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Mnemonic wizardry with the telephone directory – But stories are another story
Author(s) -
Wilding John,
Valentine Elizabeth
Publication year - 1994
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.2044-8295.1994.tb02537.x
Subject(s) - mnemonic , psychology , recall , metaphor , memorization , relation (database) , directory , inference , cognitive psychology , word (group theory) , word list , natural (archaeology) , linguistics , artificial intelligence , history , computer science , data mining , philosophy , archaeology , class (philosophy) , operating system
Results are reported from a study of a man (TM) who possesses exceptional memory abilities, which he demonstrates in a public performance. The same tests were given to him as have been used on a number of previous subjects with superior memory. He performed exceptionally well on recall of a word list, telephone numbers, names to faces and the spatial positions of pictures and on recognition of pictures of snow crystals, but was very poor at recalling a story. Results are discussed in relation to previous case studies and the question of whether such performances depend on practised techniques or natural ability. Further tests showed that TM could perform somewhat above average on a simpler factual story, and had no difficulty in handling metaphor, inference and word play, so it seemed likely that poor performance on the more complex story was due to a poor match between the techniques he employed and the nature of the material.