Iconic Memory Defined And Why Photographic Memory DOES ...

Iconic memory is one type of sensory memory. It is a short-term visual memory and ... Searchthesite Menu HOME ABOUT FREECOURSE BLOG Memory Learning LanguageLearning Reading Thinking Productivity PODCAST MEMBERS IconicMemoryDefinedAndWhyPhotographicMemoryDOESNOTExist AnthonyMetivier| April28,2022| Memory Share17TweetShare17Shares http://traffic.libsyn.com/magneticmemorymethod/Iconic_Memory_Defined_And_Why_Photographic_Memory_DOES_NOT_Exist.mp3Podcast:DownloadSubscribe:ApplePodcasts|GooglePodcasts|Stitcher|RSSShedisappearedinaflash,butwhenIclosedmyeyes,Icouldseeherbeautifulfacelookingpleadinglyinmydirection.  Readslikeromanticfiction,doesn’tit? It’sactuallyyouriconicmemoryrecallingavisualstimulusinitstechnicolorglory. Inthispost,you’lllearnallabouticonicmemory,whyit’simportantandhowtoimproveittoenablebettermemoryandrecall.I’llalsobreakafewmythsaboutpicture-perfectmemories. Here’swhatI’llcoverinthispost: WhatIsAnIconicMemory? WhyIconicMemoryisNotTheSameasaPhotographicMemory HowisIconicMemoryformed? GeorgeSperling&OtherExperiments  HowDoesIconicMemoryMovetoLong-TermMemory? WhatFunctionDoesIconicMemoryServe? HowCanYoustrengthenyourIconicMemory? YoursFree:APrivateCourseWithCheatSheetsForBecomingAMemoryMaster,StartingFromScratch.>>>ClickHereForThisSpecialFreeOffer. WhatIsAnIconicMemory? Iconicmemoryisonetypeofsensorymemory.    Itisashort-termvisualmemoryandlastsonlyafewsecondsbeforegettingdiscarded. Yourbrainusesiconicmemorytoremember(forabrieftime)animageyouhaveseenaroundyou.  Yoursensorymemorystoresallinformationthatyouexperiencethroughyourfivemajorsenses–touch,taste,sight,hearing,andsmell.Checkoutthesesensorymemoryexercisesforawild,mentaladventure. Suchstorageofallstimuliisanautomaticresponsebyyourbrain.Ifsufficientattentionisgiventothisstimulus,theinformationmaythenpassintoyourshort-termmemory,andfromthere,itcangetencodedintoyourlong-termmemory.  However,inmostcases,sensoryinformationisthrownoutwithinafewseconds. ThisPutsThe“Icon”InIconic Whensomekindofsensoryinputentersyourvisualsystem,itgoesintoyouriconicmemory.Thevisualsystemincludestheiconicmemory,visualshort-termmemoryandlong-termmemory. Iconicmemoryissimplyyourbrain’swayofprocessingvisualinformation.Thebrainseesthisinformationasdistinctflashesor‘icons,’hencethenameiconic. Forinstance,imagineyouaredrivingthroughthecountrysideandalovelycottagewitharedfrontdoorflashespast.Youcontinuetodrive,butcanstillseethe“image”inyourmind’seye.  Thisafter-imageofthecottageinyourmind’seyeevenafteritceasestoexistinyourvisualplainistheworkingofyouriconicmemory. Herearesomeotherexamplesoficonicmemory: Yourfriendisreadingabook,andyouaskherwhichbooksisit.Yourfriendshowsyouthecoverofthebookforjustabriefmomentbeforehidingit,leavingyouwithonlytheimpression,oriconicmemory,ofwhatthebook’scoverlookedlike. Youcomehomeoneeveningandasyouturnonthelivingroomlightthebulbburnsout,leavingyouindarkness.Butyourmind’seyecanstillvisualize(albeitbriefly)whattheroomlookedlikeintheluminanceofthebulb. Inotherwords,yourbraintakesasnapshotofeveryimageit“sees”andstoresthatasanafter-imageonlyforafewsecondsinyouriconicmemory.Apparently,thishappensinyourbrain,evenifyouhaveaphantasia. Thequestionis…howisitlikeacameratakingapicture? Isitthesameasaphotographicmemory? IconicMemoryisNotTheSameasaPhotographicMemory Let’sgetonethingclear. Photographicmemorydoesnotexist. Thephenomenonwhereyouhaveinstantaneousrecallofanyandalleventsbyunitingyourvisual,spatial,audio,andverbalmemoriesisnotpossiblebyhumans. YoumayhaveheardthatTeddyRooseveltcouldrepeataloudentirenewspaperpagesasifhewasreadingfromit,orofartistslikeArturoToscanini,whowasabletoconducttheoperafrommemoryafterhiseyesightbecametoopoortoreadthemusic.  ManyworldchampionsandmemoryexpertslikeNelsonDelliscanmemorizeandrecallmanydigitsofPi,butthereisnoverifiedcasewhichshowsmemoryworkinglikeacamerawithtotalandcompleterecall.  Butwhatifyoucanrememberyourexperienceingreatdetail–rightdowntothecolorofthecarthatyoutooktogotoDisneylandwhenyouwerefiveyearsold?Doesthatmeanyouhaveaphotographicmemory? Simpleanswer:No. Whatyoucanhaveisaneideticmemory–amemorythatisveryvividandhasgreatpotentialforrecall. However,toclarify–eideticmemoryisnotphotographicmemory.Itsimplymeansyoucanremembermanythingsingreatdetail,butnotallthedetails.  Moreimportantly,eidetikersmayeveninventdetailsthatwereneverthere. Quicksidenote: Someresearchersfoundthatamutatedfruitflycouldpotentiallypossessaformofphotographicmemory.  Overthecourseoftheirbrieflives,afruitflywithaboostedCREBgenecouldhaveaformofphotographicmemory.WhilehumansalsoshareDNAwithfruitflies,thepotentialforasimilarboostinhumansisyettoberesearched. So,ificonicmemoryisn’tphotographic,whydoweevenneedit? Itseemsunimportant,right? Maybenot.You’llknowinaminute. Let’sfirstunderstandhowiconicmemoriesaremade. HowIsIconicMemoryFormed? Theoccipitallobeisthecentralpartofthebraininvolvediniconicmemory.Thislobeisresponsibleforprocessingandregulatingvisualinformation. Whenyou“see”something,thevisualinformationisreceivedbythephotoreceptorcellsintheeyesandsenttotheoccipitallobe.Hereitisstoredforafewmillisecondsbeforebeingitisforgottenortransferredtothetemporallobe.  Thisvisualmemoryorvisualpersistenceisthenconvertedfromvisualshort-termmemorytolong-termmemorybythehippocampus,whichislocatedinsidethetemporallobe. Theremaybepsychologicalvisualpersistenceofavisualstimulusforsometimeafteritsphysicaloffset.Therearethreesenseswhereitcanpersist. TheThreePersistences Thefirstisneuralpersistencewhichoccurswhenneuralactivitycontinuesafterthestimuliaregone. Thesecondisvisiblepersistence–whenyoucontinuetoseeanimageeventhoughitisgone,suchaswithaflashofbrightlight. Thethirdisinformationalpersistence– whenanobservercontinuestoretaininformationaboutavisualstimulusforsometimeafterthestimulusisgone. In1980,MaxColtheartperformedresearchintothethreestagesofvisualpersistence. Hisstudyalsosuggeststhatanyphysicalstimulusmustbetemporarilyattachedtoarepresentationinsemanticmemory.However,episodicmemoryisnotinvolvedinthisprocess.Thistemporarystorageofinformationiswhatconstitutesiconicmemory.  Iconicmemorycapacityisalsoextremelybrief.Usually,thedurationoficonicmemoryislessthanonesecond,andthisdurationisfixedirrespectiveofhowlongvisualstimulusisdisplayed.   IconicvsEchoicMemory Theiconicmemoryandechoic(auditory)memoryarethetwomostextensivelystudiedsensorymemories. Theothermaintypesofsensorymemoryincludetouchorhapticmemory,tasteorgustatorymemory,andsmellorolfactorymemory.  Onebigdifferencebetweeniconicmemoryandechoicmemoryisregardingthedurationandcapacity.  Whileechoicmemorylastsupto3-4seconds,iconicmemoryorshort-termvisualmemorylastsonlyuptoonesecond.However,whileiconicmemorycanpreserve8-9items,thecapacityoftheechoicmemoryis4-5items. GeorgeSperling&OtherExperimentsWithIconicMemory AmericancognitivepsychologistGeorgeSperlingdocumentedtheexistenceoficonicmemory.  Cognitivepsychologyisthestudyofmentalprocessessuchasmemory,perception,problem-solving,attention,languageuse,etc. Throughseveralexperiments,Sperlingshowedthathumansstoreaperfectimageofthevisualworldforabriefmoment–asicons–beforeitisdiscardedfrommemory. However,itwaspsychologistUlricNeisserwhoin1967labeledthisformofquicklyfadingvisualmemoryasiconicmemory. Sperling’sinitialexperimentusedamatrixwiththreerowsofthreeletters.Theparticipantswereaskedtolookatavisualdisplayofletters,forashortperiod,andthenrecallthemimmediately.Underthistechnique,subjectswereableto,onaverage,recall4-5lettersofthe9theyweregiven.  TheresultshelpedSperlingconcludethatourshort-termvisualmemorycanholdtheinformationevenifitisexposedtoitforafewseconds.  Hereasonedthatthereasonthesubjectswerenotabletorecallalloftheletterswasthatthismemorydisappearedinlessthanasecond. Sperlingdidn’tstopthere.Next,hetriedavariationtothisexperiment,knownasthepartialreportmethod.  Inthispartialreportmethod,afterthevisualdisplayofletters,Sperlingsoundedahigh,medium,orlowtone.Thetonewasacuefortheparticipants.Dependingonwhichtonewassounded,theparticipantreadthehigh,medium,orlowrowofletters. Thistimearound,whentheparticipantshadacuetheywereabletorecallmoreletters.Thepartial-reportexperimentsdeterminedthateventhoughweseeallthevisualimageofletters,wecannotrecallthemallbecausethememoryisfleeting.  WhileSperling’sexperimentswithmemorytasksmainlytestedtheinformationrelatedtoastimulus,otherssuchasColtheartperformeddirectstestsofvisualpersistence.  Coltheartalsoquestionedtherelationbetweenvisualpersistenceandiconicmemory. Inhisreport,Iconicmemoryandvisiblepersistence.PerceptionandPsychophysics,(27,183-228),Coltheartsays“Iconicmemoryandvisiblepersistenceareoftentreatedasthesame.However,whetherthesetwophenomenonarethesameisanempiricalquestion. “Theearlierreviewestablishedthattwopropertiesofvisiblepersistenceare1)aninverserelationshipwithstimulusdurationand2)aninverserelationshipwithstimulusluminance,orintensity.Iconicmemorymustexhibitthesetwopropertiesbeforeitcanbeequatedwithvisiblepersistence.  “Thereisnoevidencethatthedurationoficonicmemoryandluminanceareinverselyrelated.Furthermore,althoughthereissomeevidencethatincreasingstimulusdurationhasaneffectoniconicmemorypersistence,thiseffectisdirectratherthaninverse.Thus,visiblepersistence—whichisverysensitivetophysicaldisplayfeatures—andiconicmemoryseemtobehavedifferently.” NearlytwodecadesafterSperling’soriginalexperiments,visualpersistenceandinformationalpersistenceemergedastwodistinctcomponentsofvisualsensorymemory. HowDoesIconicMemoryMovetoLong-TermMemory? Alotoffocusedattentionisneededtomoveinformationfromiconicmemorytodurablestorage–whichisyourshort-termmemoryandsubsequently,yourlong-termmemory.  Thehumanmemorysystemworksonencoding,storage,andretrievalofinformation.In1968,AtkinsonandShiffrinsuggestedthismodelforhumanmemory.Itincludesthreecomponents–sensorymemory,short-termmemory,andlong-termmemory.  TheHumanMemorySystemSimplified Here’sasimplisticexplanationonhowyourmemorysystemworks: Inthefirststage,anyincomingsensoryorperceptualinformationisheldinthesensorymemory.Theinformationgatheredthroughthesensesisanexactcopyofwhatyouperceive.Thisinformationisstoredinyoursensorymemoryforaveryshortduration.  Forinstance,assoonasyougetavisualstimulus–youseeanapple–itisprocessedbyyoureyesandmovedintotheoccipitallobe.Next,recognitionoccurs,andthisinformationisthenplacedintoiconicmemory.Allthistakesplaceveryquickly. Fromtheiconicmemory,onlyalimitedamountofinformationthatyouconsciouslypayattentiontomovesintothevisualworkingmemory–thisisyourshort-termmemoryforvisualstimuli.Everythingelseisdiscarded. Thisshort-termmemorydoesnothaveunlimitedcapacity.Itcanonlystorealimitedamountofinformation.  Consciousperceptionmakesasignificantdifferenceinthememoryprocess. Theinformationcanremainintheworkingmemoryforseveralminutesbeforebeingdiscardedorstoredinlongtermmemory. Overtime,memoriesgetetchedinlong-termstorage.Forthis,youneedrehearsalandpetitiontopracticeyourrecallofinformationwhichenablesyoutomoveinformationfromshort-termtolong-termmemory.   WhatFunctionDoesIconicMemoryServe? Ificonicmemorylastsonlyforafewmicroseconds,isitatallimportant? Absolutely! Theroleoficonicmemoryincreatingnewmemoryissignificant. Thisformofsensorymemoryprovidesasteadystreamofvisualinformationtothebrain,whichcanthenbeprocessedbyyourshort-termmemoryintomorestableandlong-termformsofmemory. Scientistsarealsousingiconicmemorytomakerevolutionarydiscoveries.Oneofthemistheroleofthismemoryinchangeblindnessorourinabilitytodetectsignificantchangesinourvisualfield.  Incertainexperiments,theydiscoveredthatwetendtohavetroublewithchangedetectionfromonescenetoanotherifwefacebriefintervalsbetweenthem.  Accordingtoresearchers,thathappensbecausethatdelayorinterruptionwipesouttheiconicmemoryofthescene,whichmakesdetectingdifferencesallthemoredifficultifnotdownrightimpossible. IconicmemorylosshasalsobeenlinkedtotheonsetofAlzheimer’sdisease,soitmaybeprudenttostrengthenthistypeofsensoryperception. HowCanYouStrengthenyourIconicMemory? Sinceiconicmemoryisonetypeofsensorymemory,improvingyouroverallsensoryperceptionswillresultinbetterretentionofvisualinformation. Attentionalsoplaysavitalroleinnotonlytransferringinformationfromiconictoworkingmemorybutalsowhentheiconicmemoryisformed. Accordingtothisstudy,theformationoficonicmemoryisdisruptedwhenattentionisdivertedevenifthathappensforabriefperiodoftime.  Thehumanmindiscapableoffaultlessinformationprocessing,justlikeacomputer.Ittakesininformation,organizesandstoresittoberetrievedatalatertime.  However,forthisinformationprocessingtobeaccurate,youneedtobeawareanddeliberateinyourlearning. BeIntentionalToHaveBetterMemory Whenyouareintentional,youperceivethingsbetter. Whyisthat? Becauseyouarepayingattentiontoeverythingaroundyou–allyoursensesaresharperandfocusedonabsorbingtheinformationaroundyou. Greaterattentionmeansbetterperception,whichresultsingoodmemory. Memoryexercisescanbeusedtostrengthenyourattentionwhichinturnwillimproveretentionandrecall. However,yourmemoryimprovementtrainingshouldalwaysbelinkedtomemorizinginformationthatwillimmediatelyimproveyourlife.Itshouldalwaysbemeasurablesincetrackingyouroutcomesleadstorapidimprovement. ThisiswherecreatingMemoryPalacesusingtheMagneticMemoryMethodcancomeinhandy.  Itenablesyoutounlockthepowerofalltypesofmemory–autobiographical,sensory,episodic,semantic,proceduralandmoresothatyoucanmoveinformationintolongtermmemoryfasterandwithpredictableandreliablepermanence.  Keentounlockyournaturalabilitytolearnandrememberanythingfast?  WhynottrytheMagneticMemoryMethodtoday?  YoursFree:APrivateCourseWithCheatSheetsForBecomingAMemoryMaster,StartingFromScratch.>>>ClickHereForThisSpecialFreeOffer. RelatedPosts NextLevelMemoryTrainingSecretswithUSAMemoryChampJohnGrahamJohnGraham,2018USAMemoryChampionteachesyouthehabitsandstrategiesthathelpedhim… WhyTheyDon'tTeachLearningAndMemoryTechniquesInSchoolsIfyou'relookingforinformationaboutlearningandmemorytechniquesandwonderwhyonearth… HowtoMemorizeThingsFast:5SimpleAndPROVENStepsInthisepisodeoftheMagneticMemoryMethodPodcast,timemanagementmasterTorRefslandfrom… Share17TweetShare17Shares Lastmodified:April28,2022 AbouttheAuthor/AnthonyMetivier AnthonyMetivieristhefounderoftheMagneticMemoryMethod,asystematic,21stCenturyapproachtomemorizingforeignlanguagevocabulary,names,faces,numbers,poetryandanyinformationinwaysthatareeasy,elegantandfun. 2Responsesto"IconicMemoryDefinedAndWhyPhotographicMemoryDOESNOTExist" Maricelasays: October20,2019at11:05pm HiAnthony. Yes,IremembermypracticewithrecallinginformationwhenIwasinhighschoolandcollegetopassthetests.IneedtodothesametopassLifeandHealthInsurance,butamnowusing“TheMagneticMemoryMethod.” Thanksfortheiconicmemorylecture. Reply AnthonyMetiviersays: October20,2019at11:08pm Thanksforstoppingbytosayhello,Maricela. I’mgladyouhavetheMMMonyoursidenow.Theselittledetailsaboutallthetypesandkindsofmemoryandhowtheycanguideourpracticeispartofhowthisapproachtomemoryworks. You’reagreatandconsistentstudentofmemory,solettheLifeandHealthinsuranceinformationflowwithtotalmemoryabundance.🙂 Reply LeaveaReplyCancelreplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked*Comment*Name* Email* Website Savemyname,email,andwebsiteinthisbrowserforthenexttimeIcomment. 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