Chapter 9: Remembering and Judging
Activities
Exercise: Watch & Learn
How Reliable is Your Memory? Elizabeth Loftus talks about her work on eyewitness memory.
Video 9.1: How Reliable is Your Memory (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB2OegI6wvI) uploaded by Elizabeth Loftus on TedTalks.
Exercise: Read, Listen & Learn
- Ancient Technique can Dramatically Improve Memory, Research Suggests: this article gives evidence that an ancient mnemonic technique may still be useful. (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/mar/08/ancient-technique-can-dramatically-improve-memory-research-suggests-memory-palace)
- A Neuroscientist Explains: Listener’s Emails about Memory (Podcast): A short but wide-ranging podcast on memory. (https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2017/feb/08/a-neuroscientist-explains-listeners-emails-about-memory-podcast)
- Take the Photographic Memory Test: A test of your ability to remember visual information.
(http://www.open.edu/openlearn/body-mind/psychology/take-the-photographic-memory-test) - Four Ways that Other People can Warp Your Memory: A fascinating (scary?) look at some of the ways in which other people can influence our memory. (http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160920-four-ways-that-other-people-can-warp-your-memory)
Exercise: Watch & Learn
How your “Working Memory” Makes Sense of the World: An entertaining look at working memory with activities.
Video 9.2: How Your “Working Memory” Makes Sense of the World uploaded by Peter Doolittle at TED on June 2013 (https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_doolittle_how_your_working_memory_makes_sense_of_the_world?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare)
Exercise: Read & Learn
Deep Down, I knew it Didn’t Happen: The Woman Who Imagined a Murder: An alarming real-life example of false memory (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/aug/04/out-of-thin-air-erla-bolladottir-interview-murder-story)
Exercises: Watch & Learn
Are We in Control of Our Own Decisions? A great Ted Talk about decision making in real life
Video 9.3: Are We In Control of Our Own Decision, (https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_decisions) uploaded by Dab Ariely to TED.
How Reliable is Eyewitness Testimony: A video demonstration of the problems of eyewitness memory
Video 9.4: How Reliable is Eyewitness Testimony (https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_decisions?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare) uploaded by National Science Foundation.
Exercises: Do & Think
- Are You a Super Recogniser? Try this short test to see if you have a good memory for faces
(http://superrecognisers.com/) - See How Well you Remember 10 Famous Company Logos: This site challenges you to draw the logo then gives feedback (http://time.com/3743739/company-logo-quiz/) Majority of People Can’t Identify the Apple logo, Can You? Whereas this one offers a recognition test:
(https://www.geek.com/apple/majority-of-people-cant-identify-the-apple-logo-can-you-1617614/) Try one or both of the tests out on some friends. How did their results compare with yours? - How Good is Your Memory? Take Our Test and Find Out: This site looks at a number of different memory abilities – how well did you do? (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationquestions/11615121/Quiz-how-good-is-your-memory.html)
- TestMyBrain: The “test of multiple memory types” on this site assesses your memory for visual information and your long-term memory. (https://www.testmybrain.org/)
- If you regularly spend time with a group of people, you could explore how similar (or different!) their memories are for a specific event. For example, interview all the members of your family about what happened during your last vacation together, or interview your friends about what happened the last time you all had supper together. Clearly, you will want to talk to people individually so that they cannot influence one another’s answers. Prompt them to give as much detail as possible and take notes so that you can compare the different versions. Were there any striking differences? How did YOUR memory of the event compare with other people’s?
References
Ariely, D. (2008, December). Dan Ariely: Are we in control of our own decisions? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_decisions
Cocozza, P. (2017). ‘Deep down, I knew it didn’t happen’: The woman who imagined a murder. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/aug/04/out-of-thin-air-erla-bolladottir-interview-murder-story
Devlin, H. (2017). Ancient technique can dramatically improve memory. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/mar/08/ancient-technique-can-dramatically-improve-memory-research-suggests-memory-palace
Doolittle, P. (2013, June). Peter Doolittle: How your working memory makes sense of the world? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_doolittle_how_your_working_memory_makes_sense_of_the_world
Glaser, D. The Guardian. 2017, February 8. Glaser, Daniel. A neuroscientist explains: listener’s emails about memory – podcast. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2017/feb/08/a-neuroscientist-explains-listeners-emails-about-memory-podcast
Gurney-Read, J., & Midgley, R. (2018). How good is our memory? Take our test. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationquestions/11615121/Quiz-how-good-is-your-memory.html
Humphries, M. (2015). Majority of people can’t identify the Apple logo, can you? Retrieved from https://www.geek.com/apple/majority-of-people-cant-identify-the-apple-logo-can-you-1617614/
Loftus, E. (2013, September, 23). How reliable is your memory? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB2OegI6wvI
National Science Foundation. (2015, July 20). How reliable is eyewitness testimony? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChgPk2OiZCw
Open University, OpenLearn. (2009). Take the photographic memory test. Retrieved from http://www.open.edu/openlearn/body-mind/psychology/take-the-photographic-memory-test
Robson, D. (2016). Four ways that other people can warp your memory. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160920-four-ways-that-other-people-can-warp-your-memory
TestMyBrain. (2017). Featured brain tests. Retrieved from https://www.testmybrain.org/
University of Greenwich. Super recognisers. Retrieved from http://superrecognisers.com/
Wilson, C. (2015). See How Well You Remember 10 Famous Company Logos. Retrieved from http://time.com/3743739/company-logo-quiz/