In the argument section, Shenk explains the experiments of Ericcson and Chase with their subject S.F. They wished to test if a person may increase their short term memory capacity by practicing for long periods of time. He proceeds to explain that S.F. created methods of memorizing long sequences of numbers by grouping various number sequences together. S.F. progressed to the point where he could store over 80 unrelated digits in his short term memory whereas the normal human can only remember approximately 7. There are also other tricks for storing information such as the use of places to remember names or items. (52-57)
Why do you think it is easier for people to remember a sequence of small groups of numbers and difficult to remember a long chain of them? How could this have evolutionarily helped our ancestors in the past? Explain why you think some people are capable of remembering nearly every word said during a class period whereas others can barely grasp the previous sentence?
Vlad Miskevich (vladmiskevich@yahoo.com)
Chunks of numbers are definitely easier to remember than a sequence of numbers. Memorizing chunks means memorizing fewer numbers in a way because each chunk acts as one number. “The average healthy adult can reliably juxtapose only three or four new, unrelated terms” (Shenk 53). Three to four new terms isn’t that much in the long run which is why humans need to associate these terms with relatable things in order to memorize a lot more information. Some people, however, believe that memory is a genetic trait and certain genes in one’s body determine how much information their brain can hold. Two brilliant psychologists named Anders Ericsson and William Chase conducted an experiment to test whether the length of a sequence of numbers one can memorize is limited to certain or if anyone could achieve that with practice. Their two year experiment on a college student proved successful because after that period of time, this student “had clearly escaped the normal bounds of short-term memory” (Shenk 54). The student’s strategy was thinking of the numbers as timings as he or she was familiar with in track. By associating these number patterns with something familiar, this college student was able to expand her memory and memorize a lot more than normal. This strategy plays a role in schools as well. All of students have different methods of attaining information whether it’s by visual means, audio means, or both. If a student can recognize the best way to attain information and use that strategy in class, they are bound to learn more than the student who just blatantly listens while the information goes through one ear and out the other.
ReplyDeleteLong term memory is much easier to access than short term memory. “Once information becomes a part of [one’s] long term memory, [they’ll] have access to it for a long time” (http://faculty.bucks.edu/specpop/memory.htm). In order for someone to memorize something, they have to transfer that short term memory to long term memory. Rote learning and learning by understanding are two ways to do this. Rote learning is memorizing information by constant repetition, while learning by understanding is making connects and relationships between the new information and old information. Using these techniques, the human mind is able to hold a lot more information that it can normally.
In terms of history, a memory that can hold a lot more information is what makes humans so successful in the world. Our ancestors needed to have this memory in order to establish relationships with others and remember basic adaptation techniques that were developed in order to survive in an unstable world. Through evolution, our brain has grown bigger and bigger in order to provide more space to hold more information and help our society advance and create more offspring. The process of natural selection is where “individuals with certain inherited traits leave more offspring than individuals with other traits” (Campbell 456). A bigger brain increases the survival rate of human beings which thus increases the number of offspring being born which is evolution’s ultimate goal.
(Anisha Ghosh anishaghosh16@gmail.com)