I thought it was of particular interest that none of the subjects interviewed had ever been married, except for Marilu Henner, who had been married three times. The point was made that perhaps not being able to forget (arguments, hurt feelings, etc.) may make a long-term relationship more difficult.
So perhaps my deeply flawed memory may get some credit for my husband's and my recent celebration of our 42nd anniversary? Beth Benoit Granite State College Plymouth State University New Hampshire On Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 12:33 PM, Annette Taylor <tay...@sandiego.edu> wrote: > > > What I recall, and it may be a false memory, is that Luria's subject (S) > was vastly bothered by his inability to turn off his superior memory--that > so many memories competed constantly for retrieval that this was difficult > for him to manage. > > On the other hand, based on the 60 minutes piece, each of the people > interviewed said that it did not bother them and tht they found a way to > compartmentalize their vast autobiographical memories. Of note, in some of > the retrievals clearly it was NOT merely autobiographical as they were able > to recall many semantic memory type details of events and not just their own > personal connection to the events. > > I thought this was an interesting discrepancy and I wonder how much of S's > perceptions, which were only his, versus McGaugh's group's > perceptions reflect the influence of the group members influencing one > another. Clearly some people in the group (Henner in particular) were more > outspoken during the taped television segments. > > Annette > > Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D. > Professor, Psychological Sciences > University of San Diego > 5998 Alcala Park > San Diego, CA 92110 > tay...@sandiego.edu > ------------------------------ > *From:* Rick Stevens [stevens.r...@gmail.com] > *Sent:* Sunday, January 02, 2011 7:34 AM > *To:* Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > *Subject:* Re: [tips] Minds of Mnemonists > > > I often read some of the descriptions of synesthesia (to pure tones) from > the *Mind of the Mnemonist *in class. Neisser's *Memory Observed* has a > selection from Luria's book and a bit on a mnemonist who had a different, > but amazingly good, memory. It makes an interesting contrast since the > second mnemonist seems to have come to his abilities through (uggh!) > practice and hard work, not some genetic abnormality. > > On Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 4:30 AM, Allen Esterson < > allenester...@compuserve.com> wrote: > >> Stephen's subject for this thread immediately brought forth from the >> depths of my memory the title of a book, *Mind of a Mnemonist* by >> Alexander Luria, based on a thirty year systematic observation of a >> mnemonist, starting in the 1920s in the USSR. In his Foreword to the >> 1968 English translation Jerome Bruner writes: "As a contribution to >> the clinical literature on memory pathology, this book will surely rank >> as a classic." >> >> The whole book is online at >> http://www.scribd.com/doc/12983496/Alexander-Luria-The-Mind-of-a-Mnemonist >> >> Luria reports that "some of these experiments [fifty or more random >> words or numbers read out] designed to test his retention were >> performed (without his being given any warning) fifteen or sixteen >> years after the session in which he had originally recalled the words. >> Yet invariably they were successful." >> >> Another example of this mnemonist's extraordinary abilities, from >> Luria's records: >> >> "Would you like to see me raise the temperature of my right hand and >> lower that of my left?" >> >> We used a skin thermometer to check the temperature of both hands and >> found they were the same. After a minute had passed, then another, he >> said: "All right, begin!" We attached the thermometer to the skin on >> his right hand and found that the temperature had risen two degrees. As >> for his left hand, after S. paused for a minute and then announced he >> was ready, the reading showed that the temperature of his left hand had >> dropped one and a half degrees. >> >> What could this mean? How was it possible for him to control the >> temperature of his body at will? >> >> "No, there's nothing to be amazed at. I saw myself put my right hand on >> a hot stove… Oi, was it hot! So, naturally, the temperature of my hand >> increased. But I was holding a piece of ice in my left hand. I could >> see it there and began to squeeze it. And, of course, my hand got >> colder…" >> >> Allen Esterson >> Former lecturer, Science Department >> Southwark College, London >> allenester...@compuserve.com >> http://www.esterson.org >> >> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- >> From: sbl...@ubishops.ca >> Subject: Minds of Mnemonists >> Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2011 11:44:33 -0500 >> I've been meaning to recommend this remarkable recent segment on the >> the USA TV programme "60 Minutes". It concerns a small group of >> adults who have what is being called, with understatement, "superior >> autobiographical memory". The segment is called "The Gift of Endless >> Memory" and it's at http://tinyurl.com/2594p8z (videos and >> trascript). >> >> The researcher involved is the eminent James McGaugh, professor of >> neurobiology at the University of California Irvine. Their apparently >> effortless ability to remember life events (calendar dates and what >> happened on them) is astounding, rivaling that of autistic >> calculators (which these people are not). And the memories have been >> documented. >> >> As a bonus, the 60 Minutes interviewer, Lesley Stahl, was able to add >> to McGaugh's small group of such people her friend, the actress >> Marilu Henner, fondly remembered by many for her work in the sitcom >> "Taxi" which ran between 1978 and 1983. She's pretty good, too (in >> memory, as in sit-com). >> >> Stephen >> -------------------------------------------- >> Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. >> Professor of Psychology, Emeritus >> Bishop's University >> Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada >> e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca >> >> >> >> --- >> You are currently subscribed to tips as: stevens.r...@gmail.com. >> To unsubscribe click here: >> http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13526.d532f8e870faf8a0d8f6433b7952f38d&n=T&l=tips&o=7596 >> or send a blank email to >> leave-7596-13526.d532f8e870faf8a0d8f6433b7952f...@fsulist.frostburg.edu >> > > > > -- > Rick Stevens > Psychology Department > University of Louisiana at Monroe > stevens.r...@gmail.com > SL - Evert Snook > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: tay...@sandiego.edu. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13534.4204dc3a11678c6b1d0be57cfe0a21b0&n=T&l=tips&o=7599 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-7599-13534.4204dc3a11678c6b1d0be57cfe0a2...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: beth.ben...@gmail.com. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aaf72&n=T&l=tips&o=7600 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-7600-13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aa...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. 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