntoni, Bart de Langhe and Stijn van Osselaer studied bilingual and trilingual populations in Europe tested different slogans with certain subjects and viewed the differences in how the messages were perceived. In general they discovered messages expressed in the consumers native language created a more emotional impact and as a result was more effective. The authors expressed how they believe the effect is not based on the difference of language but how the individuals associate their native language to certain memories. For example the hearing or reading of a word in one's native language may unconsciously trigger a memory. During there study they also discovered that the effect was more present in women than in men. They believe this is due to the fact that women have a stronger memory for emotional events. The results demonstrated how it is more effective to communicate a message in the subject’s native language due to the fact it will create a greater impact trough emotion. This study may help international companies willing to expand and grow their incomes in new lands. For example if Forever 21 was opening a store in Honduras to have more effective publicity they should communicate trough the population’s native language which is Spanish.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081215111433.htm

What is MEMORY? How does it WORK?

1) Sensory memory is the first level of memory that retains the brief impression a sensory stimulus or any of your five senses may cause.

2) A clear example is when you see a dog-running trough the street and then it disappears even though the object disappears it may still be vivid in your memory.

3) Sensory memory is extremely short and lasts about four seconds while visual information fades away in less than a minute.

4) Short-term memory is a system or capacity of temporarily storing and managing information required to carry out basic functions such as learning reasoning and comprehending. Short-term memory involves the selection and encoding of information. It is believed to last and estimate of 2-7 seconds.

5) The magical number is referred as seven plus or minus two this is also known as Millers’ law. Miller is a cognitive psychologist which argues that the number of objects an average human can hold in working memory is seven plus or minus two.

6) Chunking refers to a strategy in which individuals record and encode important information or data in order to remember and use more efficiently short-term memory.

7) Two, three and six has been referred as the ideal number for chunking for letters as well as numbers.

8) Short-term memory is believed to rely more on acoustic code for storing information and to a lesser extent visual code.

9) Long-term memory is believed to be able to store large quantities of information for unlimited amount of time (a whole life span). For example a seven-digit number we can only remember for a short time while trough repetition a telephone number can be remerged for years by storing it trough long-term memory.

10) The Atkinson-Shiffrin Model is a psychological model proposed in 1968 by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin. The proposal focused on how the human memory involves a sequence of three main stages. The three stages are:

Sensory memory (SM): sense organs have ability to retain information in a sort of unprocessed way trough a stimulus for less than a second. 
 Short-term memory (STM): allows us to remember information long enough to use it 
 Long-term memory (LTM): provides the lasting retention of information

The model is an explanation of how memory processes work. For example you hear, see and feel several things, but only a small number are truly remembered.

11) One of aspects most criticized in the Akisnson-Shiffrin model is the fact that it is considered to be to linear in structure and never includes some subdivisions the levels of memory may include. When it mentions sensory memory it never acknowledges the neutral activity, which occurs between a neuron and a motor end plate. An example of this is when individuals use sensory memory for physical processes and once an action is performed it is remembered for three seconds and then begins to be forgotten or decays.

12) Levels of Processing are an influential theory and model proposed by Craik and Lockhart in 1972. They reject the idea of dual store model memory. The theory stated that the characteristics of a memory depend on its location (short term store, long term store etc), but instead Craik and Lockart believed information could be processed and remembered in a number of different ways. They stated that the durability of the memory depended on the level or depth of processing involve. (Shallow to deep continuum). This duo also distinguished between two kinds of rehearsal, which are maintenance, and elaborative rehearsal.

13) Maintenance rehearsal is a technique or process, which involves repeating several times certain information or data. Trough maintenance rehearsal your short-term memory can be increased from about 20 seconds to 3 seconds. A clear example is when you call the operator and ask for the phone number of a pizza delivery restaurant, you will repeat the number long enough to remember it when you place the call and order but it wont be stored into long term memory.

13) Maintenance rehearsal is a technique or process which involves repeating several times certain information or data. Trough maintenance rehearsal your short term memory can be increased from about 20 second sto 3 seconds. A clear example is when you call the operator and ask for the phone number of a pizza delievery restaurant, you will repeat the number long enough to rebember it when you place the call and order but it wont be stored into long term memory.

Read more:http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Maintenance%20Rehearsal#ixzz12rc2CSC8

14) Elaborative rehearsal is a memory technique that involves thinking and analyzing the meaning of a term or definition so it can be rebembered instead then simply repeting it over and over again. This memorizing tecnique is more efficient and allows information to be stored in the long term memeory. For example when you are studying a new term in bilogy you research the terms definition analyze it then investigate how it relates to your life trough a graph and all of this processing (rehearsel) will help you store the term for a longer period of time.

15) Fergus Craik and Robert S Lockart developed the Levels of Processing Model and the concepts of maintenance and elaborative rehearsal in 1972.

Sources:

http://penta.ufrgs.br/edu/telelab/3/levels_o.htm

http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Maintenance%20Rehearsal

http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/308677

How our Memory Wokrks?

Trough the film watched in class focused on memory and its main functions I personally learned in a deeper and a more profound method the importance memory plays in our daily life. Memory not only allows us to remember but contributes to creation of a sense of self. Remembering is a simple task we all do without truly realizing but little do we know this simple task influences ALL aspects of our life and personality. Memory truly shapes who we are and our identity. A clear example of his is how unconsciously your brain interacts with your physical environment and stores experiences that later make up your mind and thoughts. Trough connections and reactions your brain cells respond record and then create new memories. Memories not only allow us to recall our past but give us the ability to speak and understand a language and most importantly give us a sense of character and a truly unique personality. A clear example of this is Childhood Amnesia, which refers to how adults can’t remember clearly memories from when they were three or six because their memories have been modified trough experience and little bits of the original memories have been lost. Another example of how memory shapes identity is the example shown in the video trough John’s lifestyle, which explains how trough premature births the memory circuit, can be damaged causing the individual to adopt amnesia. Amnesia enables the human body to remember the past, create new experiences and imagine a future. It is not until something is lost its true value is appreciated and that is exactly what occurs with memory. The human race functions daily depending and based on their ability to remember and retain information.