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An exceptional memory
Author(s) -
HUNTER IAN M. L.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1977.tb01571.x
Subject(s) - psychology , recall , cognitive psychology , memory span , chaining , perception , calculator , cognitive science , reconstructive memory , cognition , working memory , childhood memory , developmental psychology , semantic memory , computer science , neuroscience , operating system
An account is given of the exceptional memory of the late Professor A. C. Aitken who was also a distinguished mathematician and mental calculator. Examples are given of his performance in memory‐span tasks and his recall of artificial materials learnt under experimental conditions 27 years earlier. His memory is stronger than average in all respects but normal in mode of functioning. It relates to his comprehending materials in terms of rich patterns of multiple, often recondite, properties. Compared with Shereshevskii, another man with exceptional memory, he shows the scholar's reliance on conceptual mapping rather than the mnemonist's reliance on perceptual chaining.